Director-General, National Boundary Commission, Adamu Adaji, speaking at the ABORNE Conference 2026 in Lagos
The National Boundary Commission, a major partner of the Association of Borderlands Research Network 2026 International Conference, has advocated stronger collaboration among governments, academia, border communities and development partners to address emerging challenges confronting Africa’s borderlands.
The commission made the call during the ongoing conference in Lagos themed “The Connected Borderlands, Socio-Cultural Integration, and the Centrality of Policy, Research, and Security.” It disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday by the commission’s Head of Information, Press and Public Relations, Chinwe Udouwem.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Director-General, NBC, Adamu Adaji, described borderlands as “strategic zones of interaction, cooperation, opportunity and, at times, contestation,” stressing that effective border governance requires policies grounded in rigorous research and evidence-based analysis.
He noted that borders have become increasingly important spaces where security, trade, migration, environmental sustainability, identity, citizenship and regional integration intersect, adding that “the effective management of these borders requires not only physical infrastructure and security measures but also informed policies grounded in rigorous research and evidence-based analysis.”
