Nigeria had records of only 40,000 expatriates when we took over – Tunji-Ojo

Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has disclosed that when he assumed office about three years ago, official records showed only about 40,000 expatriates working in Nigeria, a figure he said was impossible for a country of 200 million people.

He spoke on Friday at the closing of a training on border control and immigration management for officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service NIS.

“We got into a system where, by official records, we had maybe about 40,000 foreigners or whatever working in Nigeria. In a country of 200 million, that is not possible anywhere in the world.

“And when you do not have the data of those foreigners residing in your country, then how do you manage their affairs? How do you monitor them? How do you monitor someone that you don’t even know exists?” He queried.

Tunji-Ojo recalled that the ministry was then overseeing “an agency that should be technologically driven,” but “that wasn’t the case.” He said the ministry decided that “Nigeria cannot continue to be at the mercy of inefficiency.”

According to him, the answer was to build what he called the Centralised Interior Management and Administration System, which is bringing the records of the correctional and fire services, and civil defence, into one portal.

“Harmonisation of data, strategic handshake of data generating and processing agencies is the only way to have a single point of truth,” he said.

He said the reform had ended the problem of multiple identities. “We had people then, one person with two, three different passports. But today, that is history,” he said.

The minister said the NIS “of today is one of the most technologically advanced immigration services in the world.” He added that the ministry now has a 10-year technology roadmap and a data centre of “over eight petabytes,” which he described as one of the biggest in Africa, with its command and control centre running completely off-grid on solar power.

Tunji-Ojo also had a warning for technology vendors. “Any vendor that is not ready to transfer knowledge to you has no place in the Ministry of Interior,” he said.

Earlier, Comptroller General of the NIS, Kemi Nanna Nandap, said the Border Management Information System BMIS now holds over 15 million migration records, but “that number is not the achievement.”

She told the graduating officers that technology would not replace their judgement. “An alert is not a verdict,” she said.

Nandap set five standards for the officers, which she described as “non-negotiable”: accuracy, integrity, judgment, readiness and accountability.

On integrity, she said: “Do not share your credentials. Do not search records out of curiosity. Never use this platform to grant favours, or to settle scores, or to facilitate improper passage. Any such abuse will be investigated and punished.”

She said the programme would be judged by its results. “We will judge this programme by outcomes, not ceremonies,” Nandap said.