Interrogating Interior Minister’s magic wand on clearance of passport backlog
The stories about processing and procuring Nigeria’s international passport, otherwise known as the green passport, are not pleasant to the ear, or soothing to the mind, both at home and abroad, as the issuing authorities are notable for their notoriety, in frustrating the prospective applicants who may need international passport to travel or need renewal.
These anxiety-brewing-stories, often emanate from the activities of state officials, involved in passport racketeering, a fraudulent empire that exists to service the private pockets of a few greedy interests at the detriment of the general good of all.
The nefarious activities of this criminal cartel in government institutions not only gave birth to humongous backlogs of unprocessed passports but also added unpleasant scars to the already battered image of these government institutions and by extension the country at large.
Available records from the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), one of the issuing authority, reveals that average passport processing is three weeks for renewals/reissue and six weeks for first-time applicants. Regrettably, this timeline was never adhered to by those who set the timeframe, either NIS or Nigerian missions across the globe. The ugly stories of passport seekers who have to spend more than double, the official rate for procuring the passport and have to also wait for over a year before collecting the green passport dots the pages of national dailies, as well as the cyberspace.
But all that are stories for another day as the major focus of this piece is to interrogate what critical stakeholders in the sector had done to restore sanity in the system. Particular reference would be made to the Ministry of Interior under whose supervision, the backlogs were recently cleared, in line with the renewed hope initiative of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. On the driver’s seat for this visible and remarkable achievement in less than two months, in office, is the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo. Like Magic Wand, his strategic policy framework and its judicious implementation have proven to be very potent and effective in resolving the undue delay in passport offices in Nigeria as well as the demobilization of the thriving passport racketeering in Nigeria.
In less than one month in office, precisely on September 7, 2023, the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who had already conceptualized the idea of bringing to a halt the suffering of Nigerians in applying for fresh or renewal of passports, pledged to clear the existing backlogs of about 204,000 in just two weeks. This promise was backed with action and the results are already very conspicuous for even the blind to see.
Reporting back progress of work, on a promise made to Nigerians, Dr Tunji-Ojo, in a press conference on Wednesday, in Abuja apologised to the affected applicants, as well as citizens, for his inability to accomplish the task in two weeks as earlier promised in September. He, however, announced that though the tasks split into three weeks, instead of two, it was finally accomplished, with grace and efficiency.
This is as he applauded officers and men of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), for working day and night including weekends and public holidays to meet up with his directive. The Minister, also ordered that going forward, passports will be issued to prospective applicants in just two, to guarantee efficiency, and prevent a slide into the ugly stories of the past where applicants paid more for their passports and had to wait for six months or one year before the passport is issued to them.
Dr. Tunji-Ojo told the audience at the media parley that, “On September 7, we made a promise to sort out the backlogs in two weeks but we made it in three weeks and I sincerely want to apologise to Nigerians for that. The Renewed Hope administration of President Bola Tinubu matches its words with actions. The issue of passports must be a right and not a privilege. Visa is a privilege but a passport is a right and we are happy that today, we have been able to hand over the rights of Nigerians to them. For us, we are assured that if it can work in NIS, it can work anywhere else. Nigeria is undergoing a process. We inherited 204,332 enrolments without passports being issued. People that had applied and captured. That was the figure and we gave a marching order because the president was also on our necks to bring solutions and succour to Nigerians”.
On how he was able to dismantle the passport racketeering cartel, the Minister said: “We went into strategic meetings with the NIS and with the support of our service providers, we were able to increase printing machines to four in passport offices where we had two. Our service providers gave us the machines at no cost. The NIS personnel were doing three shifts, working 24/7 to make sure that we cleared the backlogs and to ensure that never again, are we going to have backlogs of passport production.
We want to ensure that nobody waits for more than two weeks to get their passports. As of October 1, we had cleared all the 204,332 backlogs and from the records produced by NIS, the number of passports already collected is 91,981 outstanding, but available is 112,351″.
Admonishing citizens to go to the NIS offices to collect their passports, the Minister tasked them not to pay any money outside the official rate, and to report any officials engaged in racketeering.
“Please, do not give money to anybody. If there is any passport office where you have done your capturing and they do not give you your passports, please lodge your complaints via the following; 0802 375 3414, preferably SMS and Whatsapp. Or email aa-ajiboye@yahoo.com,” he concluded.
To bring citizens up to speed with factors that compelled the Minister to pay particular attention to clearing backlogs of passports in Nigeria, a journalist with the Guardian newspaper, Ms Tina Abeku, explained that “getting an international passport is a nightmare due to large-scale corruption and inefficiency among immigration officers, who do all they could, even defy the system, to extort applicants of huge sums of money before issuing the much sought-after travel documents”.
Interestingly, it is heartwarming to report that there are noticeable positive changes in the sector. A family friend who did not want his name in print said that the minister had indeed sanitized processes of passport procurement in Nigeria.
Accordingly, “When I was told that my passport was ready for collection, I did not believe it. But, when I got to the Immigration Office in Abuja the next day, I was surprised that it was ready for collection, and I collected it. This is the kind of thing we want to see in government”.
He advised other public officeholders to learn from the Minister of Interior who keeps to his words, as that is the hallmark of good leadership. “Delivering to the people that which you promised them as at when due. If other Ministers adhere to Dr Tunji-Ojo’s style of leadership, then Tinubu’s administration will not only succeed in terms of paper tiger projections but will touch the lives of average Nigerians in practical terms,” He further opined.
Expressing confidence in the character and competence of the Minister to deliver on assigned tasks, a columnist, Mr Femi Salako, noted that the Minister has set the ball rolling for a holistic transformation of the ministry, where Nigerian passports will not be made inaccessible or too expensive for Nigerians to acquire.
Writing in the Vanguard edition of September 3, 2023, Mr. Salako said: “Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has emerged as a visionary Minister, poised to usher in an era of transformation within the Ministry of Interior. His passion, readiness, and proactive approach demonstrate his unwavering commitment to President Tinubu’s #RenewedHope agenda. His engagement with agencies under his purview signals a new dawn for the Ministry, underpinned by a dedication to excellence and the collective determination to deliver on the nation’s mandate”.
Mr. Salako, in the piece titled, “Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo’s Inaugural Week: A Glimpse into his Commitment to Interior Ministry Transformation,” further posited that, “In a swift succession of events that commenced on August 20, 2023, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo embarked on a remarkable journey that is poised to reshape the Ministry of Interior and elevate its role in securing the nation’s well-being. As he transitioned from his esteemed position in the National Assembly to assume the role of Minister of Interior under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, he exhibited a level of passion and readiness that has captured the nation’s attention”.
Meanwhile, the importance of an international passport to its holder cannot be overemphasized, hence the encomiums the Minister is receiving on account of this singular policy action on passports is well deserving.
Thisnigeria.com
