Our Passport Administration Still Bedeviled By Fraud, Delays – Minister

The Minister of Interior, Chief Rauf Aregbesola has expressed
sadness that despite various reforms introduced by the present
federal government, the nation’s passport administration was still
fraught with fraud, racketeering and delay.

Aregbesola who spoke in Enugu at the commissioning of the
Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Enugu State Command Office
Complex noted that the reforms made to better the system has been
under serious attack by strange interests hence it had only
achieved little.

The Minister charged the officers and even the citizens who
apply for the passport to ensure that the integrity of the document
was maintained at all times.

He said, “Nigerian passport is the highest affirmation of
Nigerian citizenship that is why the integrity of that document is
of utmost importance to us. In light of this can we really say we
have best served the Nigerian citizens in passport issuing and
renewal? We all know this cannot be true. The process is still
fraught with racketeering, fraud, delay and mistreatment for the
applicants, this should not be so. We must trust ourselves, from
the highest of us to the lowest of us, we must ensure that Nigerian
people get service and I am strict about it.

“You are all aware of the reforms being put in place in passport
administration but as with all reforms that challenge the status
quo and strange interests, which involve society corruption, there
have been resistance and little progress is being made sadly.

“We must all subscribe to the reform, doing the right thing
requires making sacrifice and getting out of our comfort zones.
This does not apply to our officers alone, people who equally apply
for this document must exercise restraint and exhibit some decorum.
If you insist on inducing these officers, is also possible for them
to receive.”

Describing the NIS Enugu office complex as the biggest in the
country, the Minister thanked the State Government for the gesture
and urged the officers in the Command to ensure its maintenance and
to plant trees.

He said, “I must thank the government of the state for this
provision, this is the biggest Command I have seen in terms of
space in the country. As we are thanking the government of Enugu,
we are urging the officers here to plant trees. Register your name,
if you are an officer here plant a tree to register your name
before you leave here, that’s my charge, you take it as a charge
from the minister, you must plant a tree that must bear your name
in this facility.”

Emphasising on service, the Minister noted that the objective of
NIS is to serve the people of Nigeria adding that, “At the heart of
government credibility is service to people. The Nigeria people are
the boss; you must take pride in serving them not in exploiting
them, not in bulling them, not in undermining them. The Nigerian
people are unmistakably the boss, this consciousness must permeate
the way you conduct your business and the way you relate with the
people.”

Speaking on the facility, he said, “Contemporary realities are
pointing clearly to the fact that conducive workplace environment
is a huge critical factor to productivity.”

The Minister, who recalled how the office complex was attacked
and damaged by arsonists during the #ENDSARS protest, expressed
delight that the complex was being commissioned after been rebuilt
with the assistance of some illustrious citizens of Enugu
State.

Aregbesola said, “The minimum facility you can provide for a man
who bears arms is not only a place of safety but that where his
best capacity can be easily harnessed,” stressing that there were
various infrastructure development and upgrade in the four agencies
under the ministry of interior.

The Minister who urged the personnel of the NIS not to lose
sight of the Service responsibility to the Nigerian people said,
“Immigration is the first contact that foreigners have with our
country and the first impression, they say, lasts the longest. You
must, therefore, strive to be professional and above all be
patriotic. On no account must Nigeria’s image be damaged or
undesirable element that could harm our nation slip in, under your
watch, through commission or omission.”

The Governor of Enugu State, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, represented
by the Deputy Governor, Cecilia Ezeilo, commended the initiative
and pledged the state government’s willingness to continue to
partner and support NIS and the Federal Government in securing the
people of the State.

Earlier, the Comptroller General of NIS, Muhhammed Babandede,
had in his address, thanked the government and people of Enugu
State for their support and directed the Officers and Men of the
Command to continue to be loyal and patriotic to the nation in the
discharge of their duties while being vigilant.

He used the occasion to assure that the issue of passport
shortage would soon be a thing of the past with the opening of the
Command’s new office complex.

