Some overzealous paramilitary officers on Monday manhandled journalists and barred them from coverage of the assumption of duty by the newly appointed Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
Trouble started when the security operatives attached to the Minister in a Gestapo-like manner smuggled the Minister from the enthusiastic crowd of staff members and well-wishers into the Minister’s conference hall with the strong opinion that journalists should not get into the venue because the discussion was a “family matter”.
Even when journalists were trying to explain to the officers that they were duly invited to cover the event and that the assumption of a minister was a public event, the Permanent Secretary of Ministry, Oluwatoyin Akinlade, suddenly came out from the conference room and ordered security operatives to throw out the journalists she had duly invited for the event.
Angered by the development, most of the journalists had to stage a walkout after waiting for over two hours in the Minister’s Waiting Room to see the possibility of interviewing him on his blueprint for the ministry.
Tunji-Ojo, who was sworn in alongside other 45 ministers-designate and was initially assigned to the new Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy,
Nigerian Tribune, however, gathered inside the hall. Tunji-Ojo tasked paramilitary service chiefs in the ministry to discharge their mandates in line with extant laws, saying he would hold them accountable for any infraction.
He said, “I am here to work, but in working we must have a good environment. The work of this ministry affects everyone, whether you are rich or poor.
“I don’t lead from the back; I lead from the front. We will try, and we will do our best to provide leadership built on the foundation of your support.
“I do not inherit enemies, and I do not inherit friends. I make my own enemies, and I earn my own friends. I am here to make a change and to deliver results, and I need you to help me do that.
“Just as Mr President will hold me accountable for whatever happens in the Ministry of Interior, I will never hold your subordinates responsible for anything; I will hold you responsible for anything that goes wrong”, he added.
Meanwhile, the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi, has assured the new minister of interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, of the readiness, unalloyed commitment, and cooperation of the NSCDC and other agencies in the ministry of interior for the continued safeguarding of the internal security of the lives and property of over 200 million Nigerians.
According to the national public relations officer of the Corps, Afolabi Babawale, the CG restated the commitment on Monday during the maiden meeting of the new minister with the service chiefs and other key stakeholders of the Ministry of Interior.
“I want to assure you that we are all ready to work with you and deliver the dividend of democracy to Nigerians in line with President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda and also sustain our continued effort to safeguard the internal security of the country,” the CG assured.
Earlier in his address, Honourable Tunji-Ojo, who was twice a member of the national assembly representing Akoko North East and Akoko North West federal constituencies in the green chamber, tasked the agencies under his ministry and the service chiefs to let trust, cooperation, and patriotism be their guides in their quest to form a synergy, adding that he was ready to lead from the front.
“Our ministry is arguably one of the most important and strategic ministries in the country, as we are concerned with internal security and the issue of identification, among others, and our actions and inactions affect the lives of over 200 million people, and a single blink of an eye can cost this country dearly”, The minister declared.
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