Emeka Aginam
25 June 2008
Lagos — Despite increasing number of e-Passport applicants and network failure across the nation, especially in Lagos State where the document is in high demand because of the market, the Nigerian Immigration Service, (NIS) Ikoyi Office has continued to live to its expectations as it still meet up with collection deadline of hundreds of applicants per day, Vanguard Computers & E-business finding has revealed.
A close monitoring of activities at Ikoyi passport office last week in Lagos, also showed that in spite of infrastructural challenges, especially, electricity, the Immigration officials put in extra time to make sure that the product is ready before collection date which is maximum of 10 days after the picture has been scanned and digital signature taken.
Further monitoring of daily activities at Ikoyi Passport office and FESTAC respectively showed that sanity has also been restored. The days of endless wait for the product appears to be decreasing. The days of mass rush to get the document seen by many Nigerians as a national cake seem to be reducing by the day as the NIS has put in place necessary measures to take care of the large number of applicants, despite infrastructural challenges.
Apart from meeting up with collection deadline, a close source in NIS told Vanguard Computers &E-business that the NIS often times issue passport as against the normal waiting time. The NIS, the source said gives priority attention in such cases like medical emergency, appointment at the embassy that demands emergency with written evidence, students writing special exams that need identification But a cross section of some Nigerian applicants who spoke to our Reporter commended the current efforts of the NIS in making sure that the document is made available to the applicants even in the face of many challenges including inadequate power.
"I think the Nigerian Immigration Service should be commended on e-Passport issuance. The operating environment is not encouraging. Look at the power situation in the country. Do you know that once power goes off, the entire process has to be started all over again. System failure is another major challenge. They should be commended in dealing with all these challenges in meeting the collection deadline of applicants whose number is increasing by the day", Stanley Okpala, a student told Vanguard Computers & E-business during a chart last week in Ikoyi Passport office.
According to him, a special transformer ought to be dedicated to every passport office across the nation so as to save money being spent on fueling generator.
In the opinion of Emeka Anunike, a computer vendor in Computer Village, government should deploy and trained more personnel so as to tale care of the large number of applicants trooping in the passport offices across the nation by the day.
For Tonia Anadu, a civil servant, more is still expected from the government in the area of infrastructure to support the Nigeria Immigration Service in the insurance of the harmonized ECOWAS Smart e-passport. "Anything short of this will still be affecting the insurance of the biometric based technology. Nigerian government has all it takes to support the NIS," she added.
Before now, it would recalled that the Nigerian Immigration at the Ikoyi Passport office Lagos State has warned e-passport applicants not to patronize touts in the acquisition of the document which has been on high demand by many Nigerians since its introduction late last year.
According to him, one of the major challenges affecting e-passport process is power failure. "Once power goes off in the process of processing the document, you have to start a new process. Power failure has been a challenge," he added
It would be recalled that the Nigeria Immigration Service launched the e-passport to the Nigerian public on July 27, 2007 when the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Mr J. C. Ude issued the first citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Umaru Yar'Adua with the e-passport at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Before now, the Nigeria Immigration Service has rolled out several public enlightenment and mass education to create awareness and sensitize the Nigerian public on the procedural requirements for obtaining the e-passport. The campaign for the e-passport was invigorated across all available media spectrum, spanning the print, electronic and outdoor media.
The e-passport is supported by a powerful data base that ensures data claims verifiability on any point of entry or departure. The traveler's identity can be ascertained and any ambiguity arising from identity problems addressed with dispatch. Nigeria is the first country in Africa to acquire the e-passport technology and among the first five nations of the world to adopt the biometric technology to the delight of International Migration Experts and security agents worldwide.
The beauty of the e-passport is the inherent potential of the traveling document to eliminate forgery, passport falsification, and multiple acquisitions of passports and make identity theft by unscrupulous elements in the society impossible unlike in the past, the process for the issuance of e-passport is completely devoid of cash transactions involving immigration officers. The e-based procedure reduces human interface but rather increases interactive synergy with computers and internet service providers.
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