Tunji-Ojo Calls for Stronger Partnerships to Secure Borders

Minister of Interior Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has urged universities, security agencies, regional institutions, and development partners to form stronger alliances to enhance border security, migration management, and regional integration. Addressing the opening of the African Borderlines Research Network (ABORNE) 2026 conference in Lagos, Tunji-Ojo highlighted the need for evidence-based border management approaches that remain practical.

The four-day event, themed 'Connected Borderlands, Socio-Cultural Integration, and the Centrality of Policy, Research, and Security,' gathered experts to discuss Africa's security, integration, and development challenges.

The conference aimed to bring together scholars, policymakers, practitioners, and development partners to explore issues surrounding Africa's security, integration, and development. It comes as Nigeria modernizes its approach to migration and border management, focusing on biometric identity systems, passport administration, automated border control, and technology-enabled border security.

Tunji-Ojo praised Lagos State University (LASU) and ABORNE for co-hosting the conference, emphasizing the importance of academia and practitioners working together to tackle contemporary security issues.

Lagos, the host city, serves as a major gateway for people and goods movement via its land connections, seaports, and international airports. Thus, its selection as the conference location demonstrated the strategic importance of the state in discussions on security, mobility, trade, community interaction, and regional integration.

Tunji-Ojo stressed that border communities, often the first to experience the impacts of insecurity and irregular migration, should be viewed as valuable partners in security, peace, and development. He emphasized that research should help governments anticipate emerging challenges instead of just explaining past events. The ABORNE 2026 conference served as a platform to strengthen the relationship between knowledge and action, communities and institutions, and national security and regional cooperation.

The minister called for practical, collaborative, and sustainable solutions to border management challenges, urging participants to move beyond identifying problems and focus on developing viable strategies. He expressed hope that the partnerships formed during the conference would persist beyond the event and contribute to policymaking and practice across Africa.