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NIGERIA Immigration Service (NIS) has sensitized officers on the need to eschew all forms of corruption as it is the greatest bane to development and urged officers to embrace effective and efficient service delivery as being driven by the Comptroller General, Mr. Muhammad Babandede.
Assistant Comptroller General Nigeria Immigration Service (ACG NIS) Zone A, Mrs. Doris Braimah made this known today while declaring a joint NIS Anti Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU)/SERVICOM sensitization and Enlightenment Program for Focal Desk Officers across formation open.
According to the ACG passion, dedication and loyalty were key in ensuring a corrupt free service calling on officers to change attitude especially since the service is the face of the nation and whatever impression is formed from first contact tends to remain.
According to Braimah Immigration is a very important part of Nigeria and the service needs to protect the country as an entity and as an organization.
In a later interview, Briamah said,” You heard me talking to them earlier on the need to be passionate and patriotic and I think I want to use the word patriotic at this time because there must be a driving force in every human being whether you are an immigration officer or not. If you know that you need to protect something then you go out all the way to ensure that things are done properly. “
“So, the officers I have spoken to them on the need to be passionate about their jobs and ensure that they protect their job, because if you have a job today and you protect It; it means you have a job tomorrow. But if you go about your job nonchalantly without due concern, you will lose that job because corruption is something that is wrong and against development so if you intend to sustain a certain system, that system must be devoid of corruption.”
In a lecture held earlier, Deputy Comptroller Immigration, Mosun Oyilede told officers present that a lot of officers did not know what issues were termed as corruption and stated that they needed to know.
She also said that being part of the ACTU unit required a lot of self-control, discipline, honesty and transparency. She also said the person needed to be humane and rationalize their judgment for the greater good.
She explained,”We are here on a sensitization program and as I said in the morning as an anti-corruption unit, it is assumed that many officers do not know what corruption issues are so we are supposed to go round, sensitize them educate them and let them know the issues, and the impact of corruption on immigration as an institution and Nigeria as a country.
“You know as officers, when you know you have been entrusted with power by your nation, it will guide you and it will give you a passion in any area you are given opportunity to serve and that is why we are here. Once officers are able to know the ills of corruption and their effects on their lives, on the organization and on the nation at large, I think it will guide them.”
Deputy Controller Immigration SERVICOM, Larai Mohammed Zakari stated that SERVICOM is all about effective and efficient service delivery but that is voided once there is corruption in the mix.
Mrs Zakari also highlighted that the NIS has been getting a lot of feedback on its service delivery stressing that so far the feedback has been more positive than not.
She said,“As you know SERVICOM is all about effective and efficient service delivery and you cannot have that without being corruption free that is why we did this joint sensitization for our staff on the need to deliver service free of corruption. Our Comptroller General, Babandede is always on this system of corruption free attitude towards work. That is why when we moved the proposal for this sensitization, he approved immediately, knowing full well no organization will thrive without a corrupt free system in place.
“Continuous sensitization is the keyword, last year around this time we had the same sensitization, this is a follow up of what we did last year and to God be the glory there was improvement with service delivery. We receive feedback in and out of the country, you know we have a contact centre some call us to make enquiry, some call to say what they feel about immigration some they call to say thank you for the reforms the comptroller General has put in place in the service, so from response we know there is an improvement.
