Starting Solid….Visa Reciprocity And Other Remarkable Strides of A Reformer Extraordinaire, The Interior Minister Tunji-Ojo

● His Ambitious Plans To Sanitise Nigeria’s Immigration, Fire Service, Others

Every reform movement suffers a fractious fringe thus to weather the seemingly infinite storms, revolutionary spirits of the silent generation waited for the leftists. The existentialist heroes waited for Godot. But neither showed up.

Then came Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Nigeria’s current Minister of Interior. Tunji-Ojo is one of those ministers who appreciates his task and commits to it with the passion of a patriot and the grace of a visionary administrator —he is a Renaissance man on the front lines of nation-building, fearlessly forging a path toward the more perfect society he treasures, and that his principal President Bola Tinubu envisions.

The Interior Minister’s pronouncement that the Nigerian government will, henceforth, adopt the principle of reciprocity in issuing visas to foreigners seeking to enter the country has been hailed in several quarters as both a welcome intervention worthy of the nation’s dealings with international actors.

Tunji-Ojo made the pronouncement at the Business Day Conference titled: “Nigeria Forward: Catalysing Funding for High Impact Social Projects”, with the theme: “Funding for Change: Building Bridges for a Resilient Nigeria.”

He said the days of giving international visitors a free pass when applying for visas were gone, and the federal government would start operating under the give-and-take model.

The minister said the government also plans to introduce more stringent surveillance measures at the country’s borders to checkmate people’s inflow and outflow to ensure safety.

The Minister had also assured the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Nigeria, Samuela Isopi, that the government would ensure that the Nigeria passport regains its pride and integrity by reducing identity thefts.

He reiterated that the era that witnessed the subjection of Nigerians to discrimination by other countries in terms of visa issuance was over, as the present administration will adopt the principle of give and take as a more efficient approach.

And as a first step to assert the principle of reciprocity in visa issuance, the minister said the federal government has informed Turkey’s Centre for Illegal Migration director to expect reciprocity in terms of travel policy.

“Any country that does not give me the visa on arrival cannot have a visa on arrival in Nigeria,” he said.

“I’m sorry, but it is the truth. We’re not a dumping ground. If you say you are useful, people will see you as being useful. If you say you are helpful, people will see you as valid. But if you tell people you are useless, people will tell you why you are this useless. We must be partners, equal partners, and our investment relationship must be based on the principle of reciprocity.

“So we are doing that to all the countries in the world. The committee is working. I will receive the report tomorrow. You charge me $100 for a visa, and I will charge you $100 for a Nigerian visa,” he said.

Through his visionary career, Tunji-Ojo has asserted his repute as one of Nigeria’s leading political appointees, both in spirit and in practice.

Since he assumed duty on August 21, 2023, Tunji-Ojo has committed himself to the task of reshaping the Ministry of Interior and elevating its role in ennobling the nation at home and abroad. Since he transitioned from his esteemed position in the National Assembly to assume the role of the Minister of Interior under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, he has, so far, exhibited a level of passion and preparedness for his job that has captured the nation’s attention.

From his swearing-in on Monday, August 21, 2023, by President Tinubu, Tunji-Ojo led the interior ministry towards a new chapter in local and international operations.

Until he assumed duty as interior minister, Nigerians suffered delays in the processing and enrolment of their international passports; this was a major source of frustration to many as their inability to obtain crucial travel documents affected their personal lives and businesses in no small measure.

Many Nigerians also agonised over the non-release of their International Passports after several months of applying for the document. But at Tunji-Ojo’s assumption of office and intervention, Nigerians have begun to collect the said documents without further waste of time.

The accelerated activity at passport offices across the country at the moment was made possible following the marching order that he gave to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), demanding the swift clearance of over 200,000 international passports pending applications, in two weeks.

He noted that the issue of passport processing was a national emergency. “We cannot continue like that. It has become an embarrassment to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I represent him here as your minister. That embarrassment is mine now. I am not changing my words. I need the backlog cleared in two weeks,” he said, and established a two-week deadline for the processing of passport applications thus signalling the end of protracted waiting periods. The Interior Minister revealed this development during a review of his directive to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to eliminate over 204,000 passport application backlogs.

In his address in Abuja, Tunji-Ojo stressed that the government is determined to ensure that no citizen waits for more than two weeks to receive their passports. As of October 1, all 204,332 backlogs had been cleared. The records provided by the NIS indicate that 91,981 passports have already been collected, while 112,351 are ready for collection.

Tunji-Ojo urged Nigerians to collect their passports and warned applicants against giving money to anyone during the application process. He provided contact information for applicants to lodge complaints if they encounter any issues at passport offices.

Within four days after the marching orders, the NIS reportedly cleared 60,000 passport applications backlog. The public agency had claimed that the delay being experienced in the last two years was a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic which allegedly caused a major setback in the production and processing of the travelling document.

As he revolutionises the operations of the immigration service, Tunji-Ojo has also declared his intention to decongest Nigeria’s correctional centres by 40 per cent through non-custodial alternatives. His sight is equally set on immigration, fire service reform.

“We will do all that we can, all that is within our capacity, to ensure that we do not disappoint him (President Bola Tinubu), in terms of the implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“I assure Nigerians of our desire to proceed with reforms in our immigration service, such that Nigerians can be treated with respect, and that we get to unbuckle all bottlenecks of passport collections —and see other issues associated with immigration services in general, are under control,” he said.