Tag: Tunji-Ojo

Nigerian Young Patriots has praised Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, for his transformation on his first anniversary in office.

In a statement signed by Convener, Omojola Segun, and Secretary Generals, Ambassador Piegbe and Emmanuel Uebari, it noted the ministry witnessed improved security, enhanced border control, and strengthened community and diplomatic relations.

“In the past year, the minister showed leadership, dedication, and commitment to safety and security of Nigeria.

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‘‘We commend the minister for strengthening internal security, enhancing border security and immigration management, fostering community engagement and conflict resolution, promoting youth empowerment and development.

“Following his good performance, youths urge President Bola Tinubu to give more roles to him, the statement said.

“His expertise and passion for public service makes him ideal for greater challenges.

‘‘We are grateful to the minister for his service and commitment to our progress. We look forward to his continued excellence and leadership.”

Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has challenged youths in Ondo state to acquire practical skills, especially in Information and Communication Technology to enable them to prepare for available jobs in the 21st century.

Tunji-Ojo cautioned the youths against relying on degree certificates but to equip themselves with in-demand skills to give them an edge in the job market.

The minister spoke in Akure at a colloquium organized by the BTO Youth Development Convention with the theme, ”We Can Evolve: Building a Prosperous Nation, a Joint Task, the Tunji-Ojo’s Model.’

Represented by his special adviser on strategy and innovation, Prof Mukhtar Abdulkadir, Tunji-Ojo said it was worrisome that many youths were still hoping on traditional courses despite the advent of artificial intelligence.

He said the World Economic Forum predicted in 2023, that by 2030, 95 million jobs would be created in areas of artificial intelligence, machine learning, Robotic engineers, cyber security experts, and sustainability experts.

He said: “Today, lawyers are going to be replaced by social development experts. Some call them social impact experts. What do we mean here? Today, if you go to the internet using this AI tool, just type something, you’ll see the solution. For doctors, if you have a skin disease, go to any AI tool, it will tell you the solution. In the next few years, those jobs will be eliminated.

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“You may say, I’ve already graduated, I have a degree in electrical or chemical engineering, I have a law degree, what do I do? You can get a certification. There are certificate programs you can run.

“Don’t limit yourself, don’t say, I went to university, why should I go for vocational training? No! Today, as we speak, the world is moving away from certificates, and going for skills. That’s why I summarized skills, not certificates. How do you get those certificates? You get them through vocational training”.

Tunji-Ojo highlighted some achievements recorded under his watch including swift clearance of passport backlogs and issuance of new passports; elimination of 2.5 million NIN modification backlogs; prison decongestion and inmate rehabilitation; launch of the safe school initiative; enhanced emergency and Fire response capabilities and establishment of enhanced e-passport facilities in key embassies.

Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has emphasised that the Federal Government remains committed to repositioning correctional centres across the country.

Tunji-Ojo spoke yesterday during a one-day tour round offices of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Federal Marriage Registry and the Nigeria Correctional Centre (NCoS), all situated in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State. He reaffirmed that President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda will continue to tackle and address all inherited problems.

He said: “I’ve always said that urbaniszation is real. So far, we’ve looked at some of these correctional centers across the country and we’ve been very keen on repositioning them.

“We want a real correctional center in actual deed, not a place that will be psychologically damaging. We want offenders to come to correctional centers and be reformed. We think that the change of name from prisons, which is a place of incarceration, to correction, which is, which means in place of transformation, should take effect really.

“We don’t want to pay lip service to change. We want a change of ideology, we want to change the orientation and, of course, change our approach of methodology of the formation so that people will see this place as a place of hope, and leave with renewed hope.

“We want to cultivate the culture of excellence, the culture of you might start a bit late, but that does not mean you’re behind. You can always catch up and you can always be what you want this to be a place of education and of transformation, and we believe that it will be difficult to achieve that with this environment.”

The minister also said the Abuja airport e-gates are good to go. “The Abuja eGates are good to go. I think the D wing is good to go, and we’re waiting, very soon, the President will open it.

Tunji-Ojo also inspected passenger facilitation equipment, including electronic boarding gates at the new terminal of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA).

