Nigeria Enlists Passport in ICAO’s Ranking System

By: Michael Mike

The Interior Minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has announced Nigeria’s enrollment in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Public Key Directory (PKD) and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).

This move, according to the Minister, is aimed at enhancing the global ranking of the country’s international passport, ease of passage as well as beefing up internal security.

Tunji-Ojo had on Wednesday in Montreal, Canada, alongside the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Kemi Nanna Nandap, participated in the Import Ceremony of the Country Signing Certificate Authority (CSCA) led by ICAO officials.

The Minister, speaking shortly after the event, noted that the development was informed by the government’s efforts to modernize border control systems, noting that this is expected to reduce the waiting time at airports and other points of entry within and outside the country.

“Our government is particular about increasing efficiency and enhancing the overall travel experience for Nigerians and international visitors alike,” Tunji-Ojo said.

“With our effort on Border Governance and Management, Nigerians can be assured that the era of endless wait and manual verification at airports across the globe is over. The President is constantly seeking means to enable growth and develop the country. The PKI / PKD is another measure to increase our global ranking and ease of doing business.”

The Minister added that the new development, among other reviewed policies of the government, is expected to have a positive impact on the economy, tourism, and national security.

“While we strongly believe this will impact the tourism ecosystem, it will also play a critical role in facilitating inter-agency collaboration, especially between the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and the leading implementation agency, the Nigeria Immigration Service.”

Explaining the role of the system, Juan Carlos Salazar, Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), noted that Public Key Directory (PKD), enables the sharing of authentic travel documents among member states across the world.

He stressed, however, that national and international collaboration was vital as the infrastructure required multiple authorities to play their part in the process of verification and authentication of passport and travel document data.

Speaking on the readiness of the service, Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Kemi Nanna Nandap, stated that necessary infrastructure to drive the new technology is in place as full implementation begins.

“The PKD/PKI will be a game changer for us, and we can’t wait to see it transform the face of things. In partnership with IATA, we are currently training our staff so that they understand the full modules of the new technology of API/PNR ” she said.

Managed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the PKD allows countries to check the authenticity of e-passports and other travel documents when travellers cross borders.

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a system that uses digital certificates and public-private key pairs to ensure secure communication, data integrity, and authentication of documents.

Among other things, this development will ensure the enhanced security in strict compliance with international standards, and ease of verification.

Nigeria Enlists Passport in ICAO’s Ranking System

UN Torture Prevention Body to Carry Out Assessment Visit on Nigeria

By: Our Reporter

The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT) is set to visit Nigeria from 8 to 19 September.

This second visit aims to assess the treatment of individuals in detention and measure whether the country has strengthened its capacity to protect the human rights of all people deprived of liberty since the Subcommittee’s previous visit ten years ago.

A statement on Thursday by the UN Human Rights Office Media Unit said the SPT delegation will visit various places where individuals are held, including prisons, police stations, and psychiatric institutions, among other facilities. The delegation will also engage with the relevant Nigerian authorities, notably the National Human Rights Commission, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders, to discuss torture prevention measures and mechanisms.

The Head of the delegation, Aisha Shujune Muhammad said: “The SPT’s visit is an opportunity for Nigeria to advance its commitment to torture prevention and to strengthen safeguards in detention places,” adding that: “It is also an occasion to help the authorities set up a National Mechanism for Prevention of Torture (NPM), an obligation under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture that Nigeria ratified in 2009.”

The statement said at the end of the visit, the SPT will present its confidential preliminary observations to the Government of Nigeria. Following the visit, a confidential report detailing the SPT’s concerns and recommendations will be shared with the Nigerian authorities.

The SPT delegation will comprise Aisha Shujune Muhammad (Maldives) Head of the delegation, Satyabhooshun Gupt Domah (Mauritius), Andrew Christoffel Nissen (South Africa), and Victor Zaharia (Moldova), and will be accompanied by two Human Rights Officers from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

To date, the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture , has been ratified by 94 states. States are under the obligation to allow the SPT unannounced and unhindered visits to all places where persons are deprived of their liberty. States Parties should also establish a national preventive mechanism, which should conduct regular visits to places throughout the country where people are deprived of liberty.

The mandate of the SPT is to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of persons deprived of their liberty, through visits and recommendations to States parties to the Optional Protocol. The SPT communicates its recommendations and observations to States by means of a confidential report and, where necessary, to national preventive mechanisms. However, States parties are encouraged to request that the SPT publish the reports.

The SPT is composed of 25 independent and impartial members who are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States Parties.

UN Torture Prevention Body to Carry Out Assessment Visit on Nigeria

Terrorism: ECOWAS Commits $12.6m for Humanitarian Assistance in West Africa

By: Michael Mike

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said it has committed the sum of $12.6 million to humanitarian purpose in the West African region this year 2024.

