Metro
NIS Holds Capacity Building Training for Newly Deployed Passport Control Officers
The Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola has declared a Two-Day Capacity Building Workshop for newly posted Passport Control Officers (PCOs) at the Service Headquarters, Abuja.
The Workshop with the theme “Effective and Efficient Service Delivery: An Imperative for Maximizing the Gains of the Passport Reforms toward a Seamless Passport Issuance Process”, is aimed at familiarizing the newly deployed heads of Passport Offices across the country with the basic operational knowledge of the electronic Passport environment.
A statement by the Service’s Public Relations Officer quoted the Minister as urging participants to utilize the opportunity offered by the training to acquaint themselves with all aspects of the workings of the electronic Passport to enable them acquire the required competence for enhanced productivity in their Stations.
The Minister remarked that as the main drivers of the ongoing Passport reform efforts, PCOs should be well grounded in Passport operations to enable them to regularly demonstrate the needed technical and leadership skills for improved service delivery across all the Passport Issuing Centres. This he noted shall be exposed to them during the workshop and thus called for maximum concentration to the lectures to be delivered by the resource persons.
He assured that government shall continue to provide innovations that would evolve a seamless Passport application and processing system to not only restore and sustain the integrity of the process but also ensure that the national Passport is issued to only eligible citizens. He therefore called on the PCOs to regularly exercise due diligence in screening and vetting of source documents to ensuring that the national Passport which is the highest symbol of nationality does not get into the hands of non-citizens.
He commended the management of the Service for the efforts made so far on Passport operations which have resulted in the issuance of about Three Million Booklets since 2019 to date despite the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minister while assuring that any Personnel caught to be involved in frustrating the ongoing reforms to deliver an efficient Passport system shall be severely sanctioned also promised that the operating conditions of many Passport locations shall improve very soon.
In his remarks, the acting Comptroller General Isah Jere Idris stated that the Service will continue to sustain and improve on its commitment to training and retraining activities for its personnel with a view to deepening their competences for acceptable service delivery. He maintained that the burden of carrying an untrained or poorly trained workforce is enormous particularly for a technology-driven agency such as NIS. He further stressed that there was no better time to organize training programmes for the PCOs than now considering the ongoing project of migrating the current electronic Passport structure to the enhanced electronic Passport regime which of course requires a huge deployment of ICT infrastructure.
The acting Comptroller General recalled that upon assumption of Office last year September, he embarked on the exercise of clearance of backlog of Passport applications in various Passport issuance Centres. The effort he said “has resulted in the clearance of all backlogs of applications in the South West geopolitical zone and parts of the North Central especially in the Centres that have migrated to the enhanced electronic Passport regime. Similar exercise was carried out in the South East recently leading to about 80% success rate while efforts are being made to attain a 100% production and issuance across the Centres.
During the two-day workshop slated for the 12th-13th April 2022, the participants shall receive lectures on the role of ICT in Passport administration and issuance, expositions on modern skills in leadership as well as the primacy of customer satisfaction in service delivery among others. Participants at the workshop include all the Forty-five (45) Passport Control Officers who were deployed across the States following a Staff Posting Order that was released last Month.
A stray bullet has allegedly killed a student who was heading to the examination centre to sit for the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination being organised by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The incident happened on Gbagi market road in the Egbeda Local Government Area of the state when a stray bullet allegedly fired by a police officer in pursuit of a suspect hit and allegedly killed the student on Tuesday.
Investigations revealed that the boy was on a motorcycle with his father and twin brother when the incident struck.
The student, according to multiple eyewitnesses, was on his way to the examination centre.
One of the sources, simply identified as Ajani, said, “A police officer opened fire while chasing a fleeing vehicle. One of the bullets reportedly hit the student. The student was riding on a motorcycle with his father and twin brother.
“The victim was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Another witness said, “The deceased was on his way to the examination centre alongside his twin brother when the tragedy happened.”
