The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, on Thursday, said that conducive workplace environment is a huge critical factor to productivity.
The Minister stated this in Enugu during the inauguration of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Enugu State Command Office Complex which was destroyed during the #EndSARS national protest.
Recalled with nostalgia, how the office complex was attacked and damaged by arsonists barely 72hours to its inauguration in 2020, Aregbesola, expressed delight that the complex is being commissioned after been rebuilt with the assistance of some illustrious citizens of Enugu State.
According to him, “the minimum facility you can provide for a man who bears arms is not only a place of safety but that where his best capacity can be easily harnessed”.
While noting that the various infrastructure development and upgrade in the four agencies under the ministry of interior were to ensure productivity, he urged the them not to lose sight of it’s responsibility to the Nigerian people.
He therefore charged them to be exceptional in their conduct “Immigration is the first contact that foreigners have with our country and the first impression, they say, lasts the longest. You must, therefore, strive to be professional and above all be patriotic. On no account must Nigeria’s image be damaged or undesirable element that could harm our nation slip in, under your watch, through commission or omission.”
He charged the personnel to always imbibe the philosophy of the NIS which he said is to serve the people of Nigerian through issuance of passport and renewal of passport.
“At the heart of government responsibility is the service to the people… it is called civil service and the workers are called civil servants. The servant identity is to emphasis the importance of the service and who is the boss, the Nigerian people.
“We are all called civil servants but the emphasis is on the servitude. You cannot serve your equal you can only serve your boss. The Nigerian people are the boss of all of us. You must take pride in serving them, not in exploiting them, not in bullying them, not in robbing them. This consciousness must permeate the way you conduct your business and the way you relate with the people,” he warned.
The Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, represented by the Deputy Governor, Cecilia Ezeilo, commended the initiative and pledged the state government’s willingness to continue to partner and support NIS and the Federal Government in securing the people of Enugu State.
The Comptroller General of NIS, Muhammed Babandede, earlier in his address, thanked the government and people of Enugu State for their support and directed the Officers and Men of the Command to continue to be loyal and patriotic to the nation in the discharge of their duties while being vigilant.
He used the occasion to assure that the issue of passport shortage will soon be a thing of the past with the opening of the Command’s new office complex.
The ceremony was attended by the traditional ruler of Enugu, His Royal Majesty, Igwe Nnaji, the Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Most Reverend Valentine Callistus Onaga, the Seriki Hausawa in Enugu, Abubakar Yusuf Samba, members of the state executive and security councils and other relevant stakeholders.