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Tuni-Ojo urged the contractor to speed up the completion process. He also sought clarifications on the components that need to be put in place ahead of the facility’s inauguration, as well as whether the project will be 100 per cent ready for test run, as officials of the NIS affirmed that a back facility is in place to drive passenger facilitations.

The minister urged the contractor to deliver according to the timeline so that passengers could optimise the full benefits of improved facilitation equipment at major gateways into the country.

Tunji-Ojo also inspected the E-Finger at the Arrival Hall of the old international terminal of MMIA, urging expansion of the electronic gates undergoing installation.

He was accompanied on the tour by the Comptroller-General of Immigration (CGI), Mrs. Kemi Nanna-Nandap and other senior officers of the service.

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has emphasised that the federal government remains committed to repositioning correctional centres across the country.

Tunji-Ojo spoke during a one-day tour round offices of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Federal Marriage Registry and the Nigeria Correctional Centre all situated in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State on Monday, July 8.

He reaffirmed that President Bola Tinubu’s renewed Hope Agenda will continue to tackle and address all inherited problems.

Tunji-Ojo said: “I’ve always said that urbanization is real. So far, we’ve looked at some of these correctional centres across the country and we’ve been very keen on repositioning these centres.

“We want a real correctional centre, in actual deed, not a place that will be psychologically damaging. We want them (offenders) to come to correctional centres and be reformed. We think that the correction I mean, the change of name from prisons, which is a place of incarceration, you know, to correction, which is, which means in place of transformation should take it, it I mean effect, really.

“So, we don’t want to pay lip service to change. We want a change of ideology, we want to change the orientation, and of course, we want a change, you know, in terms of our approach of the methodology of the formation so that people will leave here they’ll see this place as a place of hope, with renewed hope.

“We want to cultivate this culture, the culture of excellence, the culture of you might start a bit late, but that does not mean you’re behind. You can always catch up and you can always be what you want this to be a place of education and a place of transformation and we believe that with this environment, it’s difficult to achieve that.”

“I always say, the president became president a year ago, he had returned to a lot of issues, a lot of problems. We’re not shying away from the problems, but the issues that we’re facing the problem will solve the problems.

“Nevertheless, Nigerians cannot expect a problem of 100 years to be sorted completely in one year. This correctional centre you see here was built in 1955. If I’m not wrong, you know, so know how long that is. Today, Keffi Correctional Center was built in 1820. You know, you know how long that is? Suleja was built in 1914.

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“So this is this tells you how old so what we have it and what the President inherited, accumulated issues. And what the President is trying to do is to say, look, a journey of a million miles starts with a single step.

“It’s never too late for us to start. And the President since the first day in office has started today. We can see some of these reforms, where you get to Kuje Correctional Center, you will see what is happening they got so many other questions as well.”

Speaking on the Abuja airport’s e-gates, He said: “The Abuja eGates is good to go. I think the D wing is good to go. And we’re waiting, very soon, the President will commission it, and we’re good to go. We just want the president to be able to commission.”

The federal government has obtained the proclamation of the regulations for the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) in line with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.

The government said the development would now enable the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to obtain passenger data and other vital information ahead of their visit to the country and screen them accordingly.

The minister of interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this at a meeting with the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Richard Montgomery.

“Nigeria has struggled with this project since 2003. I am happy to inform you that we have it now. Obviously this will help in further securing our borders”, the Minister said.

“With the recent development, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) now has the capacity to screen people in an objective manner as the solution developed is linked with Interpol 24/7 which enables them to know and query the database of travellers.

“Before people come to Nigeria now, we have the opportunity of knowing who they are, querying their database and of course, the solution developed is linked with Interpol 24/7, so we have the capacity to screen people in an objective manner. We had to remove subjectivity from our dictionary with regards to border control as possible”, the minister said.

Tunji Ojo said all the e-gates installed at the International Airports in Nigeria are intelligence gates of UK standards, stating that the projects demonstrated the level of collaboration and faith that Nigeria has in the border control capability of the United Kingdom.

“The e-gate screens in 24 seconds. This is the fastest that was seen.

 “We are doing a lot in border control, we will still do more. We are building a solar band of 1 Mega Watt to be able to power all critical infrastructure of the NIS. We believe that by doing this people will begin to have faith in Nigeria”, he said.

