The Federal Government yesterday signed one-year performance contracts with para-military agencies, insisting that they should hit 100 percent goals with on-going reforms.
The agencies are the Nigeria Immigration Service, (NIS), the Nigerian Correctional Service, (NCoS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC), and the Federal Fire Service (FFS). The National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, now under the Ministry of Interior signed the performance bound as well.
Passports and Visa reforms, Prisons decongestion, reformation of inmates in line with global standards, protection of critical national assets and infrastructures and firefighting reforms are major issues and challenges being addressed at the moment by the agencies in line with their respective mandates.
The performance contracts were signed by Prof Abubakar Audi, Commandant General of the NSCDC, Mr Sylvester Nwakuche, Controller General of Corrections, and Commandant General of Federal Fire Service, FFS, Mr Samuel Adeyemi. The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Mrs Kemi Nanna Nandap, could not sign for the Immigration as she was outside the country at the moment.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo who supervised the signing of the performance contracts after a three-day retreat at Zuma Rock Resort, Suleja, Niger state, said the ongoing reforms in all the agencies must be seen to their logical conclusions with 100 percent grades.
“Yes. When we did the last retreat, we were 62 percent. A year after, the Presidential Performance Assessment Initiative moved us from 62 percent to 85 percent. So now our target is 100 percent. That is why I asked the Permanent Secretary to give me one reason why I need to change a winning team, ” Tunji-Ojo said.
The minister emphasised the need for capacity building for personnel of the para-military services, saying that capacity building would bring the best out of them and aligned them with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
He urged the Director General of NIMC, Engr Abisoye Coker-Odusote to continue the reforms in NIMC to ensure that Nigeria has a solid foundational identity that could be authenticated, verified and free of fraud and abuses.
Tunji-Ojo said the reforms in the Nigeria Correctional Service should be carried out to achieve transformation and reformation of inmates, saying that Correctional Centres should no longer be a place for condemnation.
The minister said the agencies should not only make Mr President proud, but leave a legacy of building strong institutions that would stand the test of time after the exit of the current leaders.
For the Federal Fire Service, he said:” I told you there’s a lot of work to be done in terms of orientation, in terms of scope of service. By this time next year, I want to see a fire service that will be custodian of emergency medical service. I want to see a fire service that will be liberalized.
“I want to see a fire service that will allow for private sector participation. I want to see a fire service that will be able to regulate and be able to enumerate the sector. And I want to see a Fire Service that will be judged by the number of assets saved.”