Interior Minister Olubumi Tunji-Ojo says all International Airports in the country will have E-gates come February 2004.
The Minister who made this known in lagos stated that the E Gates will eliminate the regular interaction between the Officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service NIS with passengers upon arrival at the Airport.
He stressed that “By February, once you are a Nigerian and you are coming into your country,,you have no business with an immigration officer, unless you are a person of interest, there is a security concern”
“So what we are doing is to have what we call the Advance passenger Information system and once we have that, we have your records before you come. Immigration can do what we call pre profiling, as it is done abroad and once you come to Nigeria, just tap your passport, look into the camera, once you are good, you clear and you go. You Don’t need an immigration officer ”
Tunji-Ojo said that these are things being down in Airports in other parts of the world. “We see how Americans enjoy the privilege of being American in JFK, we see how the British enjoy that privilege when they get to Heathrow Airport, why can’t Nigerians enjoy that in Nigeria ”
He stressed that the February date is important for effective planning because they want to be under pressure to deliver, as he has no business being a Minister if he cannot stand pressure to deliver on set targets. “So we give timeline to that, you would be able to hold us responsible based on timelines and service delivered, so by God’s grace, E-gates will be in all our Airports live and Direct in Nigeria ”
The minister also disclosed that the first consignment of the E-gates will arrive on Tuesday and will be for Abuja Airport.
The interior minister however expressed Appreciation to the minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo for being so helpful in achieving this and showing that they are all a part of one government, as it is all about collaborative efforts and support for each other
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