The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo says he recently caught an Immigration officer who abandoned his duty at an undisclosed airport.
Tunji-Ojo said the unnamed officer, instead of attending to foreign passengers, was watching the Big Brother Naija reality TV show.
He disclosed this on Wednesday during an interview on Human Rights Radio, popularly known as ‘Brekete Family’
The minister said he caught the officer upon his arrival in the country from a foreign trip.
According to him, the unnamed officer left the duty of attending to passengers seeking visas on arrival to the country and was busy watching the show.
He noted that it was imperative to have better service and efficiency in the NIS operations, especially in dealing with foreign visitors who are capable of bringing economic benefits to the country.
He called for collaboration among stakeholders to improve the image of the country in the international community, admitting that it is difficult for one individual to bring the desired change.
“Anybody that’s entering Nigeria, the way our people will talk to you is no longer like before. Just two weeks ago I came in from Italy, and as I was coming out, they came and welcomed me and wanted to carry my bag but I said no.
“I told them not to call their colleagues and that they should return to their duty post where they call for a visa on arrival. The plan that President Tinubu has, if all of us join hands, this country will be better.
“One person cannot bring change, all of us must change Nigeria. So, when I got there to see what they were doing because they didn’t know I was coming, I saw people waiting in the queue, people that wanted to collect visas, and foreigners that wanted to enter Nigeria were not being attended to.
“I walked to the place because I appeared casual and I didn’t go with any convoy escorts. When I got there, I looked at the computer, the officer was supposed to give people visas, and what I saw was Big Brother Naija. Immediately, I told the officer to leave, since you like the air conditioner at the airport, they will redeploy you to another place.
“I know what the president tasked the ministers with. He said we must be briefing him on everything we are doing and how we achieve them because he wants the country to be better. How do you explain keeping foreigners that brought money to spend in our country? You kept them waiting while you watched BBNaija with the computer the government bought for you to do its work.”
