Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who spoke at a
meeting with acting Comptroller General of Immigration, Adepoju Carol Wura-Ola,
and Controller General of Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa, urged
the Nigeria Immigration Service to make the process seamless and ensure the
document is available to applicants in record time.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the minister,
Alao Babatunde, in Abuja, yesterday, said Tunji-Ojo also charged agency heads
under the ministry to walk the talk, stressing that the country is at a critical
point, and is in dire need of transformation.
The minister reiterated the order of President Bola Tinubu
to have all hands on deck and actualise the Renewed Hope Agenda of the
administration.
The minister said: “I am just returning from a meeting with the
President. He is not interested in excuses. We must work and deliver. Anyone
who cannot help Nigeria to record progress must be kicked out because we can
actually be great.
“Let me know your challenges. I am here to help you solve
them. When you solve them and record successes, I am also successful. The time
of talks is gone. So, keep your talk. Let us discuss solutions”
“Nigerians should not have to queue endlessly to get
passports. No, this must stop. This is not the Nigeria of our dreams. I need to
know the challenges the agency is facing.
“We must all come together to deploy and invest our
expertise to resolve them. Nigerians will take us up on our promises. If we
have officers who are not ready for this rigorous process, we will excuse
them.”
The minister also underscored the importance of leveraging
technology as a means to enhance efficiency and accuracy. According to him,
“technology has the potential to revolutionise our immigration and correctional
systems, making them more agile and responsive.”