Dividends Of Decentralisation Of Passport Operations
The Administration of Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service Muhammad Babandede MFR on assumption of office adopted a system of décentralisation of specific, people-oriented aspect of passport administration to be undertaken at the State Passport offices to reduce the pressure of every passport case being referred to the Service Headquarters and applicants travelling long distances to secure certain categories of services, thereby empowering the passport offices to do those approved tasks.
This also brought about increase the number of passport offices in states with a large number of thronging applicants FCT has NIS Headquarters and Gwagwalada, Lagos having Ikoyi, Alausa and Festac, Kano having Kano Main and Dawakin-Kudu, Ogun State Main Passport office Abeokuta and Sagamu, Delta State Asaba and Warri offices, Oyo State Ibadan and Oyo town as model projects to bring relieve and comfort to passport applicants.
The Comptroller General Babandede’s administration is looking toward having front-offices that will serve as application collection, sorting out, processing and Customer Care Centres for the passport requests in line with international best practices where Express Centres are opened to cater for those requiring express services due to exigencies and other day to day demand including unplanned medical and other urgent needs requiring express service.
The NIS will continue to open new frontiers in its operation and services to take care of its customers whose needs must be met as far as it is within prescribed and approved procedures for its operations, the passport processing attracts large numbers of applicants converging at a centre closest to them, hence the need for more centres in megacities and densely populated cities with the aim of decongesting the crowd and making life bearable for those seeking such service, saving time, reducing the tendency for touting and attempt to follow short cut by using any untoward means, this lead to the administration developing functional, effective, quality services with increase centres, pressure will reduce on a single centre most visited, many applications are treated at the State passport offices and those requiring further approval sent to the Service Headquarters Abuja for clearance and approval conveyed for the passport offices to produce and issue after such approval is received, particularly sensitive cases like lost, stolen, change of names.
