Sometimes the best form of practice is going as undercover to unravel certain challenges in our society. The Nigeria society is complex and complicated , anthropologist can attest to this elaborated fact or making a good research exercise will be a robust intellectual discourse. Perhaps, this could be my cursory effect to initiate idea of what form nucleus pondering on suppose discussed subject matters.
I have heard of different narratives from Nigerians in the past about the issuance of international passports. So I was preparing myself for the war ahead to have a first hand information and the baptismal of the awaiting obvious.
The condemnation of the NIS as a government agency was not different from others. Though , I have little or no experience of the likely assertion handed over to me . Therefore, I was ready to dare and go ahead with the prepositional nightmarish experience.
It was a Monday morning , I proceeded to the Ikoyi Passport office this is after visiting the site for enrollment on issued (Fresh applicant) of international passport. At the gate , I was expecting the normal Nigerian harsh and uncultured tone, Perhaps, swine response. I was shocked to find very polite , smiling officers asking me to where? I said to further my process on issued passport. Can we see your enrollment (Application slip) Yes Sir… Then he directed me to a stipulated Hall. It’s orderly and indicated a process , digital and inputted already base on the appointed date. That’s magical and digitalization at it’s peak.
I was with the next call office, an elegant, beautifully dress and smarted in her official uniform asked, though expecting her to be saucy , don’t mind me that’s the norms in the society, was shocked as she asked politely Sir, this is the application desk how do I help you? I stretched out the application form I filled on the internet . She inputted things on her computer system, smile back at me. You can have it Sir… Officer, please where do you call this place, I asked ? SERVICOM. ..she replied. what that meant is just an internal mechanism, a department responsible to discharge the function of accepting what applicants had initially worked out on the internet.
The next process to be initiated is the CONFIRMATION of what was received.
Before me is a calm gentleman in uniform, he was too professional to look up he was glued to the computer as if there’s a missing dot… You’re welcome. He ensure that application are vetted during this period one is not going to be on the known but series of investigation of submitted application are expected on this stage. Thereafter, a capturing process will be initiated.
In inquiries, the internal mechanism of production of the passport and a collection date will be sent to applicants.
The smooth process without hiccup is hugely interesting as stipulated above. However, the practical steps are what are the causes of “Passport Delay”. I tried to get the attention of the Public Relation Officer who I later known to be Grace ODU but she’s indisposed to talk because she needs Service Approval from Headquarters to address this worries. ” I would have obliged your request but I need service approval to comment on this, I apologize if that irked you”, what a polite rejection. The man who articulate most of this internal reform mechanism DCI, Sani S Jega was too officially busy to attend to a curious Journalist, I found my way. He said frankly, I am not in best position to speak to the Press. The service headquarters will do better. I wasn’t deterred.
The journalistic jurisprudence instincts in me couldn’t surrender, a background check led to the discovery of many astounding revelations.
Many of the so called applicants initiate a process and fail to continue the process, Applicants sometimes fill in disputed and inaccurate applications on the forms and what’s imputed on the National Identification Number (NIN) and Passport Application Form defers the conflict and incorrect filling must be reconcile before such can sail through, Applicants with marital issues sometime initiates process without consent from both end this in turn stall process as in most times need legal technicalities to resolved such, Marriage and spouse need to readjust due to new status bearer, tender marriage certificates, updates change of names and affidavits sworn under oath before such can scale through attestification process. Some applicants are engrossed with imputed names or date of birth discrepancy as it lack correspondent index with the NIN initiated by applicants themselves. ADEBAYO ADEKUNLE ADEBANJO cannot be ADEBANJO ADEBAYO ADEKUNLE, it is not same . It’s going to be fouled by the computer process because that is simply saying a different thing entirely. Most applicants are culprit to reconcile this process, it is consummated with time. Crook applicants also exist when they initiate a process for a child with intention of migrating the child without parental consent thereafter the applications are stall. The backdrop of this is a deep challenge before the Nigeria Immigration Service Centres across the country.
Observations, it’s therefore expected that for the Nigeria Immigration Service Centres to succeed the challenges must be collapsed.
Though the astonishing findings was a discovery in Ikoyi Passport Office, one wouldn’t know if the initiative transcend the entire Passport Office in the country. As soon as a process is initiated, it’s computerized with name and date. It falls into an orderly serial numbers that religiously queued and there’s no influx of deregulated system because the system is already aware of the process and orderly procedure follows till date of capturing, production and collection.
That’s a regulated internal mechanism at it’s peak! if this can be duplicated across the thirty six states including Abuja then a perennial problem has been solved. All it needs is a centralized server and this will cancel dual applicants from smarting the application process.
The internal initiative discovered in Ikoyi Passport Office should be upheld as a prototype for all Passport Control Centres. It’s reliable to build on.
The service headquarters need to build a strong legal department with immigration lawyers across the state of the federation. Ensure a viable working relationship with the Nigeria Justice System. If it really needs to succeed. The Legal Immigration Department is to treat legal related issues with speed instead of bottleneck of injunctions and unhealthy court processes. The Justice Ministry collaboration with the Nigeria Immigration Service will go a long way to resolved most of this cumbersome affecting procurement of international passports.
However, to ensure service delivery and conform with global best initiative practices the Applicants must be well informed before initiating a process. Applicants erroneously filled up reissued portals while actually needed to fill the portal as fresh applicants, therefore it should be recommended that applicants need Immigration Service Centres to give vehement tutorial before initiating a process. A digital world will be too uncontrollable for an analog instituted applicants to comply. A proper education of such Applicants cannot be unlikely. Therefore, It’s imperative to initiate foundation seminars, before applying for the Nigeria Immigration Passport this will certainly erase the challenges ahead of all.
It should be noted that the “Japa” syndrome has affected majorly most prominent Passport Offices as influx of applications are flooded in their reservoir, keeping alot of backlogged files that must be cleared. It’s therefore a very challenging process. It service should extend night shifts to accommodate diligent officers to work overnight with powerful regulated package as bonuses to clear most of its baggages. It’s one of the craziest challenges of most Passport Control Offices across the country. Therefore , time within day is limited and the best form of time is to use time to check time. The Nigeria Immigration Service Headquarters should look at the critical time to show more commitment in tolling this line instead of looking for scapegoats and awarding penalties to already overstretched Passport Control Officers.
To this end, government need to increase budget for the Nigeria Immigration Service if it needs the agency to meet up with stimulating challenges and conform with global best practices, government need to initiate a strong viable working relationship with critical stakeholders as they cannot be divorce from the synergy between them. Government needs to initiate more training of staffs to compete with counterparts across the globe. Government need to increase building capacity and reorient the Nigeria people on the need of international passports, government need to look inward to the internal mechanism of it’s operations to retrieve it’s national identity that’s already obtained by foreigners. The Ministry of Interior that supervised the agency must ensure that they are the integral part of our national security and must create a robust environment to ensure functionality in the system.
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