8th March, 2021
By Yahaya Isah
Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has urged staff of the ministry and its agencies to raise the bar of performance and accountability in the discharge of their duties to meet the expectations of Nigerians.
This, he said, should be in line with the ministry’s mandate of ensuring the maintenance of internal security and citizenship integrity.
Mr Manga Mohammed, the Director of Press and Public Relations of the ministry, said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
Aregbesola advised the 4th Quarterly Performance Review Meeting (QPRM) of the top management staff of the ministry and its agencies, held at the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) Headquarters, Sauka, Abuja.
According to him, the quarterly performance review was a tool that can be used to measure the successes and challenges recorded by various departments of the ministry.
As well as the services and the board on the implementation of government’s policies, projects and programmes.
“It is through the monitoring and reporting of accomplishments, particularly progress made toward pre-established goals that we can ensure development.
“This meeting is, therefore, instituted to review the overall performance of the ministry and its services including, the board, against the agreed targets; provide a forum for strategic planning discussions and policy recommendations and action.
“To also identify whether the ministry is meeting the expectations of the public it serves, ensures decisions and policies are based on facts and identify where improvements need to be made,” he said.
The minister noted that the ministry, its services and the board had so far improved tremendously in the area of security service delivery and citizenship integrity within the period under review.
However, he urged the staff to put more efforts into stemming out the menace of kidnapping for ransom, ritual killing, juvenile gangsterism and insurgency in the North- East, North-West and some other parts of the country.
Aregbesola also urged them to ensure the protection of crop farmers which he said, would go a long way in improving national food security.
The minister expressed determination to reposition the ministry for optimum security service delivery to Nigerians and foreigners alike in line with its assigned mandate.
“I urge you to take your jobs seriously. The little efforts put in the line of duty will help the government and people of the country to attain its goals and aspirations.
Furthermore, he emphasized the need to get the public abreast of all the achievements of the ministry, its services and the board, especially in the area of improved security, revenue generation, protection of critical assets and disaster management.
“I must commend you all for the improved performance in the period under review. Let me also emphasize the need for the ministry and services, in particular, the board, to ensure the public is kept up-to-date.
“With your activities and achievements. Only a few Nigerian’s for example, know the tremendous achievements recorded by the Federal Fire Service (FFS) when they saved property worth over 1 trillion naira.
“Nigerians need to know about these successes. The same applies to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
“As well as various departments of the ministry and the board,“`he said.
He noted that the ministry was a service provider ministry, as such, Nigerians deserve to know the extent to which it was serving them.
NAN