A TRIBUTE IN HONOUR OF COMMANDANT/CIS, DR. MRS. NGUNAN TAR
How time flies, the Commandant was recruited into the NIS on April 20, 1988. In spite all career progressional challenges, she rose to the rank of CIS.
It is important note that Dr. Mrs Tar was one of the few Comptrollers who duly participated and are patiently waiting for the outcome of last year's promotion interview to the rank of Assistance Comptroller General of Immigration (ACGIS). Even in retirement, therefore, I am confident she will soon be called upon to be decorated with the rank of ACG to the glory of God Almighty!
Born on March 29, 1962, Comptroller Tar began her academic pursuit at Local Government Education Authority (LGEA), Primary school, Harga in Katsina-Ala, Benue State. Through due diligence and commitment, she persevered in the pursuit of knowledge until she successfully defended her Doctorate Degree (PhD) in 2018.
In her career as Immigration officer, she traverse the length and breadth of Nigeria until she too over as Commandant NITSA in 2020. It is instructive to note that this dedicated CIS was the first to be Commandant of the great training institution with that hard earned doctoral title thereby raising the status of the office she occupied in the school.
Let me state that should NIS has the dream of upgrading one of its training schools to university status like the Nigeria Military and the Nigeria Police are having today, the educational qualification of its staff members have to be enhanced and Commandant Tar is one of the few specimens in the service that can be referenced and emulated to realise the idea.
Under Commandant Tar's stewardship, NITSA had the highest number of Deputy Comptrollers of Immigration (DCIs) and Assistant Comptrollers of Immigration (ACIs). Prior to her taking over as Commandant, the school often had one DCI but currently the number has skyrocketed to five (5) each major departments of the school headed by a DCI. This indicated that the status of NITSA has, indeed, being raised in terms of manpower supply.
Commandant Tar is an index of discipline. She is highly disciplined and a consistent disciplinarian anywhere she finds herself, be it at family, work place or community level. She has always maintained that rules are sacred and ought to be maintained as sign of loyalty to constituted authorities or institutions.
The Commandant always referenced her childhood and adulthood sense of obedience and responsibility. For instance, she said once her parents instructed her and her siblings not to step out, even if all the doors or gate of the house is flung open, she will not go out. Also, she noted that, even as young girl then, after cooking in the family house, her mother will always insist that the pot used for the cooking must be properly washed before eating. Those disciplines, she recalled, were faithfully maintained by her, hence, the least beaten amongst her siblings.
This virtuous mother is hard working and has always shown great passion in all she does. During the 24th Inspectorate Basic Course in NITSA, this workaholic mother will always go to the kitchen to ensure food is properly cooked and served to 660 trainees. In those routine inspection visits, the commandant shown great enthusiasm and desire to even take over the kitchen utensils and participate in the cooking process and, interestingly, in her full service uniform. I am yet to see a regimented superior military or paramilitary officer who will go so low to do such task as cooking while his subordinates (cooks) watch and learn from like that.
I realised that this charismatic mother, Tar cannot assign a task she cannot do herself. This made her a reliable mentor worthy of emulation.
Mrs Tar is, indeed, a highly proactive model leader whose taste for details is legendary. In other words, she is highly punctilious and her uncompromising quest for standard is next to none. You cannot work under this great superior officer and leader without parting with the culture of transparency, accountability and decorum as personal virtues. She abhors all forms of lies and cannot shy away for immidiately rebuking her staff but always doing so in love. That is what makes the difference in her approach to discipline.
For the Commandant also, human beings are carriers of virtues, gifts and talents which can be harnessed and deployed for use to advance human progress. However, she knows, also, that no individual or group of individuals are indispensable. Her disposition is that individuals or people who, with impunity or sheer carelessness, sturbonly refused to activate their unique potentials towards advancing human and institutional progress should be excused to try the sun from other climes. In fact, indolent people makes Commandant Tar allergic!
CIS Tar is a pragmatist. She is highly adventurous and her drive for innovations is insatiable. She is very opened to fresh ideas and with strong, superior and convincing arguments, Mrs Tar will humbly set aside any decision she would have taken otherwise but certainly not doing so at expense of Institutional and moral best practices. She believes no system should be static and so determined to unbundle or set aside any outdated dogma that cannot add any value to human human society.
Dr. Mrs Tar is a woman of faith. She fears God and totally depend on Him to use people to get great task accomplished. It is her strong conviction and believe that with God all things are possible. It can be deducted from her mindset and philosophical disposition that whatever cannot be done now could only have been limited by time and knowledge.
Commandant Tar is indeed a respected phenomenon. She is an enigma whose trade in stock can be commissioned for men who wants to succeed in life to under study and gain great virtue. No philosophical and value stand point defines CIS/Commandant Tar's world view than the profound adage that says: "Anything that is worth doing is worth doing well"!
Without sounding immodest, I have the conviction that Dr. Ngunan Tar, a great Amazon, shall go down in the annals of history of Nigeria Immigration Service and, particularly, NITSA) as one who came, saw and, by the grace of God, duly paid her dues in the advancement of the system!
Commandant Tar is a dedicated farm with special interest in Mushroom farming. She is married with four well trained children: Wilma, Terhila, Terkura and Favour. This great mother is also very a patriotic and passionate peace ambassador who is making silent effort in peace building initiatives, especially, in Benue State, Nigeria through Global Peace Women Foundation, an international Non-Govermental Organisation (NGO) with headquarters in United States of America (USA).
Let me sincerely thank Commandant Tar, my boss for the confidence she reposed on me and the honour of directly serving under he as Special Assistant (SA). It was a rewarding experience working closely with her in NITSA. Even though I tried to do my best, I cannot be sure her confidence and expectations of me were fully made. Therefore, I take responsibility for all my errors and do sincerely apologise for same. I also appeal that she never ceases trying me (or even others) because my shortcomings couldn't have been delibrate but just that I am fallable. My loyalty is extended and if I should have another opportunity, nothing stops me from serving under Mother Tar!
Let me prospect and project here that the last of this celebrated woman in the mirrow is yet to be heard. As the Commandant/CIS, Dr. Mrs Ngunan Tar, pcc+, mspsp, JP, gallantly bows out of NIS after 34 solid years of meritorious service, I sincerely pray she finds even greater opportunities to serve God and humanity in the days ahead and doing so in good health too. May the fruits and memories of her modest investments in Nigeria and NIS, in particular, continue to satisfy and give her sustained joy even in retirement.
When i consider that others out there who started this same journey with Ngunan Tar could not last to see their retirement days, I can only but say she is a favoured woman. Happy retirement, Happy birthday to a leader-cum-mother so idyllic!
*Ayuba, Yilgak'ha (SI), Special Assistant to the Commandant/CIS*
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