The Federal Government has disclosed plans to consider introducing Digital Travel Credential (DTC) to ease air travel in the country.

Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure in Abuja at the end of a 2-day capacity building training on Advanced Passenger Information/Passenger Name Record API/PNR organised for selected personnel of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) by Newworks and led by specialists from the Internation Air Transport Association (IATA).

The training was designed to provide in-depth knowledge on API/PNR standards, best practices, and implementation strategies with the ultimate goal of having more secure borders.

While noting that with the electronic gates installed at the nation’s international airports, it will take just 14 seconds to clear Nigerians coming back into the country, the minister claimed that with the API/PNR also in place, “our personnel can now handle migrants, passengers, based on objectivity rather than subjectivity”.
“We are already thinking of our digital travel certificate and other things to do”, he said, assuring the IATA of Nigeria’s readiness for collaboration, saying there is no interagency rivalry that would stall such collaborations,” he said.

Speaking on the API/PNR, Tunji-Ojo said; “When we started, we had so many vendors all over the world but we decided that we will respect your contract on border surveillance and all I asked was whether you could give me the best solution.

“Today, with the API/PNR, with the e-gates, I can confidently say, with what I have seen, a Nigerian company has done well. You did not spare any expenses, you brought in IATA, collaborated with them and gave us the best.

“When the president came on board, he met an NIS that was just a passports and visa issuing agency and he wasn’t comfortable with that. Knowing full well that that was secondary because your primary mandate is border control, governance and management. Today, under the leadership of the CGIS Kemi Nandap, I am happy to say that NIS is back on track.

“We have done this to put an end to the stereotype of Nigerians across the globe. Today the e-gates are there, waiting to be commissioned to go live. Efficiency is not a function of discomfort but of product and productivity. With the e-gates, Nigerians coming into Nigeria can have that sense of fulfillment that being a Nigerian is not a function of endurance but of enjoyment. It takes 14 seconds to clear a passenger.
“Before now, for 14 years, what stopped the project was infighting between Aviation and Interior but we came on board with my brother, Festus Keyamo and we have done this because for us, Nigeria is the winner. I want to pay glowing tributes to him because it will have been impossible without his support. The implementer of this API/PNR is the NIS but the regulator will be the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority NCAA,” he said.

Earlier, the Controller General of Immigration (CGIS), Kemi Nandap disclosed that about 100 personnel had been trained on the API/PNR, adding that the initiative would help with better border security while also facilities swift and easy clearance of passengers.

“We have trained almost 100 officers. This project will help our borders to become more secure and help with compliance with international best practices. It will help us to be proactive in terms of cross border crimes because crime visibility will become clearer, we will see most of the crimes before they happen. Clearance of passengers will also be faster.

“With the API/PNR, we pull data from the airlines and it tells us about who and who is coming into the country. It will help with effective monitoring of our borders”, she stated.

The Digital Travel Credential which essentially is a travel certificate in a digital format, is a digital representation of the traveller’s identity.

“It allows passengers to share required documentation with governments ahead of travel for approval while providing governments better oversight of who is coming into their countries,” she noted.