Nigeria immigration boss becomes first African on ICAO's board
By Odita Sunday

THE Comptroller General of Immigration (CGI), Mr. Chukwurah Udeh, has emerged as the first and only African to be appointed into the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) Public Key Directory Board (PKD).



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ICAO's appointment of Udeh to the PKD Board was conveyed to him by the Chairman of the Board, Dr. Eckart Brauer recently in Abuja.

The PKD is ICAO's central data base which serves as a repository member states authentication of machine readable travel documents worldwide, while the Board is a standing body responsible for the oversight and supervision of the directory.

In consultation with the Secretary General of ICAO and its Solution Provider, the board proposes and approves ICAO's PKD regulations, PKD procedures and PKD interface specifications. Membership of ICAO's PKD means that Nigeria's e-passport can be authenticated at the borders of any member state which by extension, ensures smooth passenger facilitation as well as adds value and integrity to Nigeria's travel documents.

Other members of the 15-member board with headquarters at Montreal, Canada include representatives from the United States (USA), Canada, China, France, United Kingdom, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Germany, Kazakhstan and Czech Republic.