Opinion: Bunmi-Ojo has earned his place of honour, by Kola Amzat
Not much is known about the Minister of Interior, Bunmi-Ojo until the provident launched him into the national consciousness with his appointment into the federal executive council as a minister of the federal republic of Nigeria by President Bola Tinubu.
He was reported to have been in the House of Representatives for two (2) terms of eight (8) years, and even, got appointed as Chairman of House Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) during his second term spell.
But, what has launched him into national prominence is the present ministerial assignment.
And, since he assumed office, he has not left any one in doubt that he’s in the office to register his footprints at the sands of time.
The youthful, suave, focus and very resourceful minister has taken absolute charge of all departments under the ministry. Within months, he has registered his dominant presence in all the arms of the ministry.
Unlike the immediate past helmsman of the ministry who essentially concerned himself with announcement of holidays while in office, this minister takes deep interest in all segments of ministry.
His first port of call on assumption of office was Passport office where he burst and dismantled cabal that had over the years turned issuance of passports into money spinning business, thus making life practically miserable and frustrating for Nigerians that need new passports, as well as those who desire renewal.
The cabal instituted a bureaucratic system that necessarily compel applicants to part with their fortunes otherwise, the cycle for collection of their passports is unduly prolonged.
Within weeks of his assumption in office, about 200,000 passports that have been in this quagmire were processed and subsequently delivered to their owners.
To further compound the woes of passports’ cabal, the minister has finalized arrangement that will enable Nigerians to digitally apply and take delivery of their Passports and even, within a stipulated timeline, thus drawing curtains on the concept of human contact in the issuance of passport.
Of course, the ministry cabal are never happy and comfortable that they’re out of business and are therefore prepared to engage in just anything, to get their pounds of flesh from the minister.
Meanwhile, his next destination was the correctional centers where he put in place corrective measures to halt the unwholesome practices that over the years have become the center’s trade mark, whereby top officials engage in unwholesome practice of shortchanging the inmates of food materials and other approved benefits from the government.
Also, he has instituted a strategic initiative meant to halt perennial jail break that has almost become a norm in Nigerian correctional centers.
He didn’t stop at this, on behalf of federal government, he paid a bulk sum of ₦4000/inmate, imposed over the years as fines by the courts which hitherto, financially incapacitated inmates couldn’t pay, a development that brought freedom to hundreds of them.
This laudable move also ensured decongestion of correctional centers across the nation.
Within this short time, the minister have also moved to collaborate with defense ministry with a view to protecting and securing Nigerian borders, particularly from dastard operational activities of smugglers and other hoodlums who have made our country borders their fortress.
His footprints and visible impacts in all the arms of interior ministry necessitated the federal government to move Nigerian Identification Management Commission (NIMC) to the ministry of interior.
And as expected, his resourcefulness and industry is already rubbing off, on this Agency.
Meanwhile, his developmental foray and strategic initiatives in all the arms of the ministry has caused generality of Nigerians to give him the sobriquet of poster boy of Tinubu administration.
Of course, few disgruntled Nigerians especially the cabal that he’s shut out of illegal and dirty business at the Passport office are very uncomfortable and intensely bitter with his rising profile.
The Betta Edu celebrated fraud case therefore presented his traducers ample opportunity to getting back at him. But, they might have chosen a wrong platform to strike.
Bunmi-Ojo and Betta Edu cases are mutually exclusive. While, the latter was alleged to have directly brazenly and recklessly invading the nation’s treasury at will like her predecessor, the former was been wrongly persecuted for an offence he’s oblivious of, and allegedly committed by a third party, a company that he WAS a director some years past.
The minister has made it abundantly clear to Nigerians that he resigned five years ago as a director of the company which Betta Edu mandated payment of about ₦438 million to, supposedly for a job done for the ministry.
As at the time of putting this Piece together, this assertion by the minister has not been denied by the security agencies, nor any other relevant organ of the government or even those who are agitating for his suspension.
For those who are hell bent to take the minister to Golgotha for crucifixion, are they oblivious of the fact that no one rises to exalted office of minister without a very resourceful past and productive cognate or public career antecedent?
Even though much younger in age, the minister have had a rewarding and very admirable public and private life, culminating in his rising to the post of a director office.
For emphasis, not less than six governors, as well as host of past senators and house of representative members, including captains of industry formed the present Federal Executive Committee.
And, this has been the same tradition and norm since the turn of 4th Republic in 1999.
Minister Bunmi-Ojo doesn’t just appeared from the blue. As aforementioned, he was a Parliamentarian in the House of Representatives for eight years. Of course, eight years tenure in the Lower Chamber is never a tea party.
The minister is therefore expected to be reasonably a man of means, as well as be in the class of privileged Nigerian, and business-minded enough, to have considered having reasonable stakes in some companies of his interest.
And, as a director of any company, he also have the freewill to retaining his directorship or exit, at any point in time by divesting his holdings. This is a fact that can’t be controverted.
Also, his exiting the company doesn’t stop the company from seeking business patronages from their existing business partners.
Are those who are determined to see off Minister Bunmi Ojo from the cabinet suggesting that his past involvement as a director of the company must necessarily foreclose the chances of the company from getting business from the federal government?
What should be paramount to those who are busy pursuing the minister is whether the concerned company merited the job contracted or not and even, dutifully executed the project.
The raging and vociferous clamour for the suspension of the minister is therefore unwarranted, and a mere distraction essentially borne out of jealousy, envy, strife, hatred being championed by the cabal at Passport office and their cohorts who were hitherto reaping bountifully from where they didn’t sow.
Fortunately, the buck stops on the table of President Bola Tinubu, who himself has been a victim of political intrigues, petty jealousy, character assassination, in its zenith and envy, in its very crudest form.
The president is of a discerning and very fertile mind, circumspect, a unique being, imbued with outstanding wisdom and never giving to pettiness, sentiment, triviality, and emotions in decision making.
Of course, the iconic and deep thinking Nigerian president holistically understands the game, perhaps better than anyone in the Nigerian political space, and more importantly conscious of where those disgruntled few are coming from.
I had submitted in one of my past contributions that this president is not one to be harassed, coerced and stampeded into taking decision.
Every case will be treated on its own merit.
Of course, the case of Bunmi-Ojo will not be an exception!
Kola AMZAT (FCA, FCIB),
Lagos based Financial & Management Consultants,
09077509348.
