FG Tasks NIS To Ensure Strict Border Security
Orders Issuance Of Passport Within 48 Hours
The Federal Government has directed the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to ensure strict compliance of the Border Management Strategy that was unveiled yesterday, as part of efforts to ensure border safety and security.
Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, gave the directives when he declared open the Comptroller General Management Retreat 2019 and launching of Border Management Strategy Document in Lagos.
According to the Minister, the retreat was organised for the management cadre officers to brainstorm and fashion out means of implementing the reforms being carried out by the Service in line with the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s focus, which is Security, Economy and Transparency (SET).
He said the retreat would provide the major input in the development of several strategic document of the NIS to cover 2019 to 2023, adding that the officers and men of the Service must act as moral agents and in the best interest of the country, as it is only then that the efficient Border Security Management would be achieved.
“The primary role of the Immigration Service is the security of the border and migration management. No unwanted, suspicious and criminal person must be allowed entry into our nation, just as we are to prevent the exit from Nigeria of all known domestic real felons and or domestic potential felons from leaving Nigeria to tarnish our image abroad”, Aregbesola said.
The Minister further observed that technology and transparency remain paramount for efficient and effective border security management, especially in the contemporary situation where crime and criminality has assumed its complex status.
“All officers of the Service must as a matter of urgency, embrace the digital tradition and be technology/computer compliant, particularly at the senior and management level. Our officers must shun all forms of corruption through openness and transparency in the discharge of their duties”, the Minister added.
He called on participants at the Retreat to debate and agree on the model and period it must take for a Nigerian to apply for and obtain the international passport anywhere in the world as swiftly as possible within the minimum human contact.
“Should there be justifiable delay in delivering on this commitment, there must be a mechanism to communicate, such reason(s) within a period as agreed in the retreat to such applicant for the passport, which must not be later than 72 hours, after discovering such reason”, he stated
The Minister also emphasised that with technology, the NIS can and must eliminate the tradition of endless wait for obtaining the Nigerian Passport by Nigerians desirous of having one.
“With technology, it is possible to process and obtain the passport within 48 hours, if the application does not have any issues. Nigerian passport should be available within 48 hours maximum after application and at the official fee, the same goes for entry visa, resident permit, seamen license, as well as application and processing of other services”, he said.
