From Chidi Nnadi, Enugu
Before now, the Nigerian Immigration Training School (NITS) situated at Umuowa-Orlu, Imo State, was a neglected institution.
Thus it was littered with decaying infrastructure that training of officers in the facility became a nightmare.
Not only that, then light was a celebrated feat whenever it blinks while most of the buildings looked ramshackle.
However, all these are changing for the better in the last couple of months after the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration, Mr Mohammed Babandede, in his wisdom sent the Comptroller of the Nigerian Immigration, Mr Dominic Obetta Asogwa, to revive and give life back to the training school.
And true to his directives, Asogwa upon arrival to the school has taken up the gauntlet that has now made the institution which is one of the four immigration training schools in the country to start wearing a new look.
Today, Asogwa’s good works in the school has brought so much joy to the members of staff and students that they have dubbed him saviour and performing commandant.
When recently some journalists visited the school, there was no doubt that it was gradually undergoing rigorous infrastructural transformation with the staff and students’ welfare placed on top priority.
Some of the members of staff and students of the school who spoke to the newsmen poured encomiums on their ‘performing commandant.’
They revealed how they had waited for this much since the establishment of the school for this to happen to no avail until the coming of Asogwa on December 14, last year.
The Dean of Students Affairs of the institution, Glori Onyedinachi Ohiri, noted that the commandant is “more than an honest man with a good heart.”
According to her, people used to see the school as a forgotten institution, “where there was no life” but on Asogwa’s arrival, “he came with light and a whole lot of good things.
“In the past, there was no light or water; students including directing staff go outside to buy water whenever they come around. But when the commandant, Dom Asogwa, came he said we can’t keep living like this and turned things around immediately.
“He is a man of great performance, he is an achiever. At some point we even nicknamed him a weeping commandant because if Abuja refuses to hear us, he will go and cry on our behalf.”
The dean recalled how the school’s collapsed library was renovated; the dining hall and a number of other structures under construction were completed.
“The commandant is a man that loves God and I pray that the God he serves and honours will keep on blessing him and his family. I pray that he keeps on waxing stronger and the glory of God shall be upon his life,” she prayed.
Also speaking, the Staff Officer of the school, Moses Oruabena, disclosed that the commandant “couldn’t even enter his office when he came” because of how it was.
Oruabena, who is also the directing staff, ECOWAS and African affairs in the school, went down memory lane to explain the processes Asogwa went through to get the attention of the immigration headquarters in Abuja about the institution.
His words: “He took photos of dilapidated infrastructure and sent a report to the service headquarters alongside the album. And so with that album, the controller-general knew that actually there is need to reform this place because pictures are worth more than a thousand words.
“He met a compound that was almost like a thick forest and for a start, he hired the youths of this community to clear the grasses at his own expense. But to maintain that structure, he decided to declare environmental day once every week involving all members of staff with him taking the lead.
“He came with a mission to transform this place and to ensure that this school is seen as one of the best institutions in the country. He came with the zeal to carry out his life-saving mission and by the grace of God today he has been able to do so.
“He also teaches the students one of the subjects – immigration management – so he is not just a commandant, he participates in everything we do.”
A teacher in the school, Ibian Itoh Ikpi, who said he has been in the school for four years, disclosed that prior to Asogwa’s coming; the infrastructure of the institution was an eyesore.
“We had structural as well as infrastructural problems, but today, 80 per cent of these problems have been solved courtesy of the new commandant,” he said.
A facility tour round the school indeed showed an infrastructural reawakening in it, which the members of the institution, said was a sharp contrast to what has been in the past.
Also speaking, the commandant, Mr Asogwa said that it has not been easy since his assumption of duty in the school.
His words: “When I was posted here I was very happy to come to this place; it was the trust the comptroller general had in me that made him to send me here. The situation was deplorable, but I was not deterred. I saw myself as a bulldozer and I knew I needed to get down to work immediately.”
According to him, he has earlier been in the school as directing staff as well as dean of discipline, saying that his past experience has, therefore, helped in his line of work as the commandant.
He also expressed optimism that the comptroller general would do more to make the school meet global standards in all ramifications.
“The comptroller general is not relenting, he is aware of the facilities needed here and I can tell you that, but for the global economic recession, our amiable comptroller general would have put them in place. But be that as it may, he is interfacing with a lot of organizations; he has the ability to make things work despite the economic challenges,” he said.
The commandant said that they have enjoyed a very cordial relationship with the host community just as he called on well-meaning individuals in the society to support towards the growth and well-being of the school.
Asogwa had also during the graduation ceremony and passing out parade of the 21st Inspectorate Basic Course where over 500 students were officially send forth reiterated how upon his resumption of duty on December 14, was confronted with a myriad of challenges to grapple with.
“But I was not perturbed instead was determined to make the school better than I met it. I quickly articulated the challenges and forwarded to the man of the moment, the Comptroller General of Immigration Service, and all are now history. In fact, virtually all the challenges have been taken care of, the school now wears a new look,” he said while soliciting further “the provision of some basic needs the institution needs such as staff quarters for the directing staff, vehicles for the commandant and buses for the schools, construction of ultramodern ICT centre, among others.”
The Comptroller General, Babandede speaking during the graduation ceremony and passing out parade, also congratulated Asogwa for his doggedness and commitment to transforming the infrastructural development of the institution in line with the service’s capacity development initiatives.
Babandede also congratulated the school and the graduating students for their successful employment into the immigration service.
He told them that the Nigerian Immigration was presently undergoing reforms, saying “I am optimistic that the training you have received will help equip you to conform to the reforms of the service.”
He also commended the directing staff and officers of the institution for their dedication to duty as well as the host community for their hospitality and accommodation.
The graduation ceremony and passing out parade was graced by many dignitaries, including the Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau who was represented by the ACG of Immigration and a Commissioner in CDFIP Board, Ado Jar Far (RTD.), the Comptroller General of Immigration Service; Babandede; Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State who was represented by his Deputy, Prince Eze Madumere, among others.