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Uzodinma tasks NIS on strict migration guidelines
Gov. Hope Uzodinma of Imo has urged the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to commit to strict migration guidelines for intending entrants to the country.
Uzodinma made the call on the occasion of the 60th anniversary ceremony of the NIS organised by its Imo Command, in Owerri, on Tuesday.
The governor who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Prof. Placid Njoku, urged the service to be more proactive about issues of illegal migration with a view to preventing movement of unauthorized immigrants.
According to him, illegal migration, if left unchecked, could leave the country welcoming individuals whose motives for entering the country could be dangerous, thus contributing to insecurity.
“A lot of people who enter Nigeria through porous borders have no good intentions for the country and pose serious security threat.
“ You must therefore redouble your efforts in the area of border patrol and an insistence on strict immigration guidelines “, he said.
Delivering a lecturer, Chief Joachim Olumba, a retired Comptroller of Immigration, listed duties performed by the Service to include the attraction of foreign direct investments through the administration of the Nigerian Visa Policy as well as air border control among others.
He spoke on the theme: “ Migration Management in Nigeria, Its Essence and Implication
,for National Growth and Development “.
He congratulated the NIS on another successful anniversary adding that it has been a story of many breakthroughs despite challenges.
Earlier in an address, the command’s Comptroller, Mrs Nkechi Ezugwu, thanked the governor for providing the enabling environment for the activities of the Service in Imo and promised to work collaterally with relevant stakeholders in line with the mandate of the Service.
Also speaking, the Assistant Comptroller-General in charge of Zone “E”, Mrs Angela Okoye, commended men and officers of the Command for their patriotic sacrifices and assured them that the management of the Service will continue to restructure for improved services and welfare of officers.
A former Minister of Interior, Capt. Emmanuel Iheanacho, urged the NIS to continue to build on their successes with a renewed commitment to national security.
The event was attended by all Heads of military and paramilitary outfits in Imo as well as religious leaders and traditional rulers.
Aug. 1, 1963, Immigration Department came of age when it was formally established by an Act of Parliament, Cap I71, Laws of the Federation Nigeria.
The head of the department became known as the Director of Immigration.
The Immigration Department, as it was known then, was entrusted with the core immigration duties under the headship of the Chief Federal Immigration Officer (CFIO) and the first to sit on that chair was Mr E.H. Harrison.
The department in its emergent stages inherited the Immigration Ordinance of 1958 for its operation.
Following some structural reforms and Government white paper on Oct. 1, 1992, the designation of “Director of Immigration” was changed to “Comptroller General of Immigration Service”, thereby granting the Service a para-military status.
Thus the last Director of Immigration became the first Comptroller General of Immigration (CGI) in the person of CGI Garba Abbas.
Subsequently, the Service has come a long way in its march towards reformation and restructuring to be better positioned for the implementation of modern migration management.
This period saw changes in the organizational and operational structure of the Service and which were inevitable towards accommodating the added responsibilities as well as emerging regional and sub-regional political alignments.
These included the introduction of the ECOWAS and African Affairs division, Aliens Control and Border Patrol Management and such other added responsibilities for the Service.
Furthermore, in 1988, the Service was saddled with the responsibility for the issuance of all Nigerian travel documents which included the Nigeria Passports.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Anambra State Sector Command, has confirmed the death of a woman in an accident at Okpoko Market on the Asaba-Onitsha Road.
The Sector Commander, Mr Adeoye Irelewuyi, who confirmed the accident to journalists in Awka on Thursday, said that the woman was hit while she was crossing the road.
He said that the accident, which occurred on Wednesday, involved a commercial tow truck with registration number XA550BMA.
“Eyewitness report reaching us indicates that the truck was towing a vehicle in an uncontrollable speed along the axis.
“The vehicle that was being towed got detached from the tow truck.
“It hit and killed a female adult, who was said to be crossing the road, while the tow truck continued its movement.
“FRSC rescue team came to the scene and took the woman to Toronto Hospital, Onitsha, where she was confirmed dead and her body deposited at the hospital’s mortuary,” he said.
While sympathising with the family of the dead, the sector commander urged motorists, especially tow truck drivers, to exercise a high level of professionalism.
He also urged the drivers to always use standard equipment and avoid speeding.
The Chairman, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Lagos State Chapter, Mr Mojeed Iyiola, said the state government’s maize palliative to members of the association made a positive impact on the sector.
Iyiola said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.
“We received about 150,000 tons of maize in February from the Lagos State government as palliative to cushion the effect of high feed prices.
“The major benefit of the palliative is that it actually cushioned the cost of production for most poultry farmers in the state.
“The palliative was beneficial as it made the cost of some poultry produce, especially eggs to drop,” Iyiola said.
He noted that prior to the palliative, a crate of egg was sold between N3,500 and N3,700 at the farm gate, but after the palliative, it now sells between N3,200 and N3,400.
According to the PAN chair, retailers and middlemen who sell from N3,800 to N4,200 do that for their personal gain.
“We have urged our members to sell their eggs at reasonable prices following the receipt of the palliative from the government.
“We appreciate the Lagos State government for the palliative but we also urge the federal government to do likewise, to further reduce the cost of production in the sector.
“This will consequently lead to drop in the prices of all poultry produce across board,” he said.
He said the palliative was shared among financial members of the association at no extra cost.
“As an association we shared the grains equally across PAN’s eight zones in the state equally. We also mandated each zone not the sell even a grain of the maize.
“We, however, considered new poultry farmers who wanted to the join the association as beneficiaries of the palliative,” said Iyiola.
He noted that through the palliative, more poultry farmers were recruited into the association.
“The maize was shared only to poultry farmers and not feed millers, it is the major component of poultry feed formulation,” he said.
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