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In a bid to stem the rising challenges of insecurity as well as ensure economic cooperation and integration of the African Continent, the National Boundary Commission (NBC) is aiming to set up an initiative to arrest security threats arising from the border of the country.
Director General of the NBC, Surv. Adamu Adaji made the disclosure in his welcome address at a one-day program put together by the Commission in conjunction with the Borno State Boundary Committee for the creation of a platform for Local Border Authorities in the North-East Border States of Nigeria.
Themed: “Transforming Borders from barriers of separation to bridges of co-operation and integration”, the program was predicated on the need by the Federal Government to proactively harness the abundance of the human resources available in the country towards attaining peaceful coexistence between Nigeria and her proximate neighbours as well as to facilitate Cross-Border Cooperation and Regional Integration.
In his welcome address, Surv. Adaji, who was represented at the event by the Acting Director, International Boundaries Department Hauwa Abdul-Ismail, charged participants to be purveyors of peace in their respective domains, stressing that promoting peaceful coexistence should be everybody’s concern.
“During the 4th Conference of African Ministers responsible for Border management which was held in October 2016 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, it was unanimously agreed that Africa’s peace and security are directly intertwined with good border governance and the attainment of sustainable developments in the borderlands.
“Border State Governments and Border Local Governments that are far from national capitals have a critical role to play because of their proximity to the borders and borderlands”.
The Director General reminded participants that it was in the realization that it will amount to a herculean task to abandon the task of effectively policing the length and breadth of the nation’s expanse territory spanning approximately 4500km land border and about 850km stretch of maritime boundaries that informed the decision by both the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to engage the services of both the Regional and Local authorities who are the main gateways to our nations in providing support for effective policing.
He, therefore, urged the various Chairmen and the Traditional Rulers to engage their counterparts in the neighbouring countries, noting that this strategy will assist in the cross-border development initiatives that would aid in proffering on-the-spot solutions to some of the security challenges plaguing the nation as well as strengthen opportunities for cross border economic development.
He disclosed that the platform will be replicated across all frontiers of Nigeria maintaining that it could serve as a veritable platform for translating the decisions of the Border Governors Forum into concrete actions and also serve as a vehicle for regular engagement of local authorities and Traditional institutions and the proximate countries.
In his remarks, the Deputy Governor of Borno State and Chairman of the State Boundary Committee, Honourable Umar Usman Kadafur represented by the Honourable Commissioner of Inter-Governmantal Affairs/ Deputy Chairman Borno State Boundary Committee, Pogu Lawan noted that the creation of the platform is an indication by the Federal Government to sustain the synergy among critical stakeholders through regular engagements with a view to strengthening the long-lasting relationship that started since the colonial era.
According to him, the initiative would also serve as a platform to mitigate the daunting challenges being faced at the border communities by instituting projects of common benefits geared towards enhancing the existing relationships with neighbouring countries and uplifting the standard of living amongst border community dwellers.
He said that the Borno State Government is relentlessly making efforts to bridge the infrastructural gap occasioned by the Boko Haram insurgency in the past decade in the state and some other states within the region.
He expressed optimism that Nigeria will be able to stem the menace of transborder insecurity and also open the window of opportunities for economic cooperation as well as attain joint venture development between our neighbouring countries if all relevant government bodies responsible for border management both at the federal and state levels make concerted efforts towards achieving this objective.
He commended the National Boundary Commission for its proactiveness in reeling out the initiative geared towards the implementation of the African Union programmes “Integrated Border Governance Strategy and Convention on Cross Border Cooperation” for promoting an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa.
Speaking at the occasion, the Executive Secretary of the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA), Capt. Junaid Abdullahi, represented by the Director Planning, Inter-Governmental and Community Relations, Sadiq Abdullahi pledged his Agency’s continued partnership with all relevant government and non-governmental organizations towards the implementation of effective border management policies as enshrined in the Agency’s Strategic Action Plan (BCDA-SAP) for the development of all border communities in the country.
He stated that the BCDA has established Zonal Offices across the country to enable it to conduct Needs Survey Assessment with the active participation of stakeholders to help it deliver on its mandate.
He lauded the commitment of the National Boundary Commission for ‘running’ with the decision reached at the National Workshop on the establishment of the National Consultative Forum for Chairmen of State State Boundary Committees of Border States recently held on the 12th of October, 2022 in Abuja towards the implementation of the African Union Border Governance Strategy.
Borno State has the longest Boundary in Nigeria, covering a distance of over 900 kilometers spanning across three countries, states and 9 local government areas.