Aregbesola directs NIS to issue passport within 48 hours – TheNigerialawyer

Minister of Interior Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has directed
officials of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS ) to exploit every
capacity within the service to ensure issuance of international
passports to genuine and qualified applicants within 48 hours.

The Minister said with deployment of state- of- the- art
technology, the 48 hours timeline for acquiring an international
passport was achievable if officials of the NIS eliminates human
contacts and deal with racketeering, which has built an “unusual
economy “, around the passport issuance process.

He said the directive has become imperative because of the pains
and agonizing experience many Nigerians are subjected to in their
bid to procure the important travel document.

The Minister also directed the NIS to be on top of its game by
putting in place a strict implementation process of the Border
Management Strategy in order to ensure border safety and
security.

The Minister disclosed this on Friday in Lagos while flagging
off the NIS Management retreat.

Aregbesola urged the NIS to eliminate bottlenecks associated
with procurement of international passport by adopting cutting edge
technology that will reduce human interface.

He said NIS as the face of the nation at border entry and exit
points must train its personnel on how to treat Nigerians and
others with dignity.

Aregbesola said the service must place high premium on the
provision of infrastructure and human capacity as motivation for
efficient services.

Aregbesola said huge infrastructure is useless without the human
elements, urging the NIS to invest more in the training of its
personnel by scaling up infrastructure of the mind to achieve
efficiency in service delivery.

He challenged the NIS to scale up its facilitation at the
airport to reduce long queues for arriving passengers.

The Minister said Nigerians deserve a better deal NIS urging its
management to think out of the box on how to implement the three
point agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari bordering on security ,
economy and transparency.

He enjoined the NIS to play a leading role in ensuring that the
borders of Nigeria are safe and secured to guarantee buoyant
economy and a transparent service delivery.

Doing such, he said will make Nigeria preferred destination for
investors and visitors without comprising national security.

Aregbesola said: “From information available to me, it is
possible with the right technology in place for Nigeria Immigration
Service to issue international passports to applicants who have
paid the official fees after forty eight hours. If there is any
delay, the officials should communicate to the affected applicants
.

“One of the ways to achieve this is to deploy the right
technology and eliminate human contact in the passport issuance
process. This way, we eliminate sharp practices and racketerring
built around the process. This is the way to go and all officials
should shun all forms of corruption in the discharge of their
duties.

“The primary role of the Immigration Service is the Security of
the border and migration management. No unwanted , suspicious and
criminal person must be allowed entry into our nation just as we
are to prevent the exit from Nigeria of all known domestic real
felons and or domestic potential felons from leaving Nigeria to
tarnish our image abroad .

“All officers of the Service must as a matter of urgency,
embrace the digital tradition and be technology/computer compliant,
particularly at the senior and management level. Our officers must
shun all forms of corruption through openness and transparency in
the discharge of their duties.

“Should there be justifiable delay in delivering on this
commitment, there must be a mechanism to communicate, such reasons
(s) within a period as agreed in the retreat to such applicant for
the passport which must not be later than 72 hours, after
discovering such reason.”

The Minister emphasised that with technology, Nigeria
Immigration Service must eliminate the tradition of endless wait
for obtaining the Nigerian Passport by Nigerians desirous of having
one.

“With technology, it is possible to process and obtain the
passport within 48 hours, if the application does not have any
issues. Nigerian passport should be available within 48 hours
maximum after application and at the official fee, the same goes
for entry visa, resident permit, seamen license, as well as
application and processing of other services.”

Comptroller General of Immigration, Muhammad Babandede said the
three day retreat was put together to serve as a platform for
drawing strategic road map 2019 -2023 to drive the NIS in achieving
set goals.

The retreat he said will also provide a platform to review the
process and documentation at its various service windows.
Babandede while condemning sharp practices associated with the
process of acquiring international passport urged the minister to
assist the service in tackling the problem of booklet scarcity.

He said : “I must admit to the Minister that many eligible
Passport applicants are currently not having any appreciable
satisfaction in interfacing with our Passport window while
applying. The process of acquiring our Passports still remains not
only very confusing and frustrating but also very fraudulent.

“Many of our Personnel have continued to institutionalize sharp
practices on our Passport processing window as many applicants now
procure the document on the basis of how much they can afford to
pay as bribes and not how much diligence they observe in following
up the Passport procedures we have stated on our website. I believe
strongly that whatever we do here nothing much will change except
the Minister of Interior assist the Service in tackling the problem
of booklet scarcity.

“We must continue to evaluate our operational and personal
conducts in line with government’s set agenda of improving
security, economic development and transparency.

“Whether we are working in the Passport offices, Control Posts
and/or any Unit for that matter, if our conducts and actions do not
promote national security, economic development and transparency in
government affairs, we have not only missed the point but also
diminished our relevance in the national development efforts.”

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