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The minister in a statement signed by the director of press in the ministry, Ozoya Imohimi also alluded to the ongoing reforms in the Federal Fire Service, saying that the government has invested massively in the Fire Academy in Abuja to achieve the world-class standards.

“We are investing very massively in our Fire Academy in Abuja and we thought we need to understudy the fire and emergency response system in the United Kingdom. By the Constitution of Nigeria, the main responsibility of government is the security and protection of lives and property.

Fire service is critical in that regard. In a country of 200 million people and with an emerging economy; it is important for us to have a vibrant fire service”, Tunji-Ojo said.

He said the government is working on the amendment of the Federal Fire Service Act to upgrade to a Fire Rescue and Safety Service, as safety is important to issues of today.

 “I know that fire and emergency response in the UK is top-notch. We need to get the best solution in the world and it has to be something you can benchmark.”

According to him, the fire academy would not only be for building the capacity of Nigerians but also serve as a training hub for West Africa.

The British High Commissioner, Montgomery congratulated Nigeria for the progress made so far in the Passport system.

The High Commissioner expressed the desire of the UK authorities to collaborate with Nigeria to enhance the efficiency of fire and emergency response systems and boost capacity management and the National Resilience Programme amongst others.

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Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has said e-border surveillance is now being mounted across the nation’s borders with its neighbouring countries.

Tunji-Ojo, who announced this yesterday on a live national television programme, said the e-border became possible through the deployment of technology across the nation’s borders.

He said: “When it comes to border security, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) is the lead agency. And an efficient NIS will lead to efficient border security. We have deployed ICT on our border monitoring and control. That has been done, and is waiting for commissioning.

“As we speak, more than half of our borders have been automated. There are visuals, and a lot of processes going on now. So, effectively, there is e-border surveillance now in our borders.

“By October, we will be done with the first phase one of the e-border surveillance project and that includes our marine borders.

“Now, we have the command and control for air and land. You cannot secure your borders effectively without technology.

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“Today, there is surveillance in our land borders, though we are yet to cover all our land borders.

“More than half of our border posts are now automated. There are visuals and lots of processes going on in terms of surveillance.”

Commenting on what some people have called the challenge posed by unofficial border, Tunji-Ojo said: “There is nothing like an unofficial border in Nigeria but unofficial entry points into the country. And the government is working hard through technology to prevent illegal immigrants.”

The minister also commented on the issuance of passport, saying: “When we came on board, we had stock taking, looking at agencies under the supervision of the ministry and the ministry itself. Then, we discovered that a lot of things needed to be done.

“A typical example was the passport problem that we had. We inherited a backlog of over 204,000 passports and, immediately, we moved into action and to the glory of God, we were able to clear that in slightly over two weeks.

“We also said that it was not enough to clear the backlog but to also ensure that the problem never happens again because this government is about building strong institutions and not individuals.

“That led us to automate the process. We are done with both the first and second phases. As far back as March, we were ready with the third phase. But we realised that there was no data centre.

“What we were doing before now was relying on the data provided by one of our providers, a private individual. And we felt that was not good enough. That led us to build a data centre, the first of its kind in the 61 years of existence of the NIS.”

Tunji-Ojo said the country had begun the command and control centre, which has been adjudged as one of the best anywhere in the world.

Bayelsa State Governor, Duoye Diri; Interior Minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo; General Overseer of Love of Christ Generation, Rev. Esther Ajayi; Cardinal James Odunmbaku and Chief of Staff to Lagos State governor,Tayo Ayinde, were among persons honoured with the Triangle Media Award in London.

Triangle Face of Africa Leadership Award honours Nigerians and Africans that have impacted lives.

The event featured a lecture:  “Navigating Security Challenges in Nigeria: A comprehensive approach to solutions”, delivered by Prof. Ojo Emmanuel Ademola and Dr Nathaniel Oyinloye.

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Publisher, Femi Salako thanked everyone, noting the award celebrates achievements of Nigerians and Africans that have contributed to their communities and the world.

Salako  described the as thought provoking and timely in view of security challenges confronting Nigeria.

“This award is not just about recognising individual achievements, but also about creating a platform to inspire others to strive for excellence…’’