Nigeria’s Interior Minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has emphasized that the welfare of Nigerians is the top priority for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government and not competing with anyone.
Naija News reports that Tunji-Ojo made this remark during a question-and-answer session on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Wednesday.
In addressing criticisms reportedly voiced by certain officials from the previous administration, the minister took the opportunity to showcase some accomplishments of his ministry.
He noted that the current administration took over the ECOWAS passport centre, which was left unfinished at that time.
Tunji-Ojo reiterated that the primary focus remains on ensuring the welfare and well-being of the Nigerian people.
The Minister said: “Let me say this very clearly in the first place, this particular government is not in competition with anybody. What’s most important is the welfare and well-being of Nigerians.
“But nevertheless, I would like to say this clearly: when we came on board, it was very clear that a lot of these things—the data centre, the command and control centre, the solar farm we had at that time—were started from the foundation.
“What we inherited was the incomplete ECOWAS passport centre. But as for what we have done, this government started it. We are happy to say that it’s for the benefit of Nigerians without trying to take any credit for it.
“You know what an 8.3 petabyte database is and what that entails anywhere in the world. I don’t need to go too deep. And we have a command and control centre that oversees all regular migration points across Nigeria, including 447 km of our land borders and five airports in real-time. It’s not a joke—it’s a massive achievement by this particular administration.
“And to be able to implement the Advanced Passenger Information system, which wasn’t just a policy but a resolution of the UN Security Council—Nigeria never did that until this government came on board and implemented it.
“We went beyond the API that was expected of countries and moved to the level of interactive API. We also built a data centre that IITA referred to as the ‘lighthouse project of Africa.’ I think we should not diminish the relevance of all these achievements on the basis of ego. We should just let Nigeria be the winner in it.”
