Mr Mohammad Babandede, the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), has been conferred with an award of an “Icon of Excellence” by the Institute of Disasters Management and Safety Science.
This information is contained in a press statement signed by the NIS Public Relations Officer, Mr James Sunday, on Saturday in Abuja.
The statement said that the award was conferred on the NIS Boss by the President of the institute, Prof. Mala-Mohammed Daura, during a disasters experts meeting in Abuja to discuss disaster and safety in Nigeria and global perspective.
Daura said that the award is in recognition of the huge personnel working under the NIS boss in the service both at states, zonal level and special commands.
Others are divisional area offices, patrol bases spread across all the states and FCT, local governments levels, 52 missions abroad, special formations such as airports, seaports, land borders and others.
He commended Babandede and the NIS as the leading agency in the country to guarantee safety in borders security.
“With these number of workforce, health and safety science is vital to keeping the workforce safe and healthy to deliver maximally and effectively in those formations where the service witnesses massive turnout of passengers, and applications for one facility or the other.
“The award of “Icon of excellence” on the NIS boss is timely, considering the safety and healthy environment put in place during the lockdown and now with the gradual ease of the lockdown by the government.
“The multiplicity of tasks to be undertaken at the approved International airports after the lifting of the ban on international flights and the commencement of flight operations, which has the ability to increase requests for travel documents.
“This human mobility called migration, if not properly managed through a secured border, has the ability to aggravate the spread of COVID-19 by International travellers and locals who cross the borders for economic, socio-cultural, tourism, religious and other mandatory activities,” he said.
Daura said that the award was timely as it has the ability to encourage the Comptroller General to step up new safety measures and the healthy-working environment in all the services’ windows to deliver optimally.
He said that the award is a morale booster to spur all the Chief executive officers of the service to do more in their monitoring areas.
Responding, the NIS boss thanked the Institute, its board and other facilitators for driving all disaster and safety managers to work, saying that this will make the country come out stronger.
Babandede said that the lesson learnt from other nations, together with Nigeria’s model of control of the COVID-19, has helped to reduce the spread, assuring that things will surely get better.
He, however, reminded Nigerians and non-Nigerians about the closure of land borders, adding that the order on the closure is still in force until a further directive is given by the government.
He also charged NIS operatives at the border post to be vigilant and alert as the borders are still closed in line with government directives.