The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed during the closing ceremony of a weeklong capacity-building training for personnel of the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS.
The capacity-building training is one of the measures adopted by the NIS to document everyone visiting the country.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration introduced the visa-on-arrival policy in 2020 as a short-stay visa issued at the point of entry.
According to Tunji-Ojo, the Federal Government would introduce landing and exit cards, which prospective visitors will pre-fill before coming into the country in place of the visa-on-arrival policy
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He emphasised the need to harmonize the immigration data centre and have integrated solutions for decisions that have to do with migration into Nigeria.
He explained that such harmonization would make it impossible for approvals to be given without the clearance of Interpol, the criminal records system, and all background-checking agencies in real time.
Tunji-Ojo said security is not a sector where one can afford to be 99.9 percent correct, but that one has to be 100 percent, adding that they believe it is better to make decisions based on objectivity rather than subjectivity.
He added that it would lead to the cancellation of the visa-on-arrival process because the visa-on-arrival is not a system that works.
According to the Minister, technology must take its place.