ABORNE 2026: Stakeholders Seek Human-Centred Border Management and Stronger African Integration

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ABORNE 2026: Stakeholders Seek Human-Centred Border Management and Stronger African Integration

Stakeholders at the 2026 annual conference of the African Borderlands Research Network, ABORNE, have called for stronger collaboration among governments, security agencies, researchers, development partners and border communities to improve migration and border management across Africa.

The five-day conference, being held in Nigeria for the first time, is hosted jointly by Lagos State University, LASU, and the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, under the theme, “The Connected Borderlands, Socio-Cultural Integration and the Centrality of Policy, Research and Security.”

Declaring the conference open, the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, represented by his Senior Special Adviser on Policy, Dr Karimu Olajuko, stressed the need for a human face in border management, with host communities treated as critical stakeholders.

“Building resilient borderlands requires us to see border communities not merely as populations to be secured, but as partners in security, peace and development,” he declared.

The Minister called for a balance between Nigeria’s efforts to modernise migration and border management through biometric identity systems, improved passport administration, automated border control and technology-enabled security, and the need to facilitate legitimate travel and regional mobility.

He described the conference as an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between knowledge and action, communities and institutions, as well as national security and regional cooperation.

“Research must help us anticipate tomorrow’s challenges, not merely explain yesterday’s problems,” he stressed.

Representing the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Commissioner for Tertiary Institutions, said African countries must ensure that their borders serve the legitimate interests of sovereign states while supporting the aspirations of continental integration.

“For generations, African communities have traded across frontiers, intermarried across territorial boundaries, shared languages and traditions, and maintained social relationships that predate the modern states in which they now live,” he observed.

He stressed the need to protect national interests without undermining African integration.

“The challenge before us is how to ensure that our borders serve the legitimate interests of sovereign states while also supporting the aspirations of African integration.”

The Governor also highlighted the importance of education and research, urging universities to remain connected to societal challenges and provide platforms where policymakers, practitioners and academics can engage meaningfully.

In her welcome address, the Vice-Chancellor of Lagos State University, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, described the hosting of the conference as part of the university’s commitment to producing knowledge that responds to Nigeria’s and Africa’s development challenges.

“This gathering is much more than the hosting of an international academic conference. It is an affirmation of our university’s commitment to producing knowledge that responds to the realities of our country, our continent and its development,” she declared.

Prof. Olatunji-Bello urged stakeholders to view borderlands beyond territorial boundaries.

“The theme invites us to look beyond the border as a line and to see the borderland as a living space where people, cultures, languages, markets and histories intersect.”

She highlighted LASU’s Bachelor of Arts programme in Border and Migration Studies as part of the institution’s response to the growing need for specialised knowledge on migration and border governance.

“Research needs practice, practice needs research, and both need policy. That is the triangle within which meaningful border governance must operate,” she added.

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Mrs Kemi Nanna Nandap, called for collective action against transnational threats, including human trafficking, migrant smuggling, identity fraud, organised crime, terrorism and cyber-enabled crimes.

“Addressing them requires us to work differently and, importantly, to work together,” she urged.

Nandap highlighted Nigeria’s progress in modern border management, recalling that the country became the first African nation to introduce the electronic passport in 2007.

She pointed to subsequent improvements, including enhanced e-passports, biometric features, automation of passport applications, identity verification and centralised passport personalisation.

Technology, however, must complement rather than replace human expertise.

“Technology cannot replace professionalism, experience, judgment and integrity of the officers entrusted with the securing of our borders,” she cautioned.

Nandap also placed border communities at the centre of effective border governance, emphasising their knowledge of local environments and cross-border activities.

“They should therefore not be regarded merely as populations residing at the geographical margins of the state, but as essential stakeholders and strategic partners in promoting secure, peaceful, resilient and prosperous borderlands.”

She advocated a balance between security and the ECOWAS principle of free movement, stressing that “security and regional integration should reinforce rather than undermine each other.”

Nandap further disclosed that Nigeria remained committed to partnerships in border technology, biometric identity management, cybersecurity, surveillance, intelligence sharing, capacity building and research.

She envisioned a border system that would be increasingly digital, biometric and intelligence-led, while retaining a human-centred approach.

“It must also remain human-centred—protecting the state without separating communities, facilitating legitimate movement without compromising security, and using technology without losing sight of the people behind the data,” she added.

Chairman of ABORNE, Prof. Paul Nugent, urged African countries to take the continent’s rapidly changing urban and migration dynamics seriously, particularly with cities such as Lagos projected to become among the world’s largest urban centres in the coming decades.

He identified migration, urbanisation, cross-border trade, climate change, disease control and political instability as issues requiring urgent attention from researchers and policymakers.

Nugent stressed that migration was deeply rooted in Africa’s history.

“Africa has been a continent of migration over many, many centuries, long before borders were established.”

He also drew attention to the contribution of small-scale cross-border trade to regional integration, pointing out that its scale was often poorly captured in official statistics.

Border points, he added, remain major obstacles to the efficient movement of goods along Africa’s transport corridors.

Nugent reaffirmed ABORNE’s commitment to bringing academics and practitioners together to develop practical responses to the challenges facing African borderlands.

The conference has brought together scholars, policymakers, practitioners and development partners from Africa, Europe and North America for five days of deliberations on migration, border security, socio-cultural integration, trade, research and regional cooperation.

The opening ceremony featured academic presentations, a traditional Yoruba cultural dance performance and the presentation of awards to distinguished personalities, including the Lagos State Governor and the Minister of Interior.

The United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, was among organisations represented at the conference.