The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, says President Bola Tinubu has approved the employment of 50 medical doctors and 100 nurses across the nation’s correctional centres’ hospitals.

Tunji-Ojo disclosed this on Tuesday when the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.

The minister said that the president’s approval followed the dearth of medical personnel in some correctional centres.

He said that the hospital in the correctional centre in Rivers had no medical doctor to render service to the inmates.

According to him, the equipment in some of the correctional centres, like Kuje, can offer major surgery.

“The President understands that he is the President of all Nigerians, including those inmates. And as father to all, he has always shown that he cares,” he said.

The minister said that the Federal Government had been training inmates via train-the-trainer programmes.

“We have been able to build capacity through what we call ‘train the trainer’. We did what we call inmate skills audits. We went to our correctional centres and tried to know the skills these inmates had.

“We now empower you to be able to train other people. Those people who graduate, we empower them.

“We have been able to sanitise. And the president has done too well by increasing their feeding allowance by 50 per cent,” he said.

Tunji-Ojo underscored the need for the Ministry of Information and National Reorientation to showcase and communicate the achievements recorded by the Ministry of Interior to the Nigerian public.

“We want you to come and see some of the things we have been able to achieve.

“And, in terms of our national security strategy, we want to collaborate more with you so that there can be a coordinated communication strategy.

“In NSCDC, we’ve created what we call the mine marshals in collaboration with the Ministry of Solid Minerals. Now securing our minefields.

“And you can see that the effect is there. There is a reduction in criminality and violence within this sector. And also, protection of critical national assets,” he said.

The Information and National Orientation minister called for improved collaboration with the Ministry of Interior to strengthen communication between the Federal Government and Nigerians.

Idris pledged to communicate the reforms executed by the ministry to the public.

“Our job is to ensure that whatever we do, whatever the administration does, the Nigerian public hears it and aligns with it. This is primarily our responsibility,” he said. (NAN)

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