Tony Osauzo, Benin
The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has announced that it remitted N11,68 billion and $22,972 to the coffers of the Federal Government account in eight months, saying that the adoption of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) in its revenue generation would help shore up its revenue remittance.
It urged its personnel across the country to shun corrupt practices and acts that would compromise their patriotic service to Nigeria.
Comptroller General of Immigration, Babandede Muhammed, disclosed this in Benin City at the opening ceremony of the annual Comptroller General’s Conference.
“I am a strong believer in PPP because it leverages resources and enhances efficiency but not some of the PPPs we operate that exploit our resources and add little to our work.
“In 2018, we remitted the sum of N6,945,585,360 and $36,909,411 to the Federal Government of Nigeria as its share of the revenue we generated though Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects. This year, from January 1st to August 31st, we lodged the sum N11,682,009,761 and $22,972.38 into the coffers.
“Every immigration officer, serving and retired strongly believes that a review of some of the PPPs will double or even triple revenue at a time we are running a deficit budget. I must not be quoted out of context,” he said.
He said that it was only a disciplined service that can help in eradicating any form of corruption and help deliver in terms of the NIS mandate.
“We must all remember our vision where we want to be: a modern, people- oriented, effective and efficient immigration service, manned by the well trained and motivated workforce.
“You must assume leadership in your space of influence as my deputies, assistants or comptrollers of commands.
“You know very well that each one of you is the CG in your various locations. You must prove that you are capable of taking the mantle of leadership from me,” Muhammed said.
He disclosed that the service had been spending resources training its personnel on leadership, social and emotional intelligence to meet up with modern techniques in its operations, adding that the theme of the 2019 conference “Migration Management in a Developing Economy: The role of NIS,” was chosen because previous conferences dwelt more on security which had helped in improving the efficiency of the service.
He said in addition to developing plans for the consolidation of the previous successes recorded on security and internal monitoring mechanism of NIS, the conference would be on how the service would effectively contribute to sustainable growth and development of the nation’s economy in the face of current challenges.
In his speech, Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, called for the loyalty of Nigerians to the service of the nation, explaining that in view of that, there was the need for the nation’s border to be protected.
He said the borders are political construct and because Nigerians share political, ethnic and cultural affiliation with the neighbouring countries does not mean the country should not protect its borders.
“Our loyalty to Nigeria is non-negotiable. So, we must protect our borders,” the minister said and commended President Muhammadu Buhari on his decision to close the nation’s borders.
He said the Nigerian Immigration Service must ensure it delivers on providing world-class border and migration management services.
Declaring the ceremony open, Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, called for closure of illegal entry points into the country to curb nefarious activities of some illegal migrants, stressing that Nigeria must join other countries in tightening her porous borders to prevent illegal migration.
“There are about 1, 490 illegal entering points into the country and this is encouraging illegal migration into the country. Some of these illegal migrants commit crimes in the country and even have the Nigeria Voter’s Card. It is worthwhile for any country to develop a policy on migration as it is necessary to manage a country’s economy”, Obaseki said.
He, however, commended the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) for the introduction of the National Biometric Identity Card for Intra-ECOWAS Travel and Biometric Registration of Foreign Nationals as a new security measure in the country.
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