The University of Ibadan’s Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies (IPSS) will host scholars and other border management stakeholders on Monday to commence a four-day international conference which ends on Thursday, October 18 in Cotonuo, Republic of Benin.
The event is the 16th edition of the annual Border Regions In Transition (BRIT) Conference to take critically look at issues relating to border management across the world.
Tagged ‘North-South Dialogue of Border Management’, this year’s event is particularly designed to bring together scholars and practitioners from the Northern and Southern hemispheres to think out solutions to the problems associated with the growing rate of migration of persons from the former to the latter end of the world.
“For now, borders in the global North are under pressure from migrants from the global South. What are the push and pull factors for both regular and irregular migration from the South to the North in the modern world? What global, regional and national border control mechanisms exist for dealing with the problems and how adequate are they?”, a statement from the IPSS stated as part of the questions scholars will seek to answer as they present the outcomes of their researches at the conference ground.
The first leg of the event will be held at the Conference Centre of the University of Ibadan, while the latter will take place at the premises of the co-hosting institution, Universite d’ Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou in the Republic of Benin.
According to Dr. Willie Eselebor, a lecturer at the IPSS and one of the focal persons for the programme, the opening event will feature seasoned academics from universities in Nigeria, Africa and other parts of the world, as well as the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force, Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Services, among other eminent personalities.
He equally hinted that apart from the plenary where lead speakers will present their papers, there will be other 20 special sessions holding concurrently where different scholarly articles will be presented and discussed by respective panels.
All the papers presented, Eselebor added, will be published in a special journal to help extend the frontiers of knowledge, and also assist policy makers in formulating and implementing informed policy decisions.
Among the globally acclaimed scholars to speak at the plenary are Prof. Anthony I. Asiwaju of the African Regional Centre, Imeko, Ogun State, Prof. James W. Scott of University of Eastern Finland, Prof. Paul Nugent from the Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburg and Prof. Isaac Olawale Albert, immediate past Director of IPSS
