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By: Manoah Kikekon
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| CPP Obua, retired Comptroller of Immigration, EO Gbemudu, the Comptroller Immigration Service Lagos border patrol command, Dera Nnadi, the Customs Comptroller at Seme Border Point, and DT Audu, pcc, jp, the Comptroller Seme Border Command. |
Dr. Willie Aziegbe Eselebor, a former assistant Comptroller of immigration, has said there is a need to shift from border management to border governance to enhance seamless migrations in Nigeria.
This was disclosed on Thursday at the celebration of the 60 years anniversary of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Seme Border Command, and Lagos State Border Patrol Command at Seme Border Badagry, Lagos State.
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In the paper presented by CPP Obua, retired Comptroller of Immigration, and representing the resource person, Dr. Willie Aziegbe Eselebor, at the anniversary,
The speech partly reads:
There is a need to shift from border management to border governance to enhance seamless migrations, which will help Nigeria Immigration Service move towards safer, more orderly, and more regular migration. This should entail:
a. Fostering dialogue between policy stakeholders at the national level on migration issues, through the establishment of inclusive governance structures;
b. Adopting the Migration Governance Framework in line with African Union Border Strategy, Agenda 2063 and in the context of the GCM.
c. In dealing with our neighbours that are colonized by France, promote an inclusive dialogue on how to facilitate safe and orderly migration.
d. Use the Migration Governance to measure progress on SDG 10.7 on safe and orderly migration through well-managed migration policies;
e. Carry out regular monitoring and evaluation for progress on seamless migration;
f. Build on inter-linkages between migration and development, and what potentials intra-African migration holds in reducing irregular migrations;
g. Adopt technology to manage migration, making it seamless using MIDAS, ENBIC and other biometric identity facilities;
h. Engage with the border communities, since they are critical stakeholders in the business of bordering, mobility and security of the environment;
i. Make regular migration stress-corruption free, so as to encourage those in irregularity to back-track into regular migration.
DT Audu, pcc, jp, the Comptroller Seme Border Command, said he is happy about this celebration as he started work many years ago and grew to this level. "I am happy I'm part of this.
"We have good numbers of Nigerians today that are travelling through the right channel with the proper documents. If you want to leave this country, get your passport and go through the authorised route. This service has made most of the officers, and they must give back to society," he added.
EO Gbemudu, the Comptroller Immigration Service Lagos border patrol command, said, "Nigeria Immigration has improved tremendously in the past years, international passports can be acquired easily, and the current Comptroller General has promised to do more.
"I will encourage the officers to learn the job very well, and Nigerians should get the right information and documents before travelling outside the country," he said.
In his address to the pressmen, CPP Obua said, "There is a course for celebration 60 years in the life of a human being is not a joke and in the life of an institution like the NIS.
He said, The important thing is that NIS has survived 60 years since 1963 when it was established by act of Parliament. The Immigration Act of 1963, which has undergone a lot of transformation over the years, was reviewed in 1992 and also in 2004, and today we are proud to say we have a more robust Immigration Act of 2015.
Nigeria Immigration developed from the Department of Nigeria Police Force in 1958, where NIS operates under the immigration ordinance. By the 1980s, when the statutory responsibility of the Service was increased, border patrol, passport management, visa issuance, and sending our officers abroad for training were added. The introduction of technology to the issuance of e-passports, which is tamper-proof document, improves the prestige of Nigeria as a nation.
He further said, "Migration all over the world is affected by push and pool factors, the push factors are socioeconomic factors that push people out of their country, and the pool factors are favourable climates outside where there are better opportunities, for people to do things that are not available in their country.
"The Nigeria Immigration Service has been on the right track by carrying out sensitization activities all over the country. The high point of this year's anniversary is the road walk to create awareness about the dangers of irregular migration.
"No matter what promises the syndicate that smuggles humans out of the country makes, Nigerians should know that the danger out there is real.
"If they don't die crossing the Sahara desert, they are likely to meet the Huddles while crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Travelling through any of these routes should be totally discouraged.
"Every family should advise their children, and faith-based organisations should join the fight to discourage the followers from this elicit, illegal, and life-threatening act among the youths. People should know that no matter where they go, there are poor people all over the world. It is just for us to harness our resources with the help of the government to create an enabling environment."
Dera Nnadi mni, the Customs Comptroller at Seme Border Point, said, "We also appreciate our partnership on border management. You can not trade in goods and services along the border without human beings carrying out the activities. The cargo Customs generate money from is being carried by human beings, either as drivers or owners, who cross the border.
These are the partnerships we share, which translate into the revenue we collect as Customs and into the border security that we enforce. On a border like this, which cuts across five countries, the job we are doing is very important, particularly now that we are surrounded by countries that were colonised by the French and have similar cultural identities.
"I will say they should sustain the inter-agency cooperation, both with other agencies and with their counterpart on the border from Banning Republic," he added.