By Olufemi Salako

When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu promised Nigerians a Renewed Hope Agenda, the skepticism among Nigerians was so strong because of many unfulfilled campaign promises, and were dismissive of it as another hope raised to soon be dashed. While some school of thoughts were of the opinion that the new administration should be given a benefit of the doubt, both skeptics and optimists agreed it will take a while for the vision and promises to become a reality and definitely not in four years, or first term of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s presidency.

At the mention of Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Honourable Minister of Interior, what comes to mind of many Nigerians is the repositioned, reformed, and reorganized Nigeria Immigration Service and passport services. Nigerians now get value for money as obtaining a new passport or renewing it is now seamless, hitch free, without being fleeced by immigration officials or extorted because of a passport racketeering.

I’m here to tell you there is more to him beyond easement of various passport services by NIS, there are bold reforms across all the services under his administrative control. The reforms are so defining and far reaching that the impact is evident in just three years in office as Minister and also as one of the brightest light of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration.

Digital transformation

He started out with the drive of digital transformation of public service delivery by replacing manual processes with technology-driven systems, which is a clear demonstration of him bringing his professional background and training to bear. Most of the reforms embarked upon by him are hinged on technological innovation or introduction.

It is in furtherance of this that he mandated the strict institutional digitization and enterprise content management systems (Interas) across the ministry to enforce transparency and curb bureaucratic inefficiency.

This further promoted institutional discipline as the hallmark of that policy is electronic correspondence across departments and agencies of the ministry of Interior.

There is no way we will talk about the many reforms embarked upon by Tunji-Ojo, especially the technologically driven reforms without a quick mention of how such digitization move resolved the NIN (National Identification Number) modification backlog.

This move tackled and resolved an inherited backlog of roughly 2.5million requests.

This was critical to the efficiency in the process of renewing or obtaining new passport which is widely celebrated.

It must also be stated that the ongoing reforms, e-gates were deployed at major international airports to streamline processing and elevate border surveillance.

He didn’t stop at reforms aimed at improving service delivery of agencies under his oversight control, he went beyond improving institutional framework and improved on the welfare, and working conditions across these agencies in what turned out to be a major boost to their motivation, the productivity and efficiency as well.

To achieve this, he first embarked on prisons decongestion by raising significant funds via public-private partnerships to pay off fines for minor offenders, thereby freeing over 4,000 inmates and cutting feeding expenditures.

This also reduced the burden of managing inmates in overcrowded prison facilities.

He then recruited scores of medical personnel and upgraded infrastructure and health standards across custodial centers and this was responsible for the first-ever major surgery performed on an inmate at the Kuje Correctional Facility.

This has made our correctional facilities live up to its core mandates of being a rehabilitation and reformative centers, and not where people come out worse off than they went in.

Oversight powers

It is on record that he had personally intervened and brought his oversight powers to bear when there is need for such and two instances come to mind when he ordered probe into act of misconduct by personnel of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS).

The first had to do with allegations of corruption and reprehensible behaviour, when it was alleged that Idris Okuneye (known as Bobrisky) who was an inmate in one of the correctional facility slept outside the prison walls during his six-month sentence.

In a clear departure from past experiences where nothing comes out of such probe, or often times, that no culpability is established, the probe confirmed irregularities, including unauthorized special privileges and a furnished single cell.

Further findings of the Probe as established by the panel stated that Bobrisky remained inside the custodial center.

The panel also noted procedural violations and backdated documentation regarding his transfers between custodial centers and also affirmed that evidence showed he had unauthorized access to communication devices and frequent, unrestricted visits.

This prompted disciplinary actions to be taken on some Senior NCoS officers while Michael Anugwa and Sikiru Adekunle, and other top controllers at Kirikiri were suspended to allow for an unbiased investigation.

This was a demonstration of zero tolerance for indiscipline, unprofessionalism and corruption which had plagued the service before Tunji-Ojo resumed office as Minister of Interior.

It also demonstrated his unflinching dedication that there shall be no compromise on the core values of integrity, transparency, and accountability of any agency under the administrative control of the Ministry under his watch.

Same standard and procedure were extended to the allegations of misconduct and criminal activities within the Okere Correctional Centre in Warri, Delta State.

Aftermath of the investigations led authorities to move more than 150 prisoners from Okere to custodial facilities in northern Nigeria while the Minister instituted wide-ranging administrative reviews and personnel removals to crack down on compromised internal security protocols.

It is noteworthy that since he assumed office, there had been no jailbreak, something which was a regular occurrence in the last five years.

Also in his three years in office, there had been a massive career progression which ended prolonged career stagnation by ensuring timely yearly promotion exercises for thousands of paramilitary personnel across immigration, correctional, and civil defense units.

This resulted in over 100,000 paramilitary officers promoted within two years, while recruitment approvals were secured for 30,000 personnel, and a Paramilitary Pensions Board established to address long-standing retirement anxieties.

He made the signing of Performance Bond with Head of agencies under him more than a ritual, but a call to service to see them actively deliver on their yearly operational targets. Recently, during the signing of 2026 performance bond with the service heads, he made them to see it as proof of commitment to fulfillment of mandates after a performance review by the agencies.

The minister commended the services for their dedication, focus and tremendous contribution to nation building, noting that to whom much was given much was expected, as President Bola Tinubu had invested his trust in them, so there was no room to betray the trust.

Lastly, the peak of the many reforms embarked by him, and exemplary leadership is evident in enhanced and improved operational capabilities of all the agencies under his supervision.

Two instances of such are the establishment of specialized units as dedicated response groups, such as the Mining Marshals and specialized railway commands under the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), to safeguard critical national infrastructure.

Also the massive investments in Federal Fire Service by expanding its logistics and fleet deployments for the Federal Fire Service, reducing overall national property loss from fire incidents.

One thing is evident, Tunji-Ojo is not just one of the many flash in the pan, or what we call “initial gra gra” in our local parlance exhibited by political appointees we have lived with, he is real, he is true and he is our reality which tells us that we will get it right as a nation.