The Minister of Interior, Chief Rauf Aregbesola has expressed
sadness that despite various reforms introduced by the present
federal government, the nation’s passport administration was still
fraught with fraud, racketeering and delay.

Aregbesola who spoke in Enugu at the commissioning of the
Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Enugu State Command Office
Complex noted that the reforms made to better the system has been
under serious attack by strange interests hence it had only
achieved little.

The Minister charged the officers and even the citizens who
apply for the passport to ensure that the integrity of the document
was maintained at all times.

He said, “Nigerian passport is the highest affirmation of
Nigerian citizenship that is why the integrity of that document is
of utmost importance to us. In light of this can we really say we
have best served the Nigerian citizens in passport issuing and
renewal? We all know this cannot be true. The process is still
fraught with racketeering, fraud, delay and mistreatment for the
applicants, this should not be so. We must trust ourselves, from
the highest of us to the lowest of us, we must ensure that Nigerian
people get service and I am strict about it.

“You are all aware of the reforms being put in place in passport
administration but as with all reforms that challenge the status
quo and strange interests, which involve society corruption, there
have been resistance and little progress is being made sadly.

“We must all subscribe to the reform, doing the right thing
requires making sacrifice and getting out of our comfort zones.
This does not apply to our officers alone, people who equally apply
for this document must exercise restraint and exhibit some decorum.
If you insist on inducing these officers, is also possible for them
to receive.”

Describing the NIS Enugu office complex as the biggest in the
country, the Minister thanked the State Government for the gesture
and urged the officers in the Command to ensure its maintenance and
to plant trees.

He said, “I must thank the government of the state for this
provision, this is the biggest Command I have seen in terms of
space in the country. As we are thanking the government of Enugu,
we are urging the officers here to plant trees. Register your name,
if you are an officer here plant a tree to register your name
before you leave here, that’s my charge, you take it as a charge
from the minister, you must plant a tree that must bear your name
in this facility.”

Emphasising on service, the Minister noted that the objective of
NIS is to serve the people of Nigeria adding that, “At the heart of
government credibility is service to people. The Nigeria people are
the boss; you must take pride in serving them not in exploiting
them, not in bulling them, not in undermining them. The Nigerian
people are unmistakably the boss, this consciousness must permeate
the way you conduct your business and the way you relate with the
people.”

Speaking on the facility, he said, “Contemporary realities are
pointing clearly to the fact that conducive workplace environment
is a huge critical factor to productivity.”

The Minister, who recalled how the office complex was attacked
and damaged by arsonists during the #ENDSARS protest, expressed
delight that the complex was being commissioned after been rebuilt
with the assistance of some illustrious citizens of Enugu
State.

Aregbesola said, “The minimum facility you can provide for a man
who bears arms is not only a place of safety but that where his
best capacity can be easily harnessed,” stressing that there were
various infrastructure development and upgrade in the four agencies
under the ministry of interior.

The Minister who urged the personnel of the NIS not to lose
sight of the Service responsibility to the Nigerian people said,
“Immigration is the first contact that foreigners have with our
country and the first impression, they say, lasts the longest. You
must, therefore, strive to be professional and above all be
patriotic. On no account must Nigeria’s image be damaged or
undesirable element that could harm our nation slip in, under your
watch, through commission or omission.”

The Governor of Enugu State, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, represented
by the Deputy Governor, Cecilia Ezeilo, commended the initiative
and pledged the state government’s willingness to continue to
partner and support NIS and the Federal Government in securing the
people of the State.

Earlier, the Comptroller General of NIS, Muhhammed Babandede,
had in his address, thanked the government and people of Enugu
State for their support and directed the Officers and Men of the
Command to continue to be loyal and patriotic to the nation in the
discharge of their duties while being vigilant.

He used the occasion to assure that the issue of passport
shortage would soon be a thing of the past with the opening of the
Command’s new office complex.