The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has stressed that Nigeria’s correctional facilities must serve as centres of rehabilitation and transformation rather than punishment.
Speaking on Saturday during the signing of performance bonds with agencies under the Ministry of Interior in Niger State, Tunji-Ojo said the Federal Government was committed to repositioning the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) to reflect its mandate in practice.
“Correctional Service is becoming transformational, it’s becoming rehabilitatory, and, of course, it’s becoming reformatory, and that’s what I want to see,” the minister stated.
He emphasized that prisons should not be places of condemnation. “I don’t want our correctional centres to be places of condemnation. When you need to concentrate the most is when you are doing well,” Tunji-Ojo advised the Controller-General of the NCoS, urging him to sustain ongoing reforms.
The minister further explained that the goal of the government was to build strong institutions rather than personalities.
“My dream is to build a ministry to the glory of God that will be able to do well even without me. That is what we call institution-building. We don’t want a ministry built around a strong person,” he added.
Tunji-Ojo also applauded the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps for safeguarding national assets and directed the Federal Fire Service to prepare for reforms that would expand its role in emergency medical and rescue services.
Highlighting progress within the ministry, he noted that performance had risen from 62 percent at the last retreat to 85 percent. However, he insisted that the target must now be total achievement.
“What we want to do is to cascade excellence across all agencies—Civil Defence, Immigration Service, Correctional Service, and Fire Service. We are agents of perfection, and Nigerians must feel our impact. The goal is 100 percent,” he said.
