President Bola Tinubu has hailed the state of the art data technology driven passengers surveillance Centre built by the Nigeria immigration Service (NIS) which has led to the flagging and arrest of 10 high risk individuals within one week of installation.
The President, who gave the commendation at the inauguration of the centre at the Nigeria Immigration headquarters, in Abuja on Tuesday, stated that Nigeria is harnessing technology for better security and economic reforms.
President Tinubu while also acknowledging that passport is more of a security document, than a travel document, said however, that Nigerians can now travel with ease, do businesses with ease, and live peacefully with one another, when insecurity is fully eliminated
He said: “We are one family, living in the same house, but in different rooms and we must secure the country for the benefit of our children”.
President Tinubu affirmed that Nigeria, with its leadership status in Africa and over 200 million people, must embrace technology, innovation, and knowledge-based opportunities to drive a renewed process that will benefit all citizens.
He expressed optimism on the rejig of Nigeria’s immigration service, adding that re-prioritising air travel will benefit the nation tremendously and provide greater economic opportunities.
His words: “We at this stage with over 200 million people and a leader in Africa must embrace technology changes, innovation, and knowledge-based opportunities to drive a process that is greater for the generality and a vast number of people.
“We believe that if we rejig our immigration and air travel, we will benefit tremendously from economic opportunities it offers, ease of entry and exit.”
The President described the integration of air, land and water security outfits in the innovation data platform as a fulfilment of a dream.
“From the beginning of our administration, we promise to deliver and execute Innovative solutions across the government including the Nigerian Immigration Service. The integration of the security whether air, land or sea embarked upon by the Minister of Interior is a fulfilment of a dream.
“In only two locations of the world we acknowledged the passport as more of a security document than a travelling document and must be treated as such and that is what we are doing right now, given the position of the country as leaders in Africa I am proud to see the service taking it true place as a security outfit. I could see everything working together for the benefit of the country. With the Nigerian Visa Approval Centre, the country will provide a one-stop shop for visa applications”
President Tinubu assured that with the Nigerian Visa Approval Centre, citizens, Nigerians, and all visitors can now travel with ease and do business partnership with ease.
“Thank God today we achieved that and we are making tremendous progress”, the President said.
He added that ” the centre will also profile high risk levels of passengers, suspicious travel patterns, enhance video surveillance in the unnamed areas, especially along the border areas, as well as cross referencing of data with other international organisations
The data complex comprising a Command and Control and NIS data centre, also has the ECOWAS Biometric Card production centre, all located within the headquarters of the Nigeria Immigration Service NIS, Abuja
With the inauguration of the centre, Nigeria now joins six other African countries, with a well integrated passengers security system, a program that was first initiated about 18 years ago, under the regime of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, but was abandoned midway.
According to President Tinubu, “this project embarked upon, by you, is a great accomplishment, as this state of the art complex, will help Nigeria harness technology to drive development”
The President, who charged Nigerians to embrace technology and changes, added that ” We believe that if we rejig our immigration and air travel, we will benefit tremendously from the opportunity it offers for ease of entry and exit.
“By 2025 we could have achieved 100 present new passport regime.
“What you have achieved has given this country a great reputation not just within ECOWAS, but amongst other comity of nations.
The complex comprises of seven key components including a Data Centre, command and control centre , visa approval centre , ECOWAS centre , and a solar farm has already been described to you and the passport personalisation centre.
Earlier in his remarks, Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji- Ojo said Nigeria is expected to save over N300m annually, with the inauguration of the new technology
His words: “Nigeria was wasting billions every year, but with this state of the art technology, the country will save over N300m annually.
“The innovation is also expected to help all security agencies to work together and provide a speedy response to security challenges.
“We now have an ECOWAS travel document that will facilitate easy movement and travels and for the first time in the history of this country, we now have over 200 borders and we are fully in charge of the border governance, watching over them.
“We now have automated visa regime with 48 hours visa approval.
“In the area of Correctional information management, in less than three hours we shared information amongst security agencies during the flooding in Maiduguri”.
He commended the office of the National Security Adviser for creating an enabling environment for the project to progress seamlessly.
The Minister said the centre will operate 24 hours service, seven days in the week.
In her welcome address, Comptroller-General of Immigration Service, Kemi Nandap, said it now takes about 20 seconds to process Passport data information, at the point of entry amongst the five major airports linked with the data network.
She said: “This initiative will help tourism, facilitate trade and ensure that passports are approved within 48 hours, as well as help promote regional cooperation.
Nandap revealed how 10 high risk passengers were flagged and apprehended within the first one week of the installation of the data, noted that the country stands to gain new confidence from airport users, travelling to the country
According to her: “Within one week of installation, 10 high interest persons were flagged and arrested who had wanted to sneak into the country to cause security breach, using the technology.
“The Command and Control Centre will enhance passengers’ information management and national security.
“The centre is certified by relevant international organisation, including the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), to play a strong role in Nigeria’s efforts to manage immigration activities to ensure that Nigeria becomes a leader in efficient management of passengers migration data.
The CG said the centre will store passport data, monitor migration patterns and secure border crossings, entry and exit
“It will also enhance monitoring of regular and irregular migration flows. The development of data infrastructure will help Nigeria’s security management, with a digitally empowered future, secure our borders and enhance efficient management of passengers, by the Nigeria Immigration service”.
Deji Elumoye
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