Nigeria’s worsening security situation and open borders have sparked talks of employing technology and strong inter-agency collaboration for better border surveillance and national security.
The focus was raised when Nigerian film director and content creator Steven Ndukwu was part of a U.S. border operations visit by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Global Public Affairs Foreign Press Center programme.
During May 17-23, the tour with a theme “Securing Our Border and Restoring Operational Control” allowed international journalists to see U.S. border operations in Tucson, Arizona, and San Diego, California. They witnessed how U.S. agencies use border surveillance technologies, intelligence-sharing mechanisms, and security operations coordination in the field to keep track of border activities and deal with threats.
This revelation is timely as the Nigerian government is finding it difficult to secure its borders with Niger Benin Chad and Cameroon. Based on a 2026 report presented in the House of Representatives it was revealed that less than 90 of almost 2,000 international entry points are actually monitored by security personnel with more than 1,000 illegal routes being totally unguarded.
Security experts argue that such loopholes have allowed trafficking of illegal weapons, entry of traffickers and armed groups resulting in a spike in terrorism, kidnappings and banditry.
Ndukwu remarked that the visit gave him insights into how coordinated intelligence systems and technology-based security operations work and that such measures, if adopted, can go a long way in solving Nigeria’s border and security challenges which have been persistent for a long time.
