Few Nigerians are even aware of a quiet revolution taking place in the business side of the Nigerian Immigration Services and the impact this revolution will have in how Nigerians travel. Those Nigerians who own international passports can recount their ordeal in procuring and renewing this precious travel document owing to bureaucratic bottlenecks. An international passport holder is a proud ambassador of the country whose passport he/she carries.
The introduction of new Nigerian passports under this administration will therefore be considered a remarkable intervention with far-reaching implications. The new ten-year security-enhanced e-passport is tribute to the vision and drive for excellence by the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Muhammad Babandede and his team. It is CGI Babandede’s leadership that initiated the groundbreaking reforms and all successes must be attributed to him. Since his appointment, the CGI has brought a Midas touch and championed reforms in the ways and manner the Immigration Service met their statutory obligations to the public.
Anytime President Muhammadu Buhari traveled outside the country and had cause to engage members of the Nigerian diaspora community, they often complained of their difficulty in renewing their passports or procuring new ones for family members. Any Nigerian needing to renew their passport would be required to physically visit the embassy or consulate to conduct the business.
It was an experience that was not always pleasant or satisfactory. A genuine wish of many Nigerian passport holders was to extend the lifespan of the passports. It was easy to see the connection between the frustration of Nigerians in Diaspora and the hardship they faced in procuring and renewing their passports.
It is therefore noteworthy that CGI Muhammad Babandede’s audacious reforms have significantly eased the business of passport renewal for Nigerians at home and abroad. To the pride of all Nigerians and credit to the Buhari Administration,
The new passports have features that meet the International Civil Aviation Organisation ICAO standards. With twenty-five new security features which include the engraving of a holder’s National Identity Number (NIN), the new international passport which will become available for issue to members of the public from March 4, 2019, has acquired exceptional economic value. Any Nigerian passport holder from March 4th will be rest assured he/she is in possession of a qualitative, durable, safe and respected traveling document with great global value and competitiveness.
One key feature is that the important data page comes in polycarbonate technology that eliminates damage, and not laminated like the previous one. Thanks to this new feature, fraudulent persons will find it harder to alter personal information, including changing a photograph on the Nigerian passport.
Another important feature is the Multi Laser Image (MLC), which captures the primary and secondary image of a passport holder. This heightened tamper-proof feature gives the passport double-safety uniqueness and dissuades attempts to duplicate or forge it. It also comes in a higher quality material than the previous one.
The impact of the new passport revolution will be felt for many years to come. It will lead to better services. Nigerians in the Diaspora will now enjoy more professional and pleasant experience renewing their passports from their bases. They will no longer need to travel frequently to our embassies and consulates to renew their travel documents. The new e-passports are in compliance with latest ICAO standards and are weather-friendly. More so, new express centers have been set up for urgent applications and they now enjoy enhanced and self-tracking application.
The new Nigerian security e-passport has new features but retain previous symbolic ones. The standard passport comes in 32-page/5 year (@N25,000 or $130), 64-page/5 year (N35,000 or $150), and 64-page/10 year (@N70,000 or $230) versions. The new official passport comes in 32 pages at N15,000. The colours however remain unchanged – it is still red for diplomatic, blue for official and green for standard (ordinary) passport holders. President Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbanjo have already been issued with their e-passports on January 15th.
It is also important to note that the process that midwifed the e-passport revolution was a commitment to meeting ICAO regulations. The 180- member International Civil Aviation Organization, to which statues Nigeria is a signatory, and which benchmarks the standard of international travel documents, had determined that member-countries review their passport features and issuance protocols every five years. Nigeria, despite hosting one of Africa’s busiest aviation hubs, and boasting a highly mobile population, last reviewed its protocol in 2007. At a stakeholders’ conference in Abeokuta in 2017, the CGI Babandede leadership took the bold steps in reviewing this process, targeting both booklet and issuance procedures, in the process.
As Nigerians look forward to receiving their new security enhanced e-passport booklets come March 4th, let us rise as one to applaud this uncommon and visionary public officer. CGI Babandede deserves commendation for initiating these reforms and for mustering the will to see them through. In years and decades to come, the positive impact of the new Nigerian e-passport will transform not only the way Nigerians travel but will eradicate one source of frustration which Nigerians, especially those in the Diaspora, feel about our beloved fatherland.
Sule can be reached on [email protected]
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