The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, says correctional centres across the country will continue to be places of hope for all categories of inmates.

Tunji-Ojo said this at a Performance Contract Signing Retreat with the theme “United Front for a Secure Nation and Future” on Monday in Abuja.

The minister said this would be achieved through a positive change in the institutional management of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCOS) for better service delivery.

“I will not defend you that you are doing good in terms of institutional management, but we will take responsibility as it must be better,” said Mr Tunji-Ojo.

He emphasised the need for officers to treat people with dignity, as the service serves as the bridge between the weak and strongest.”

“The Nigerian Correctional Service has to be a place where hopes are of hopes renewed and not a place where hopes are truncated and respect for human rights jettisoned. We must treat people with dignity; this is very key,” the minister asserted. 

He added, “Whatever you are presenting during this retreat must be based on the premise of rehabilitation, correctional reformation and respect for human rights.”

He said he was pleased with the border control measures put in place by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), adding that a lot still needs to be done to improve these measures.

“We need a service with better border control, administration and management as there are more undesignated borders than the designated ones,” he said.

Mr Tunji-Ojo tasked the NIS to ensure every Nigerian is accounted for at every point in time.

He charged the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to strengthen efforts in safeguarding the nation’s critical national assets and infrastructure (CNAI).

“Today, we see a lot of vandalism in the power, telecommunications and solid mineral sectors, among others,” said the minister. “There is, therefore, the need for the Corps to be in charge of all CNAI in line with the Act governing its operations.”

He said the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) remains the country’s security identification architecture.

Tunji-Ojo, however, said that the Federal Fire Service needed to take many measures to enshrine a culture of effective rescue and firefighting operations.

He said the signing of the performance bond by the heads of parastatal signified a commitment to better service delivery to Nigerians.

The ministry’s permanent secretary, Magdalene Ajani, said the contracts are a roadmap for the ministry’s vision. 

She charged participants to utilise the retreat as a forum to innovate, strategise and set realistic, achievable and timely key performance indicators.

(NAN)