Minister of interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has said his emergence as LEADERSHIP Public Service Person of the year 2023 is a call to serve more and do better in efforts at improving Nigeria’s Internal security.
Tunji-Ojo made this remark in Abuja on Thursday in his office when the management of LEADERSHIP Group Ltd led by its vice chairman, Mr. Mike Okpere presented him with the letter of nomination as LEADERSHIP Public Service Person of the Year 2023.
He praised the role the founder of LEADERSHIP, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah, played in the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the struggle for democracy and urged the newspaper to keep up the vision of its late founder for a united and prosperous country.
Tunji-Ojo, who also commended what he described as the resilience of the top management team of LEADERSHIP Newspapers who, according to him, inherited a worthy legacy.
He hailed them for their commitment to the growth and development of the nation’s security sector.
He said, “For this honour, first, I want to thank your top management team for holding forth the worthy legacy left behind by your founder, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah. Thank you because what you are doing is not a small job. You deserve to be praised because of your immense contributions to disseminating information and letting the people open their mind to what is going on and those issues they see can be resolved.
“I say a big thank you to the Board of Editors of LEADERSHIP Group Limited for deeming it fit to choose me to receive this award,” he added.
On what the nomination meant to him, Hon. Tunji-Ojo said, “This nomination represents a call to duty. I want to categorically state also that with this nomination reminds me that, while we need to celebrate the past, it is more critical for the future we seek to build that we put in more energy. I see the award as a call to more duty, effort, passion, contribution, and determination to make sure that country’s internal security is certain. I will ensure that all agencies tasked with this mandate deliver quality service to the people.”
The minister, who particularly thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for not just nominating him as a minister, but for his mentoring and unalloyed support for his policies.
Tunji-Ojo pleaded with Nigerians to endure a little while the hardship and said the President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s led- administration has the wherewithal to arrest the ugly situation.
He said, “Look at border control, for instance, it affects the security of any given nation. The state of our borders today will to a large extent determine the state of all round security for us tomorrow. That’s why I repeatedly say that I am here to work. As a matter of fact, I was not appointed to give excuses.
“The President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s led-administration and the Ministry of Interior under my watch understand clearly that effective border control represents the baseline for development in any nation of the world , and that is still a missing link in Nigeria, so, something needs to be done urgently. So for me, I won’t rest until I address the challenge.”
The minister, who hinted that he recently installed a 30-seconds biometric clearance gates for the Nigeria Immigration Service NIS at all international airports across the country, said the facilities would be ready in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, Abuja and Enugu by March. According to him, Lagos would have 17 gates, Abuja 10, Port Harcourt and Kano 5 each and Enugu 4.
Chief Mike Okpere, while presenting the letter, said he was in good company, as the late Mr. President was chosen for his significant personality, who against all odds fought and upturned opposition and pressure to win the 2023 presidential election.
He said four governors (comprising Oyo, Benue, Niger and Katsina) were also nominated for the prestigious awards as well as Peter Obi and Natasha Akpothe, who all stoop to conquer, in spite of stiff opposition as LEADERSHIP Politicians of the year, respectively and many other categories.
