By Dapo  Akinrefon  & Emman  Ovuaporie

OUTGOING Comptroller General of Immigration, Mr Chukwurah Joseph Udeh, in this interview, speaks on how he re-engineered a re-organisation in the Immigration Service through Information Technology, among other issues. Excerpts:

By Tuesday, June 29, you will be exiting the service.  What is the legacy you are leaving behind?
I do not like blowing my trumpet, all you need to do is to use my performance as a yardstick; and my guiding philosophy about life is the truth and the fear of God. When I left the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1978, little did I know that I would rise to the pinnacle of my career. I assumed office as the CGI in 2005 and I told myself that my primary mission here was to make the Immigration Service IT driven which I think we achieved within the last five years.

In specific terms, in what areas did you excel?
tWell, I introduced ICT into the Service and it was the first of its kind as all those difficulties relating to payment of salaries were eradicated. Another major first is our being the first African country to host ICAO’s regional conference, the first African country to be e_passport compliant. They are numerous. Also, I reviewed the country’s visa policy to enable us attract foreign investors.

Migration management in Nigeria has been one major source of concern particularly managing our sister countries. How do you think the recently flagged off e_registration for Africans can reduce the influx of these people or checkmate their activities?

We simply tagged it ‘Know Your Neighbor’. We got them registered and issued them an identity card for easy identification because that man who guides your house without being registered could pose a security threat to your life, but once he is registered we know who he is and know how to locate him.

It is a continuous exercise as it going to be a nation wide exercise. As you saw when the biometric capture exercise was done it is glaring that we have their finger prints and their pictures stored.

Because of our on-line registration, we had to equally put our lands and borders on line, networking our border buildings and lands have recorded tremendous success.

How does the Service intend to handle the rush when the deadline for the old readable machine passport expires this year?
We know that Nigerians like last minute rush and we have beaten them to it. Towards this direction, we have opened offices in 15 missions world wide to help stem the tide of those Nigerians who do things at the last minute. We are prepared for the challenge. My exit from service  will not in any way affect anything, the structure on ground is very solid.

To achieve all these we had to build IT centres across the country where we sent our men to work. We had to recruit willing applicants and create an enabling environment to make them work and realise their potentials. We created forensic units that are of world standard that other agencies use to carry out tests.

How were you able to surmount the challenge as people do not like change particularly when they are used to the old order?

There was resistance, because that was initially done, it became automated, all the holes were blocked and we had to recruit fresh hands that were competent in ICT to help us achieve our desires though tortuous. Initially we crossed the river and that is the result you are seeing today.

It took sometime say three to four months but things normalised when people saw the advantage of automation. Before, for six months I might not see my pay slip but all that is behind us now.

The Immigration Act seems to be obsolete what is the way out?
The instrument we are using is the 1963 Act but is being re-packaged to make it align with present challenges so it has been repackaged and sent to the Attorney General of the Federation to get it examined and re-crafted and sent to the National Assembly. As we speak it has passed the first reading in the House. We have begun the journey, my successor will complete it in due time.

What about the visa reforms?
If you recall in the last 20 to 25 years, we had to re-package our visa policies to reflect the emerging markets across the world and align with emerging markets to make it attract direct foreign investments into Nigeria.

How was revenue generation like in your time?
When we introduced e-collection, our foreign earnings in 10 months hit three million dollars from the previous one million dollars annually. Our local collection increased from a paltry N1 billion annually to N16 billion. The Federal Government should look into other areas outside oil that could turn into money spinners.

What advice do you have for your successor?
He should build on what we put on ground so that the service will grow. I am going out to contribute my quota positively to the growth of Nigeria.

Before it escapes me, we introduced the use of military training to make our men more combat ready in a bid to strengthen our basic regimentation.

Aside that, as you bow out of the service, what advice do you have for the younger generation?
Well when I started little do I know that I will get to the pinnacle of my profession. Honesty and dedication to duty play a pivotal role in my life and I think that has greatly helped me in all my endeavors.