The Nigerian government has announced a comprehensive overhaul of the recruitment guidelines for the Civil Defence, Fire, Correctional, and Immigration Services. Under this new directive, a substantial 35 percent of recruitment slots will be reserved for women.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this significant policy shift during the conclusion of the Board meeting for the aforementioned services in Abuja on Friday, January 19. Tunji-Ojo, representing President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, highlighted the importance of introducing complexity and variability in the recruitment process.
Present at the briefing were key figures including the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Caroline Wura-Ola Adepoju, the Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Dr. Ahmed Audi, the Controller-General of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), Haliru Nababa, and the Controller General of the Federal Fire Service (FFS), Abdulganiyu Jaji.
The Minister affirmed that the ongoing recruitment into the Federal Fire Service would adhere to the newly established guidelines, prioritizing professionalism, gender mainstreaming, and adherence to Federal Character principles.
“The federal government, through the Board, has approved the review of the guidelines for recruitment into and promotion in all four Services under the Ministry of Interior,” Tunji-Ojo stated, emphasizing that the overhaul includes the comprehensive modernization of the Nigeria Immigration Service.
The modernization efforts encompass training, recruitment, promotion, professionalism, capacity building, and the deployment of cutting-edge technologies. The minister highlighted that timelines for recruitment into all services would be released in due course.
However, he cautioned prospective applicants against falling victim to scammers, urging them to be wary of individuals soliciting money for recruitment into the fire service. “This is to appeal to Nigerians not to patronize scammers. Anybody asking you to pay money to be recruited into any of the agencies is a scammer. We are aware of their activities and will go after them,” he asserted.
Elaborating on the modernization of the Immigration Service, Comptroller-General Mrs. Adepoju emphasized a focus on capacity building and specialization along professional lines. This approach aims to ensure that promotions are merited based on competence rather than being a reward for redundancy.
