African countries must move beyond treating their borders solely as lines of territorial control and develop stronger systems of cooperation to address security and governance challenges in border communities, the National Boundary Commission (NBC) has said.
The Director General of the commission, Adamu Adaji, made the call in Lagos at the opening of the 2026 International Conference of the African Borderlands Research Network (ABORNE).
The conference, which runs from August 24 to 28, is themed, “The Connected Borderlands, Socio-Cultural Integration, and the Centrality of Policy, Research, and Security.”
Adaji said the increasing overlap between security, migration, trade, environmental sustainability, citizenship and regional integration had made border governance more complex.
He argued that governments could no longer rely on physical infrastructure and security measures alone, stressing the importance of research and evidence-based policies in developing effective responses to border-related challenges.
“The challenge before us therefore is not merely how to secure borders, but how to govern them in ways that balance sovereignty with cooperation, security with mobility, and national interests with regional aspirations,” he said.
Among the issues discussed at the conference were terrorism, banditry, arms trafficking, irregular migration, smuggling and maritime insecurity, particularly in relation to transboundary security and maritime governance.
The NBC participated in a plenary roundtable titled, “Frontiers: Border Demarcation, Maritime Governance and Cross-Border Cooperation in a Changing Security Landscape.”
The session brought together Adaji; the Director of Maritime Boundaries at the NBC, Nurudeen Abba; the Head of Cross-Border Cooperation at the commission, Dr Farouk Tarfa; and the Force Commander of the Multi-National Maritime Task Force in the Gulf of Guinea, Commodore M. S. Shettima. Dr Willie Eselebor of ABORNE moderated the discussion.
Adaji maintained that the scale of security challenges confronting Africa’s borderlands required closer collaboration among governments and other stakeholders.
“Sustainable solutions to border challenges require strong collaboration between governments, academia, border communities and development partners,” he said.
The conference provides a platform for such collaboration, bringing together stakeholders to examine borderlands as spaces not only of security concerns but also of interaction, economic opportunity and regional integration.
ABORNE, established in 2007, is an interdisciplinary network focused on research into international borders, borderlands and transboundary issues in Africa, while also promoting policy engagement.
The event is being co-hosted by Lagos State University and the Nigeria Immigration Service, with institutions including the NBC, Border Communities Development Agency, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies and Nigerian Institute of International Affairs participating as partners.
