Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Magdalene Ajani says the future of Nigeria is dependent on how well she manages her borders
Ajani disclosed this in lagos at an international roundtable on policy and governance reforms in Nigeria’s Immigration and Border management, organized by the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the Nigeria Immigration Service
She noted that with adequate surveillance, the Ministry of Interior under its minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has taken a critical look at Nigeria borders management in the faces of the nation’s security challenges hence the need for some reforms, which are technological driven to address the issues.
Ajani stated that “This reform is a continuous thing, we have just started and we are looking at global best practices in securing a land Border of over 4,000 kilometres and a water Border of over 800 kilometres”
The Permanent Secretary disclosed that these reforms have already started in Phases.
“We have the E-border security, which is in Phases. Phase one has been completed and it covers 1,000 kilometres of land Border. The Federal Government through the Federal Executive Council has approved the Phase two, the phase too is going to give us additional 1,000 plus kilometres, am talking about E-border, that Nigeria is implementing”.
She further explained that “Beyond that surveillance, we have also, as a nation keyed into Public key Indicators PKI, and the Public key Directorate PKD.”
“So what that means is that for people who are coming into our nation, we are able to profile them through just putting in their details and also, we are connected to the Advance passengers information API, and then Migration information Data Analysis System MIDAS. So with all these integration in line with international civil aviation organisations ICAO, what happens is that anybody coming into the country, we have detailed information about them ahead of their arrival”
Ajani noted that with all these in place, those who are on the watch list can be identified, as they share their information with the relevant agencies on what to be done, as such people can no longer come into Nigeria
Still on the reforms, the Permanent Secretary also stated that “We talk about our E-gates that are been implemented in the international Airports”
“Lagos and Abuja is fully functional, Kano and Port Harcourt would come alive by May 2026, and Enugu airport is being worked on. Nigerians will come in, and under 40 seconds, we are able to scan their passport and have a biometric capture of anybody arriving, adding that the long queue of people waiting to go through immigration is tining out, because you do this in seconds for individuals.’
“If we take Lagos Airport where we have three terminals, we actually have like 8 E-gate in each of them, and so that can help decongest the waiting time and then free up our officers to attend to non-Nigerians”
Ajani expressed optimism that in the future as technology is being perfected, the Service can be extended to Non- Nigerians, also coming into the country.
She further disclosed that beyond the international airports, the land Bordersis also being worked on
“But we have not covered our 4,000 kilometres of land borders. But for the legal land Borders which are over a 100, this same process happens over there.
She listed other reforms in the Immigration Service that had improved services overtime. They include removing ambiguity on requirements, and simplifying processes through technology to improve immigration services and efficiency.
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