The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has inaugurated a 105-room hotel, an investment of the Correctional Service Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society (COCOS) of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) in Abuja on Monday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the hotel is located at the NCoS Headquarters premises, Bill Clinton Drive, Airport Road, Abuja.
Aregbesola at the inauguration said that the facility was a product of strategic thinking and efficiency on the part of the leadership of the correctional service.
He said that the strategic location of the hotel close to the airport would provide proximate accommodation to travelers for local and international flights.
According to him, for a very critical organ of government like NCoS, any effort to boost the morale of personnel is commendable and also a step in the right direction.
He commended the initiators of the co-operative society for making it a sustainable financial support base for officers and men of the correctional service.
“More so, COCOS has remained relevant in bringing the government’s philosophy of personnel welfare, to reality.
“The Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to strengthening public institutions can hardly be attained without adequate staff welfare.
“It is particularly gratifying to note that COCOS has not only remained viable in providing financial succor to staff, but has stepped up to become an enviable enterprise capable of providing more dividends to all members.
“Classical economists tell us that the path to economic development is through savings and investment,” he said.
Aregbesola commended the personnel for their commitment to saving, adding that saving required personal financial discipline and sacrifice since public sector workers hardly had surplus income.
He added that savings energised the financial system while investment expands the economy, provides jobs and boosts government revenue, thereby enabling the government to perform its duties to the people.
The minister advised that the management of the facility be left in the hands of a professional manager to ensure that it would be found attractive by anyone needing the serenity and quietude of the countryside.
He also commended the immediate past Controller General of Corrections, Ja’afaru Ahmed, for conceiving and nurturing the project to fruition.
Speaking, Acting Controller General of Corrections John Mrabure said that the cooperative society was established primarily to serve as frontline support that would provide financial succor to personnel of NCoS.
Mrabure said the cooperative had lived up to its bidding, adding value to the lives of serving, retired and deceased personnel through prudent and efficient management of pooled resources.
He said it was in a bid to further guarantee the buoyancy of the corporative and give members more value for their money that the idea of investing in the hospitality industry was considered.
According to him, this profitable innovation was championed by the immediate past Controller General of Corrections Ahmed, whose disposition throughout the journey to where clearly demonstrates his passion for the welfare of staff.
“The magnificent edifice you see today began sometime in April 2020 and it has 105 rooms of different specifications, with the basic features of a standard hotel, poised to deliver excellent hospitality services,” he said.
In his goodwill message, the Comptroller Gen of Nigeria Immigration Service, Mohammad Babandede, commended the initiative of the COCOS to come up with such a magnificent project, saying it was a challenge for other cooperatives to learn from.
Babandede said that the Immigration cooperative society had learnt something from the initiative of the correctional multipurpose cooperative.
