Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo’s masterclass

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As a writer, I make no secret of my utter revulsion for politicians, particularly those directly responsible for our extremely adverse circumstances. You will also have guessed that I am not a fan of Nigeria’s political parties. I, however, always strive to give Jack his jacket, and it is for this reason that I am deliberately postponing my original intervention for this week to a later date in order to highlight a ray of hope that I have found ensconced within our extensively perverse experience, particularly in recent days when all the institutions of government have been unraveling at a dizzying speed. Lately we have seen excited, overbribed judicial bandits turning the country into one giant hell hole, clerically imposing themselves on a shell-shocked populace and turning the temple of justice into the den of robbers. We are talking of a country where prison controllers take bribes from moneybags to confine innocent persons behind bars, completely circumventing the court system!

This week, following the revelation at the Green Chamber by Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, that some personnel of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) had been colluding with certain inmates to finance the operations of terrorist groups, the Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, immediately pulled on his battle gear. In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Alao Babatunde, the minister condemned the unpatriotic act, directing the Comptroller General of the NCS) to investigate the disturbing allegation. He called for “a speedy investigation into the matter, noting that any officer found sabotaging the Nigerian Correctional Facility, and by extension the security of the country, shall face the full wrath of the law.” That was not all: he informed the public that “actions were underway to reform the correctional service to match international standards.” I believe him.

And here’s why. It isn’t just that the minister is ready to root out from the NCS, officers abusing their powers by locking up people without a detention warrant, an anomaly unmasked this week; he does actually want to engineer a revolution in Nigeria’s internal security architecture. First, recognizing the threats posed by the ugly spectre of overcrowded prisons and its corollaries—outbreak of diseases, mental anguish by citizens endlessly awaiting trial and the hardening of petty criminals thrust upon the inhuman system, etc—Tunji-Ojo minted a practical mechanism recently: he solicited donations from corporate society and paid off the fines of citizens languishing in prison because of their inability to pay, thus restoring hope to 4,068 inmates who had served various terms of imprisonment. Speaking at the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kuje, Abuja, the minister noted that the prison facilities with an “installed capacity of 50,000” currently hold “approximately 80,804 inmates, significantly surpassing their limits and prompting this strategic intervention.” He added: “This release, targeting inmates with fines and/or compensations not exceeding N1m, extends a lifeline primarily to indigents unable to settle their dues, allowing them a second chance at freedom. Philanthropic individuals, groups, and corporate bodies rallied together, raising a total of N580m for this noble cause. Moreover, it’s not just about freeing these individuals but empowering them for a successful reintegration into society.” Great.

We are told that the inmates received comprehensive training covering practical skills, civic duties, and strategies to prevent recidivism, ensuring a more promising future upon their return to their communities. Unless I have lost my wits, this sounds extremely well thought out and, most crucially, compassionate, and this compassion is actually the kernel of this piece. Of course, like most Nigerians, you may never have been in prison, but you don’t need to nurture a snickering, sneering attitude about prisoners and their plight. Here is an excerpt from Helon Habila’s Waiting for an Angel detailing prison anguish: “Here in prison loss of self is often expressed as anger. The anger creeps on you, like twilight edging out the day. It builds in you silently until one day it explodes in violence, surprising you. I saw it happen in my first month in prison. A prisoner, without provocation, had attacked an unwary warder at the toilets.” (pp1-2.). The subtlety of this “prisoner, without provocation” experience is that prison itself is, for the narrator, pure provocation. Imagine the joy and relief which the beneficiaries of Tunji-Ojo’s noble gesture are bound to feel. Because of Nigeria’s Luciferically warped justice system, many Nigerians have literally rotted in prison for years when all it would take to make them breathe the air of freedom and contribute positively to Nigeria’s development is the cost of a soft drink at a nightclub.

But by all means the most celebrated of Tunji-Ojo’s positive interventions in Nigeria’s civil space is the massive turnaround at the Immigration department, where a two-week timeline for passport delivery coupled with impending home delivery of passports has captured the national imagination. Prior to Tunji-Ojo’s stewardship, it was the norm to have Nigerians queue up for hours in the sweltering hot sun, waiting to obtain passports. But the minister had, shortly after assuming office, handed the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) a two-week ultimatum to clear the backlog of passport applications, making its personnel to do three shifts every day of the week in order to meet the deadline. The extant 203,322 passport backlog was cleared, and then Nigerians began to tell great tales of superb service at embassies and missions. There is nothing to reject in Tunji-Ojo’s plan for a comprehensive review of migration and visa policies aimed at easing all the processes for Nigerians both home and abroad, or the proposed online registration for passports, with applicants’ presence at passport offices limited to biometric capture and the collection of passports.

A common thread in the Tunji-Ojo stories is compassion and care, qualities that I consider to be at the very core of purposeful leadership. When, as Ondo State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko rolled out the Abiye programme that was later adopted by the World Bank as a model for Africa, he did so principally because of this same concern about the plight of the populace. From all indications, the young, apparently unassuming personality who currently heads Nigeria’s Interior Ministry has a burning passion to place the ministry at the service of Nigerians and validate the assumption that governance ought to guarantee happiness for the people. Of course he isn’t perfect—I do not endorse the rollout of camos for the NSCDC—but he is changing the national conversation around Nigeria’s internal security issues, and is richly deserving of the support of all right-thinking Nigerians.

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