THE recent declaration by the Federal Ministry of Interior that from June 1, 2021, the issuance of passports to Nigerians would take six weeks, is wholly unsettling. It captures the agony of Nigerians. Repeatedly, public office holders ride roughshod on the citizens despite their rights to obtain legal documents, including acquiring a new passport or applying for a renewal.
There is ingrained insensitivity and mediocrity in most of Nigeria’s federal and state Ministries, Departments and Agencies. Thus, the citizens are mercilessly forced to bear the brunt of their inefficiency as reflected in registration for the National Identification Number, driving licence, vehicle number plate, application and issuance of the Bank Verification Number, among others. There is no let-up in this culture of contempt for citizens by public officials.
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, recently announced the decentralisation of passports in the country’s 774 local government areas with the inauguration of the Passports Express Centre at Maitama District, Abuja. This, he observed, would tackle the perennial passport delays. He expected that this would aid the completion of outstanding passport applications by May 31, 2021, by the Nigerian Immigration Service. He said this was “in response to the yearnings of the public for the Ministry of Interior and the Nigeria Immigration Service to devise additional ways that the passport issuance process can be less stressful and more efficient. The goal is to have a facility like this in every local government in the country. The minister said: “Every Nigerian has the right to a Nigerian passport, and it is our responsibility to put it in the hands of anyone desirous of it within the shortest possible time, without stress. The passport should be available within a maximum of 72 hours of a successful application. Where there are issues, the applicant must be notified within 48 hours.”
Nigerians were elated at these words and expected relief from the delays and extortion, their usual experiences at the passport offices. Both these hopes were soon dashed by a subsequent policy reversal. The Comptroller-General of the NIS, Muhammed Babandede, announced that from June 1, the issuance of passports to Nigerians would now take some weeks. Babandede said, “With effect from June 1, 2021, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has directed that the issuance of passports to Nigerians will take six weeks during which applicants must resolve their concerns with the passport office and the office must resolve their concerns with applicants.”
Earlier, miffed by the frustrations over delays in passport issuance, the House of Representatives had asked the NIS to issue passports to applicants who had paid for the travel document within 72 hours. But that resolution, like many others to government agencies, has not changed anything. With the service reportedly having 57 passport offices globally before now, technology and workable models should guide operations of the NIS to end the perennial delays blamed on booklet scarcity and other deficiencies.
It is noteworthy that the machine-readable passport produced locally by the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company has given way to an electronic passport with the service’s Memorandum of Understanding with the IRIS Smart Technologies and the NSPMC to end the age-old document scarcity. Babandede said that the partnership would cover booklet supply, maintenance, and technology.
The United Kingdom had travelled the route before. In 2014, many applicants experienced delays in receiving new passports because of a backlog at the Passport Office. The then Home Secretary, Theresa May, announced emergency measures to tackle the situation. During the period, the Passport Office redeployed staff, introduced longer opening hours at passport offices with seven-days-a-week operation and increased the number of helpline staff. It ensured emergency services tackle the backlog of those seeking passport renewals by giving a 12-month extension to their existing passports, while citizens abroad were issued emergency travel documents. Such a creative response should not be hard for Nigeria to adopt. The NIS should work to achieve the 72-hour format. The six-week timeline proffers no pragmatic solution to desperate overseas applicants, whose documents have expired. Those at home are undergoing untold dehumanising treatment and difficulties securing passports.
There are often urgent trips for citizens all over the world and the six weeks turnaround time would appear useless in such circumstances. The NIS must make standard provisions for this. Many genuine travellers, including the sick and students, have missed once-in-a-lifetime opportunities due to the inefficiency of the NIS as it is with the diverse MDAs, most of who perform poorly in service delivery.
The UK makes a provision for all citizens needing a passport for urgent travel. They do not have to be high-ranking citizens or related to politicians. All they need is their UK citizenship. They will be immediately upgraded to a premium one-day service by the Passport Office at no charge if they can prove an “urgent need” to travel abroad. Corrupt NIS officers who take passport racketeering as a way of life should be identified and prosecuted to end the reign of impunity and delays in the service.
Nigeria needs to align with modern trends and the Interior Ministry, which supervises the NIS, should aspire to global best practices, and imbibe zero tolerance for incompetence. The rest of the world is breaking new grounds and exploring new frontiers in service delivery by applying technology and simplified processes. Nigeria should adopt such modern tools to facilitate swift and secure issuance of documents.
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