It’s embarrassing to constantly hear about traumatic stories or experiences of Nigerians attempting to obtain a new passport or reissue or, as it’s more commonly called, renew their Nigeria passport. We diligently explored four approaches to overcome the lack of Nigerian passport in this article.
Because to the lack of passports in Nigeria, an increasing number of people are missing essential international engagements. Similarly, many Nigerians living abroad who returned home with expired or about to expire passports for various reasons were unable to return due to their inability to reissue their Nigeria passports.
4 Ways To Overcome Nigerian Passport Scarcity
Below are four ways easily get your Nigerian Passport from the Immigration Services:
1. Get a Passport before you Need It
One sad reality that every Nigerian must recognize is that things are out of control in the country, and that vast numbers of people are fleeing in unprecedented proportions. Banditry, arm robbery, kidnapping, rapping, and assassination are all common news and incidents. The violent crime that we used to hear about from afar is now all around us, and citizens are getting increasingly concerned. The simplest way out for them is to obtain a passport and leave an unsafe and unsettling country.
2. Get Your NIN Printout Ready
The National Identity Card is now required for the majority of transactions in the country. Many people are still waiting for their national identity cards, which is weird. It’s worth repeating that if you don’t have a national identity card, you won’t be able to apply for a Nigeria passport in most of the country’s major passport centers. This means that if you want to avoid the shortage of Nigeria passports, you’ll need to have one ready before applying.
3. Be Out of Your Comfort Zone
Please keep in mind that the Nigerian electronic passport is the same everywhere over the country. It makes no difference where you process the paperwork; whether you get it in Damaturu, Akure, or New York City, it is acceptable and valid until the expiration date. Never puts his or her trust in a single passport office.
4. Engage a Facilitator
In reality, anyone who tells you that you can apply for a passport on your own without the help of someone who knows how the organization works is fooling you. In today’s Nigeria, applying for and processing a Nigeria e-passport without the assistance of a third party is usually a frustrating and time-consuming process.
Because the demand for Nigerian passports is significantly more than the number of booklets available, the only practical option for avoiding the scarcity is to hire the services of a person who can facilitate the issue.
Conclusion
Currently, the Nigeria Immigration Service is blaming the challenges faced by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in obtaining a National Identity Number for their inadequacies or inability to meet the 6 week target for the issuance of a new passport or 3 weeks for the reissue of expired passports. That’s a poor justification. The actual issue is that they are unable to manufacture booklets. The Immigration Service Passport Office in Abeokuta, for example, is still experiencing NIN difficulties, having failed to process and generate passport applications submitted more than three months ago.
Source: Nyscinfo