The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has made it easier to keep our borders safe. They have started using smart technology that watches the borders all day and night.
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who is the Minister of Interior, shared this news. He talked about it when welcoming new officers, 123 of them, who will help at the NIS Command and Control Centre.
This new system looks closely at Nigeria’s land, sea, and sky borders nonstop. Tunji-Ojo said, “With this, our country is better at keeping our borders safe.”
“We now join a few other countries where Immigration Officers can watch borders 24/7 in real-time,” he added.
He explained that now that the technology is ready and the officers are trained, it’s a big step forward.
“Today, we welcome officers who have learned well with lots of training and new tech tools,” he said.
The Minister mentioned that this new technology is part of Nigeria’s bigger plan to keep the country secure using smart ideas.
Working with the World
With this new technology, Nigeria can work better with other countries. The tech will help NIS team up with groups like Interpol to make borders safer.
The Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said, “This lets us work well with Interpol and other security groups worldwide.” This means Nigeria can share and get help from others globally to protect their borders.
He also said, “I am happy with what the Nigerian Immigration has done, and I hope they keep doing great things.”
Why It Matters
The government wants to make Nigeria safer and stop bad activities. So, they are trying hard to manage how things move in and out of the country.
- The government started using better tech at the borders. This means they put in cameras to see what’s happening at all times.
- Back in October 2019, the government decided to close all land borders. They stopped both legal and illegal trade to stop dangerous goods from coming in while boosting local businesses.
- Then, in December 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the opening of four land borders: Seme, Illela, Maigatari, and Mfun after being closed for more than a year.