Meanwhile, irate youths took the student’s lifeless body to the state Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, to demand justice and called on Governor Seyi Makinde to intervene.
The deceased body has been deposited at Adeoyo Hospital morgue.
As of press time, authorities have not released an official statement on the incident.
The Punch
The Joint Action Committee of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU)and Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) have condemned the recent distribution formula for the N50 billion earned allowance approved by the Federal government for university-based unions.
The unions expressed their displeasure in the sharing formula in a jointly signed statement by the President of SSANU, Mohammed Ibrahim, and the General Secretary of NASU, Peters Adeyemi on Sunday in Abuja.
The Federal government last month approved the release of N50billion to universities as earned allowances.
The N50billion is to be shared between the Academic Staff Union of Universities; NASU, SSANU and National Association of Academic Technologists.
The statement said: “We wish to make it clear that this is not a contest of supremacy among unions. Rather, it is about fairness, recognition, and the equitable treatment of all workers who form the backbone of the Nigerian University system.”
The unions further demanded a review and reversal of the allocation formula, which they describe as “grossly unfair” and “totally unacceptable.”
The unions argued that the distribution was capable of creating industrial disharmony and accentuating the teaching/non-teaching dichotomy in Nigerian universities.
They vowed to stand united in demanding justice, fairness, and recognition of their rightful place in the university community.
They warned that going ahead with the unfair distribution will breed resentment and trigger widespread industrial disharmony.
“Non-Teaching staff of Nigerian Universities are not second-class citizens but are critical stakeholders who contribute immensely to the day-to-day functionality, administrative efficiency, research excellence, technical operations, and overall development of the Nigerian Universities system.
“A harmonious and productive academic environment can only be achieved when all stakeholders are treated with respect, dignity, equity, and fairness,” the statement added.
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police incharge of Zone 2 Command, Onikan (comprising Lagos and Ogun States) on Saturday led Police officers on a fitness walk to enhance their physical wellness, mental health, and emotional well-being. The Walk which stretched from the Zone 2 Headquarters in Onikan to Eko Atlantic City turning on Ahmadu Bello Way, to Adeola Odeku and back to the Zone 2 covered about 10.2 km, the National Association of Online Security News Publishers (NAOSNP) can report.
The exercise, which was undertaken to complement the job of police officers as it demands high level of fitness and health, was to avoid breakdown and collapse, while in and out of duty.
Police officers are known to be on constant move throughout the day, standing for long hours under the rain and sun, and are always under intense pressure in the cause of performing their duties, hence the need for the walk.
Addressing a cross section of NAOSNP members after the tasking but refreshing fitness walk, AIG Adegoke Fayoade stated: ‘This walk is a strategic instruction of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun that we need to be healthy for the job. The Police job is a very tasking job and we require fitness and health to do the job. That is why we decided to do this Walk on a regular basis, it helps us to perform our job effectively which is round the clock.’
‘My charge to our Police officers is that we need to be fit for the job. During leisure, take out time to engage in exercise. It lowers blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol. Today we did about 10.2km, last time we covered 8.5km, maybe next time, we will do 15km.’
The Zonal Police PRO, Zone 2, CSP Umma Tunni Ayuba added: ‘This Walk plays a vital role in mental fitness which impacts what we do on a daily basis. It is also a means to unite us as officers and engage with members of the public. You can see that some members of the public join us because it goes a long way in the health of an individual.’
‘I didn’t know we did as much as 10.2km because it was fun and enjoyable with good music, like they say, ‘music is life’. I encourage officers to continue to engage in exercise, don’t wait for something to happen to your body before you look for what to do.’
The walk was spearheaded by the Zonal Sport officer, SP Mattias and Lagos State Command Sport Officer, ASP Abayomi Sonaike, SP Mattias and Supol Alex of Zone 2. ‘We thank God that we have an agile AIG who is concerned about our fitness and health. Our AIG Adegoke Fayoade knows that walks will help our agility to do the job better,’ ASP Abayomi Sonaike remarked.
