Diaspora Nigerians caught up in endemic corruption in NIS
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Diaspora Nigerians in the United States and elsewhere cannot renew old or obtain new passports because the corruption at all levels of government at home is also endemic in Nigerian embassies abroad.
Sleazy tactics used by Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) officials include ensuring there are no passport booklets, red tape, bureaucracy, delay, and frustrating applicants to get boxed into a corner and offer bribe to speed up service.
The Passport Office in Ikoyi, Lagos announced in September that it now works seven days a week to clear the backlog of applications, and that at least 15,000 passports had been issued since June with 3,000 awaiting collection.
However, acting NIS Comptroller General Isa Idris reiterated in October that he found corrupt officers there when he disguised as an applicant for a passport – a mess replicated in every Passport Office at home and abroad.
“When I approached the officers, they offered me the menu without recognising me. They said 32 pages of the international passport for five years would cost me N45,000 instead of N27,000.
“They said 64 pages for five year would cost me N55,000 instead of N37,000, and N95,000 for 64 pages for 10 years instead of N72,000.
“I was asked where I was from and I said Niger State. They also asked me if I had a letter of indigeneship and other documents and I said I didn’t have anyone. So they said they would collect N3,500 to provide all the documents for me,” Idris told PREMIUM TIMES.
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Nigerians in the US, across the Caribbean
The Nation reports that more than 1,000 Nigerians in Atlanta in the US are not able to travel back to Nigeria because of their inability to renew their passports.
It is complicated by shortage of passport booklets and difficulties in obtaining the National Identity Numbers (NIN) from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
Parents of some of the stranded citizens said the situation is the same in the Caribbean countries of Jamaica, Bahamas, Cuba, Belize, and Trinidad and Tobago.
One parent said it is frustrating hearing children’s agonising experiences on the phone without the Nigerian government solving the problem.
He recounted that NIS officials captured the biometric data of Nigerians in Belize in June but are yet to produce their passports.
“The officials, who came from Jamaica, no longer pick the calls of Nigerian citizens let alone to reply email messages. I am disappointment that my daughter has been stranded in Belize and cannot travel to US as planned,” he told The Nation.
Another parent expressed disgust that the situation is becoming hopeless considering the number of Nigerians stranded in different countries around the world and the pressure mounted on Abuja not yielding fruit.
She regretted that those most affected by the scarcity of passports are students, workers, and professionals in different fields of endeavours.
Aregbesola fails to fulfil promise
One of the Nigerians based in Belize told Tribune Online that he completed the process of renewing his passport in June but is yet to get it.
“Belize is covered by the Nigerian Mission in Jamaica. The officers from Jamaica came to capture the details of passport renewal applicants in Belize City as far back as June 8, 2021. We are yet to get our passports.
“What is happening? No one is talking to us. How can we get it soon? Many of us are stranded as we cannot travel with expired passports,” said the applicant, who did not want to be named.
This is despite assurance by Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola that “Nigerians who arrive in the country on expired passports can have their passports renewed immediately.”
He said front offices for passport renewal have been approved at four international airports in the country.
NIS working on the matter
The Nation learnt in Abuja that efforts are being made by the government and the NIS to address passport scarcity at home and abroad.
Nigerians who want to renew old or obtain new passports have been going through harrowing experiences in the past one year. NIN is mandatory for the issuance and renewal of passport but it is difficult to obtain it from the NIMC.
In December last year, many Nigerians who came home to renew their passports had difficulties as a result of shortage of passport booklets and the procedure for obtaining NIN.
Early in the year, the NIS suspended fresh applications for passports until the backlog of applications was cleared. When the suspension was lifted, it opened the floodgates for more applications.
The Nation reports protests by Nigerians over the difficulties faced in obtaining passports, the latest being at the Nigerian embassy in Germany.
Sources at the Abuja headquarters of the NIS blamed the scarcity of passport booklets on the payment system which makes it impossible for printers and contractors to meet supply deadlines.
“Our job is to apply for release of funds to the contractors, once the authority concerned approves and releases funds to the contractors they will go ahead and supply.
“But the truth is that you cannot supply when you are being owed. It was not like this when the Service was directly involved,” a senior NIS official told The Nation.
The officer, who declined to give information on NIS indebtedness to contractors, said there are different categories and only the office of the comptroller general can provide such information.
He urged the NIMC to simplify the process of downloading its app for citizens to obtain their NINs in the shortest time. “One thing is to advertise that the process is simple, another thing is to ascertain that yes it is,” he added.
Interior Ministry Press Director Blessing Lere-Adams said: “As we speak now, the Permanent Secretary, Shuaib Belgore, is holding a meeting with stakeholders on the matter.”
She explained that the meeting would determine the solution to the challenge.
