By Haruna Abdulsalam
Hourable Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, walked the talk with a good beginning. In a democratic setting, new administrations give the citizens a ray of hope.
The hope of good governance by ways of promise, a promise to deliver what was not achieved in the past.
But in so many cases, people’s hope is dashed at the end of the day due to incompetence and lack of political will not only on the side of those elected but also those appointed to assist those elected and saddled with the responsibility of presiding over the affairs of government.
In the private sector, the performance (KPI) of subordinates automatically translates to the performance of their superior who is either the manager or supervisor, in other words as a leader those you recruit to work with you will determine a very large extent your achievement in office and this applies to both the private and public sector.
The coming of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the President of the Federal of Nigeria with the mantra of “Renewed Hope” is a well-thought-out dream for a nation that is dejected and holds no hope for her citizens due to leadership failure of many years.
Tinubu coming up with the Slogan “Renewed Hope” is not a surprise to those who for close to three decades followed the leadership style of the President objectively without negative bias. If there is any iota of doubt it is in the area of who and who among numerous competent Nigerians will be in the team to deliver the much anticipated renewed hope, but again with a visionary president like Tinubu, selecting a viable team is as simple as anything.
For a President who was in the private sector before joining politics, it is expected and anticipated in so many quarters that those to help him drive his policies and programs to achieve his goal of good governance in every sector of the country will have a taste of private sector administration in the past, those that have proven themselves both in the private sector before their foray into politics and this is evident in the appointment of Honourable Bunmi Tunji-Ojo an astute Management and ICT expert, an entrepreneur and a youth in his early 40’s who has consulted for notable organisations like the World Bank, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC), Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to mention a few through the deployment of problem-solving solutions most of which are still very much in use today. As a successful entrepreneur, he does not see the economic benefit in politics but coming to politics means sacrifice to serve humanity.
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Nigerians in the youth constituency and the Civil Society advocacy for Transparency and Accountability will remain ever grateful to Mr. President for discovering and appointing Honourable Bunmi Tunji-Ojo as Minister of Interior, proving once again that just as waves push waves in the ocean, new men must work hand in hand with older men for institutions to grow, we thank Mr President.
The basis for our early appreciation is not farfetched, Honourable Bunmi Tunji-Ojo was sworn in as a cabinet member alongside 44 other Ministers on the 21st day of August 2023 to serve in the Ministry of Interior saddled with the responsibility of ensuring internal security, granting Nigerian Citizenship, business permits and expatriate quotas and also oversee agencies such as the Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Security and Civil defence Corps, Nigeria Correctional Service and lately the National Identity Management Commission.
Taking Nigeria Immigration Service for our analysis, it is a known fact that this agency under the Ministry of Interior saddled with the responsibility of border control and the issuance of Nigerian international passports has since so many years struggled to meet her obligation to Nigerians and is also evident in the speech of Tunji-Ojo when he took over the mantle of leadership of that ministry, he said and I quote “I am here to perform” in other words he knows the problems confronting the agency and also believes they are solvable.
Having promised to clear the backlog of more than two hundred thousand international passport requests pending in the service, he immediately settled down to work and what else can lovers of Nigeria and democracy expect, in less than three weeks in office Honourable Bunmi Tunji-Ojo has proven himself as a performer in whatever role he is given by delivering 160,000 international passport out of the two hundred thousand backlog in the service. This is a feat that we in the Conference of Civil Society for Transparency and Accountability see as commendable and worthy of celebrating, and we do this to encourage the Minister and his team to do more for Nigerians as we believe in his capacity and political will to do more and also right the wrongs and that no matter the number of his detractors, posterity will always be on the side of the just. We also do this to challenge other cabinet members to hit the ground running as a matter of urgency and stamp their feet on the ground to do that which is right and just no matter whose ox is gored.
According to G. K. Nelson, “Successful people are not gifted, they just work hard and then succeed on purpose”. We commend the Minister for showing leadership through hard work, even as he sacrifices his comfort by working day and night with his team to formulate and implement policies and strategies that will turn around the narrative of the Ministry.
We in the civil society believe that the “Renewed Hope” period is a period of rising for Nigeria and for those that will ask, for whom is it rising? the answer is, that it is rising for young and old, it is rising for the men and women as it is rising for the rich and poor and it is rising for the affluent and the common men, it is also rising for those in the rural areas and those in the urban centres, it is rising for those in the private sector and those in the public sector, it is rising under the Renewed Hope for the benefit and the betterment of Nigerians regardless of their tribe, ethnicity, religion and culture, it is rising for the northerners and southerners for the benefit of all.
But all lovers of Nigeria must agree that if Nigeria must attain her rightful place among the committee of nations it must do so through our collective shoulders, every citizen must drop those things that divide us and embrace things that unite us.
As I conclude, I will leave us with the words of John Donne “The best leaders I know see success as a group endeavour, they call out the best in their folks so that the entire team or enterprise can take part in creating success, they carve the part together. But what is even more important is that they ask for and accept help along the way. Good leaders know they can’t do it all themselves and that even the strongest person needs support”.
By these words we urge all stakeholders in the Ministry of Interior and outside of it to support the transformation agenda of the Honourable Minister, Tunji-Ojo and we also encourage the media and civil society to lend their voice and support through positive reporting so as for the rising of Nigeria through the Ministry of Interior under Honourable Bunmi Tunji-Ojo to see the light of the day for the overall betterment of Nigeria and her people.
-Comrade Haruna Abdulsalam is the Director of Strategic Communications at the Conference of Civil Society for Transparency and Accountability (COCTA) and writes from Abuja
