"WE MUST SET FORTH NOW", Ogbeni Aregbesola Charges Personnel On Internal Security

“Ours is to prevent crimes, as the basis of protecting lives and property, it will become so difficult to commit crime, once people know they cannot get away with it, so brace up for the task”..... Aregbesola

"The primal responsibility of government is the welfare of the people, protection of lives and property and maintenance of peace. It is the foundational responsibility on which other responsibilities are built".

Following the official handing over at the Interior Affairs Ministry on Monday 26^th August, 2019, the new Minister has charged security agencies under his supervision to brace up in the fight against insecurity.

This he says, is in line with the policy direction of the Federal Government which is aimed at improving security, revitalizing the economy and entrenching transparency in the conduct of government business.

The Honourable Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola gave this charge no Monday when he officially took over the mantle of office from the Permanent Secretary, Barr. Georgina Ekeoma Ehuriah, MON.

 
In his speech titled; "WE MUST SET FORTH NOW", Ogbeni Aregbesola revealed that "there is no denying the fact that we have internal insecurity. But, it is not peculiar to us as a nation as it is like that all over the world”, he stated.

“Each nation with its own peculiarities; what is important is how we respond to the security challenges confronting us".

 
"From antiquity and political philosophy, the primal responsibility of government is the welfare of the people, protection of lives and property and maintenance of peace. It is the foundational responsibility on which other responsibilities are built. This is the basis on which we campaigned and Nigerians voted for us. It is a sacred mandate we are fully determined to deliver on", the Minister stressed.

Calling on the Services, officers and staff of the Ministry to join hands with the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration in protecting lives and property of the citizens, in line with the Ministry’s mandate with a view to moving the country to the next level of socio-economic development, Aregbesola said; “we must set forth now, for an improved internal security”.

“Ours is to prevent crimes, as the basis of protecting lives and property, it will become so difficult to commit crime, once people know they cannot get away with it, so brace up for the task”, he emphasized.

Aregbesola pointed out that the Correctional Services should ensure that all the correctional centres across the country are habitable, comfortable and clean for inmates, while adding that inmates should be well fed and given proper health care so as to make transition to a new life very easy for them, in line with the new laws of the Service.

He opined that the primary role of our correctional services should be, to make those who have the opportunity of returning to the society, become reformed, rather than turning them to becoming terrors to the society by abusing and brutalizing them.

Furthermore, he also charged the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to ensure proper security of the nation’s borders, while calling on the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to improve on their intelligence gathering in the various communities.

“Insecurity”, according to the Honourable Minister, “transcends kidnapping, banditry and other social vices but also includes food insecurity, natural disasters such as fire” and therefore, called on the Federal Fire Service (FFS) to ensure prompt response and prevention of all forms of fire disaster in the country.

The Permanent Secretary, Barr. Georgina Ekeoma Ehuriah, MON, while presenting the handing over document to the new Minister earlier, said: "This handing over note, highlights the major policies, programmes and activities of the Ministry of Interior, which has immediate bearing on your statutory role as the chief policy formulator and adviser to the administration on internal security and public safety matters”.

Barr. Ehuriah added that,  “all the major accomplishments that were recorded by the Ministry, under the former Honourable Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen (rtd) Abdulrahman Dambazau, and those few ones that took place during the brief period that I was in charge of the administration of the Ministry are contained herein".

Ehuriah stated that the mandate of the Ministry is to foster and ensure the maintenance of internal security and citizenship integrity for the promotion of good governance in the country.