Speaking in Abuja at the opening of a two-day Strategic Engagement Workshop with Heads of government-owned television stations in West Africa organised by the ECOWAS Commission in collaboration with Media Foundation For West Africa (MFWA), Director of Humanitarian and Social Affairs of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Sintiki Tarfa-Ugbe, said Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali and the contiguous countries that are bearing the spillover effects of terrorism got $4 million

The ECOWAS Director said the commission has in place a robust humanitarian response mechanism and has been able to properly monitor and get feedback from its interventions.

She said: “We know that our countries continue to face a number of challenges, conflict, terrorism, climate change, food insecurity. But our organization, the ECOWAS Commission, continues to accompany our member states to strengthen their resilience and recovery to some of these challenges that they continue to face.

“As I did in my presentation, I highlighted that this year, the ECOWAS Commission has committed $2.6 million to support persons of concern within our region, those that are displaced, refugees, asylum seekers, migrants. And also you know that our region, especially the Sahel, continues to battle the terrorist attack and a lot of victims of terrorism.

“And so for our humanitarian response to victims of terrorism, $4 million has been committed to provide support for the frontline states of Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, and also to the contiguous countries that are bearing the spillover effects of terrorism. Of course, you know, Ghana, Benin, Togo, and Cote d’Ivoire.”

She also noted that despite giving the grants to governments, the commission has been able to monitor the implementation.

She explained: “Our implementation is guided by a robust ECOWAS humanitarian response mechanism. And part of that response mechanism has an important element, which is the monitoring and the evaluation.”

Tarfa-Ugbe while citing Togo instance, explained that: “The implementation of our project is between the government of Togo, the Civil Protection Agency, and the World Food Program. So you see we have a solid kind of agreement with the member state and the partners.

“And what we do is that when we give grants, we also go for monitoring and evaluation missions. So far, we’ve gone to four countries. We’ve gone to Togo to really see on the field and speak to the beneficiaries of those programs.

“So we’ve gone to Togo, we went to the northern part of Togo, where we saw that our assistance has made them able to, you know, get funding to cultivate more areas of land, which they couldn’t do as individuals, and also to access fertilizer to grow their crops. We’ve also seen in some of the countries where they’ve been giving cash assistance to, you know, strengthen their livelihood support, either they are small-scale businesses, so that they can recover. This is very important for resilience building for the communities.

“We’ve gone to Gambia, if you see one of my presentations also, we’ve provided food and nutrition support in the Gambia and flood assistance support in the Gambia, all amounting to about $900,000. And our team were there, they saw people being given cash assistance. You know that in all the countries this year, it has been very, very difficult because of the food and nutrition situation.

“We’ve been to Liberia also to see, you know, some of the responses that we have provided. Food nutrition.

In his keynote address, the Director of Cabinet of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Abdou Kolley said in recent years “our Community has endured and continues to endure daunting challenges. The Community is faced with a risk of split with the announced withdrawal of three Member States, threats to regional peace, and numerous terrorist attacks that have claimed hundreds of lives, unemployment among the youth and women, the immediate consequence of which is the migratory crisis and the resulting deaths of our fellow citizens in the desert and in the Mediterranean Sea.”

He added that: “These crises are further compounded by the issues of democratic governance, poverty and natural disasters caused by floods or serious fires in some of our Member States, leading to dire humanitarian crises.”

In his remarks, the Executive Director of Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, said the partnership and collaboration of MFWA with ECOWAS is happening at a time when the world, and indeed our region, is highly polarised in such a way that it has become difficult, and sometimes impossible, to building consensus around matters of mutual interest. And it is happening at a time when the climate crisis and its associated challenges are escalating.

He said: “Of course, in the midst of all these challenges, community citizens are expecting a lot from their ECOWAS and as expected, some are questioning whether ECOWAS is truly serving the interest of community citizens.”

He noted that “addressing the critical challenges of our time will require that community citizens are provided avenues and opportunities to fully participate in deliberative and governance processes. It requires that community citizens are well informed and have access to factual information on matters of critical importance.

“It also requires that citizens are informed and educated about the activities and impact of ECOWAS as well as the role that they as citizens can play to complement the efforts of ECOWAS in addressing the challenges we face collectively.

“But doing all these will in turn, require the existence of a vibrant, free and professional media as envisaged in the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and in the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework, among other statutes.

The workshop aims to strengthen the cooperation and partnership between ECOWAS, the media and critical stakeholders in fostering peace, prosperity and democracy amongst ECOWAS Member States and ultimately contribute to the vision of “ECOWAS of the Peoples: Peace and Prosperity for All.

Terrorism: ECOWAS Commits $12.6m for Humanitarian Assistance in West Africa