The Federal Government of Nigeria has commended the Gambian Government for granting women the opportunity to serve in the strategic positions of their Public Service.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Interior, Barr Georgina Ehuriah, gave this commendation when the Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede led a delegation to the Ministry from the Gambian Ministry of Interior who are in the country on a study tour of the Nigeria Immigration Service to her Office recently.
According to her, the number of women in the team is a clear indication of the commitment of the Government of Gambia towards the promotion of gender equality.
She further noted that Nigeria and Gambia share almost the same commitment in the promotion of gender equality, there is therefore the need for the two countries to strengthen their relationship towards ensuring internal security and citizenship integrity with the deployment of modern technology in the management of their borders.
The Permanent Secretary also revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is fully committed to ensuring internal security and citizenship integrity of Nigerians and as such, it will continue to collaborate with any country towards achieving the mandate particularly in the area of capacity building.
She expressed optimism that the Gambian Immigration Department (GID) would achieve a lot from their Nigerian Immigration Counterparts at the end of their study tour and assured them that the Service will continue to collaborate with the GID in the area of capacity building, e-border management and the fight against all forms of crimes and criminality, with the view to ensuring internal security in the country, there by promoting Foreign Direct Investment in line with the policy thrust of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Barr Georgina Ehuriah who also commended the International Organization on Migration (IOM) for its partnership with the Ministry that had led to the birth of the Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS), a means of ensuring cost-effective and comprehensive border management information system in Nigeria, noted that it has helped the nation to build capacity.
The Leader of the Gambian Delegation and Permanent Secretary, Gambian Ministry of Interior, Moussier Assan Tangara, described the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) as a model service in the continent.
He said that the Gambian Immigration Department (GID) was going through a reform process, hence it came to Nigeria to share common interest and also to understudy the successful reforms embarked upon by the country’s NIS.
He added that during the training, the Nigerian Immigration Service had fully furnished its officers with materials and up-to-date equipment that will ensure that all bottlenecks in the Gambian Immigration Department (GID) are tackled for enhanced services to its citizens because Nigeria, he said, runs the biggest MIDAS project in the whole world.
In his remarks, the Comptroller General, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede said that the first crop of the Gambian Immigration Officers were trained at the Premier Immigration Training School, Kano about 30 years ago, hence the long standing relationship through the years between the Immigration Agencies of the two Countries.
Babandede who also appreciated the GID team for their choice of Nigeria in view of the recognized relationship that span years of fruitful growth, noted further that the present Director General, GID was a product of the Nigeria Immigration training, he added that the visit was a sign of support and value addition.
He explained further that since the arrival of the GID in the country, NIS had put the visitors through a series of training, enlightening them on the number of reforms the Agency had embarked on in recent years, which had lifted its status to a world class Immigration Service.
SIGNED
Mohammed Manga
Director (Press & Public Relations)
For: Permanent Secretary
