Tag: Immigration boss

The Comptroller-General of Immigration (CGI), Alhaji Mohammed Babandede, yesterday  said the issue of porous borders remained the major challenge facing Immigration officers at the moment.

According to him, the numerous porous borders is militating against the ability of the officers to have control of the entire borders of the country.

Babandede, who spoke while taking delivery of two class room blocks and two boreholes, executed for the Immigration training School in Kano by Bristow Helicopters, said:” No country in the world that is not facing border challenges,” adding that it has an Herculean task controlling the 140  borders, across the entire country.

For effective border control, Babandede, while thanking Bristow Helicopters for the good gesture, stressed the need to have spread at the borders, adding that the recent establishment of Immigration Technology Building by President Muhammadu Buhari, is to serve as a data and Command centre for Nigeria.

By the establishing the Technology building, the CGI, said the training centre is an everlasting legacy that will enhance learning and capacity building, as well as, expressed confidence that entire concept of border security has been revolutionized, which means we will be able to patrol, based on  the concept of technology.

”I am glad to say that this will change the method  of border control, which would no longer be physical, as it would be purely based on technology on what is happening at our borders. The duty of Immigration is to ensure the entry and exit of screened people, so, we will be able to tell all security agencies of the threat of unwanted persons, like those, who want to enter our premises. That is the revolution.

”We can’t do 21st century crime, with an 11th century mindset. We are going to be ahead of the criminals.”

In his keynote address, Bristow Managing Director, Captain Oladapo Oyedipe said, we chose to assist Immigration, adding that when you are leaving and entering the country, the Immigration Service is actually the face of Nigeria.

”Invariably, they are the last people you will see on your way out and probably the first people you will see on your way in. So, it is important that they are trained to the highest standard that you can find globally.”

” So, for us, we see this as the way of enhancing that ethos in training schools to develop and bring out the best of the Nigerian Immigration Service, it is an extension of what we do already. So, we are very proud to be part of this history.”

In his address, the Commandant of the Training School, Idris Olusegun, thanked Bristow management for building the two class room blocks, for the training of cadets at the superintendent level.

According to him, it will, among others enhance the capacity building of the Immigration Service toward advancing service delivery to the next level.

The Comptroller General (CG), Nigeria Immgration Service (NIS), Mohammed Babandede yesterday flayed the management of the NIS Staff Multi-purpose Cooperative Society for exposing the contributions of the members by putting them in fixed deposits in commercial banks.

Babandede described the decision of the cooperative as an unwise investment strategy which could lead to loss of the shareholders funds.

Addressing the 1st Annual General Meeting of the cooperative  in Abuja, Babandede advised the association to invest the money in low risk investments such as bonds and treasury bills.

The CG complained that cooperative management had not been submitting their audited reports to him as the Chief Executive Officer of the cooperative, noting that it was his duty to ensure that the contributions of the NIS staff are safe.

He noted that some state comptrollers were in the habit of misappropriating the cooperative fund, stressing that the cooperative management must convince him that the money in their care was safe.

The CG said, “If money is collected from my officers, I want to know how it is spent, it is my responsibility to do that. It is not enough for someone to say the money is safe, I want to see it safe. It is not enough for someone to publish a report and claim the money is safe.”

“They (the cooperative management) are supposed to submit audited report every year and it is submitted to me, I have to make sure it is not cooked or falsified,” he added.

The immigration boss observed the omission of accrued interests from the fixed deposits and frowned on the failure of the cooperative executive to submit audited reports annually.

He cautioned the association against keeping idle funds in the banks, noting that the money cannot yield any tangible turn over if  it was not properly invested.

The CG said, “I also saw a lot of cash in the pool, but this is just enriching the banks, the money should be invested in bonds and treasury bills. Keeping lots of money in a bank is risky because the bank can go down.

“I look at your book but you didn’t say anything about the interest from the fixed deposit. I don’t  see the fixed deposit as an investment strategy, I don’t see the interest and I want to see it.”

He queried the engagement of of seven workers by the cooperative, adding that the management would be given more staff if need instead of wasting money on wages.