By Ibironke Ariyo
The Federal Government has appointed and decorated 15 new Deputy Comptrollers General, Deputy C, controllers General, and Deputy Commandants General (DCGs) of the four paramilitary services under the Ministry of Interior.
The 15 decorated DCGs were among the 79 senior officers recently promoted including Assistant Comptrollers Generals (ACGs) and Comptrollers
across the four agencies.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure while decorating the newly promoted senior officers on Wednesday in Abuja.
Tunji-Ojo said that the promotions were justly done as the era of nepotism was over.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that out of the 15 DCGs, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has the highest, seven; the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) with four; the Federal Fire Service (FFS) has one; and, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has three.
The minister, who acknowledged the backlog of promotion, said that the promotion of personnel of the four agencies had been regular since the inception of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
He, however, wondered why some officers had for years been stagnated on one rank due to no fault of theirs.
“But under President Tinubu’s administration, personnel of the service do not need to know anyone for them to be promoted.
“My charge to you is that the paramilitary agencies should never remain the same. As a matter of fact, we are hungry for innovations.
“The era of nepotism is gone and I will repeat what the president always says that, at any point in time, we can only say we have a country to be proud of when the son of a nobody can become somebody without the influence of anybody.
“I do not need to know you, but I want to feel the impact of your work. For 2024 promotions, we are almost done.
“Unfailingly, before the end of September, promotions will be effected. Never again will you be denied your promotion on the altar of where you come from or others.
“For those writing petitions, when they need more papers, we will supply. Let them write more. Everybody decorated here today deserved it.
“For those of you aspiring to higher offices, if you are hardworking and you know your job, please, you don’t need any godfather.
“A lot of people who are decorated today, they should have been decorated about four to five years back but they had no voices. This is why the Renewed Hope is here for all,” he said.
The Interior Minister charged the newly promoted DCGs to redouble their efforts in helping the president to achieve the Renewed Hope agenda in their respective agencies.
Earlier, Ja’afaru Ahmed, secretary of the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board (CDCFIB), expressed satisfaction that 79 senior officers have been promoted to their next rank in the four agencies.
According to him, the NIS got 22, FFS had 12, NCoS got 22 while the remaining 23 were from the NSCDC.
Ahmed said that the current administration had ensured that annual promotions were concluded within the year of promotions unlike in the past when some promotions were carried over to another year.
The 15 senior officers promoted to the position of DCGs in NCoS are Abolade Benson, Mamman Hamisu, Ado Sale, and Olanrewaju Amora, while the NSCDC had Pedro Ideba, Mohammed Haruna, and Ayuba Philip.
The NIS had E. Anietum, Ada Umanah, M. C Dike, George Didel, Umar Turkur, Afolayan Ayeni, and Baffa Nagode, while DCG Olumode is the only one from the FFS present.
Some dignitaries present at the event include the Comptroller General, NIS; Kemi Nandap: Commandant General, NSCDC, Dr. Ahmed Audi; Controller General, FFS, Engr. Abdulganiyu Jaji and the Controller General, NCoS, Haliru Nababa among a host of others.