Nigeria will soon introduce a Digital Travel Certificate (DTC) to improve security at the country’s borders and improve travellers’ experience in line with best global practices, according to the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji Ojo.
The minister disclosed this in Abuja at the closing ceremony of a two-day capacity building for personnel of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on the use of the Advanced Passenger Information/Passenger Name Record (API/PNR) solutions, organised by Newworks and led by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) specialists.
A DTC is a digital representation of a traveller’s identity, designed to temporarily or permanently replace a conventional passport.
“It includes the holder’s facial image, biographical data, and security features, and can be validated using the issuing authority’s public key infrastructure.
These certificates are part of efforts to streamline and secure international travel, making it easier to verify travellers’ identities and vaccination statuses digitally.
Speaking about the imminent deployment of API/PNR by Nigeria, Tunji-Ojo said, “We are not stopping here. The next one we want to go into once we deploy this, we’re already thinking of our DTC, digital travel certificate.
“API, PNR, done. But there are so many other solutions to be done. So AITA, we will work, and we are ready to collaborate with you. If there are border control solutions across the globe that you know for an emerging economy like ours is necessary, please, we are ready to collaborate. The Ministry of Interior is ready to collaborate, and we will not rest until our borders are 100% protected and secured.”
He charged the officers to put what they have learned into practice in all the international airports in the country, assuring that the government would continue to improve their capacity to handle new technologies being deployed.
Speaking earlier, the Controller General of the NIS, Kemi Nana Nandap, said this training was specialized and is the first of its kind.
“We’ve trained almost 100 officers for this two-day training, and it was a specialized training specifically for the API and the PNR project.
“What this does for us is the fact that our borders become more secure. Clearance at the airport is more target-based.
“And also for the service, it’s a wonderful achievement, because, as you know, border security is our major and our core mandate, and having the PNR and the API keeps us better monitoring of our borders and also in terms of cross-border crimes, it gives us proactivity in terms of visibility of these crimes. We see them before it happens. We are better prepared to handle these eventualities.
“What that does for us is that our borders are safer. Clearance of passengers is also faster and more seamless. And with the API and PNR, we pull data from the airlines, so it gives us that foresight in terms of who is coming into our country. Who do we want in the country so we are better prepared in terms of response time,” she said.
She said the Service had been planning to introduce the API and PNR for almost 14 years without any success, commending the minister for his leadership.
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