The Lagos State University (LASU) and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) have called for stronger collaboration among researchers, policymakers and security agencies to strengthen African border governance.
Both institutions made the call on Monday at the 2026 Annual Meeting of African Borderland Research (ABORNE) in Lagos.
The meeting had as the theme, “The Connected Borderlands: Socio-Cultural Integration and the Centrality of Policy, Research, and Security.”
LASU Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, said that effective border governance required the integration of policy, research and security, alongside understanding borderlands as spaces of interaction.
She said LASU and NIS were co-hosting the conference for the first time in Nigeria, since ABORNE was founded in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, in 2007.
According to her, the conference provides an opportunity for scholars, policymakers and practitioners to engage with the complex realities of African borders.
The vice-chancellor said borders should no longer be viewed merely as lines separating territories, but as spaces where people, cultures, languages, markets and histories intersected.
She said Lagos was appropriate for the conference because of its strategic position along the Lagos-Abidjan Corridor and its role in regional movement, trade and integration.
“Lagos has always been a city of connections, a meeting point of peoples, cultures, commerce and ideas,” she said.
Olatunji-Bello said LASU had demonstrated its commitment to border research through the establishment of its Bachelor of Arts programme in Border and Migration Studies.
She said Africa needed a new generation of scholars and professionals who understood borders in relation to livelihoods, identity, security, development and human mobility.
The vice-chancellor said the partnership between LASU and NIS demonstrated the importance of connecting academic knowledge with practical border management.
“Research needs practice. Practice needs research. And both need policy,” she said, describing the three as essential to meaningful border governance.
She also acknowledged the pioneering contributions of Prof. Emeritus Anthony Asiwaju to the study of African boundaries and borderlands.
Olatunji-Bello said Asiwaju’s scholarship had broadened understanding of borderlands as spaces of interaction, exchange, identity and contestation.
She urged participants to ensure that the conference produced practical partnerships, policy-relevant research and stronger university-practitioner relationships.
The vice-chancellor also called for approaches that would strengthen migration and border governance, unite peoples and cultures, and promote prosperity across Africa.
On her part, the Comptroller-General of NIS, Mrs Kemi Nanna, said the service was honoured to co-host the conference at a time of significant transformation in border management.
Nanna said technological advances, changing migration patterns, regional integration, cross-border economic activities and emerging security threats were reshaping African borderlands.
She said that borders must facilitate legitimate movement, strengthen regional cooperation and preserve socio-cultural and economic relationships while remaining secure.
According to her, traditional patrols and document inspections remain important, but are insufficient against human trafficking, migrant smuggling, identity fraud, terrorism and cyber-enabled threats.
Nanna said NIS had continued to modernise Nigeria’s border management through electronic passports, biometric systems, automated processing and electronic gates at international airports.
She said that technology was also being deployed to strengthen surveillance, communications, command-and-control systems and data platforms across Nigeria’s air, land and maritime borders.
The comptroller-general stressed, however, that technology could not replace professionalism, experience, sound judgement and integrity among officers responsible for securing Nigeria’s borders.
She also described border communities as essential stakeholders, whose knowledge and lived experiences were critical to developing secure, peaceful and prosperous borderlands.
Nanna said Nigeria remained committed to strengthening cooperation in border technology, biometric identity management, cybersecurity, surveillance, intelligence sharing, capacity building and research.
She said the border of the future would be more digital, biometric and intelligence-led, but must remain human-centred.
“Our ambition is, therefore, broader than securing Nigeria’s borders. We seek secure, connected and resilient borderlands where communities can prosper,” she said.
Representing Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Mr Tolani Sule, commended LASU, NIS and ABORNE for bringing the international conversation to Lagos.
Sanwo-Olu said African communities had historically traded, interacted and maintained social relationships across boundaries long before modern states emerged.
He said the challenge was ensuring that borders served legitimate national interests, while supporting Africa’s aspirations for greater integration.
The governor said universities must produce relevant research and graduates capable of helping governments address contemporary societal challenges.
He described LASU’s Border and Migration Studies programme as a forward-looking initiative addressing issues including security, economic development, trade, demography and human rights.
Sanwo-Olu said Lagos, as Nigeria’s economic and commercial hub, provided a practical setting for discussions on mobility, trade, migration and regional integration.
He commended the partnership between LASU and NIS, saying universities, practitioners and governments must work together rather than operate in isolation.
The governor assured participants of the Lagos State Government’s continued commitment to tertiary education as an instrument of knowledge, innovation and development.
News men reports that the 2026 ABORNE annual meeting is expected to strengthen collaboration between researchers, policymakers, practitioners and border communities across Africa.