Ogunbowale Olugbenga, the founder of epower.ng has narrated the challenges and nightmare that he passed through in other to renew his passport. According to him, his passport expired and he decided to renew it through the normal procedure but the level of corruption in the Nigeria immigration services was more than what one can say. Read his experience below.
According to him, his passport expired and he decided to renew it through the normal procedure but the level of corruption in the Nigeria immigration services was more than what one can say. Read his experience below.
Do you have a passport? A Nigerian Passport? Congratulations! You are one of the lucky few who have endured the torment of queuing up for hours, days, weeks and sometimes months to secure a passport for the official fee of N17,800.
If you don’t have the patience for queues and weeks of meaningless visits, paying an official as much as N40,000 will guarantee you get your passport the same day or at most, in 3 days (depending on the state).
Apparently, I thought I could ‘do it on my own’. I made the grievous error of paying for my passport renewal online on the 4th of January. Here is a quick rundown of how immigration service has frustrated my life.
January 4
Paid for Passport renewal on-line (a big mistake as not paying in cash and paying through your nose means your passport renewal/procurement process can take forever)
I went to submit my old passport at the Oyo state command and filled some forms. I was not told a capture was needed. I was only told to come back next week.
March 1
I went to ask about my passport. Told to come back next week.
March 4
Visited: no booklet, no passport.
March 6
Visited and accidentally learnt I needed to be captured (it was my first renewal ever). After nearly 6 hours of waiting, I was captured (picture was taken & biodata captured on the portal).
As I would later learn, allowing them to capture me when they were already complaining about booklet scarcity was another mistake because once you are captured, you cannot cancel or transfer to another state.
March 11
Visited: no booklet, no passport.
March 13
Visited, no booklet, no passport. I met with several officials who advised I meet with the Comptroller. I did meet and He asked me to meet with the official in charge. He was not on the seat.
The very next day, someone else was occupying the same seat and He did not attend to my request. Meanwhile, a friend told me his brother secured a passport at the Oyo state command within 4 days after paying 27k.
March 15
Visited, no booklet, no passport.
March 20
Visited, no booklet, no passport.
March 25
Visited twice. On my first visit, the officer I met told me they were attending to backlogs. No time for my passport. The comptroller was on his way out, I could not meet him. I went back by 3:30 pm.
He told me the person in charge is not on the seat, I should check back when He returns. I asked another official who told me the said official had travelled for a marriage ceremony in faraway Kano.
Another official asked me the Church I attend and advised I start praying and fasting. Another official asked me to take my grievances to Servicom. Yet another official encouraged me to take to Twitter.
In between these visits, I made countless phone calls to friends, family and immigration officials asking for help. Nothing has worked.
Why do I need my passport badly? I have been selected as one of the top 24 entrepreneurs in the world with game-changing social enterprise ideas in the @GISTNetwork competition organized by the US Dept of state.
My flight is booked for the 13th of April. Hotel booked. But no Visa. Why? No passport. I have also been selected as a Mandela Washington Fellow. I also need to submit my passport by the 27th of March (for MMWF)
and 28th of March (to process my Bahrain Visa). When I visit the Oyo state command, I take along documents, explaining how I am going to be representing Nigeria in Bahrain for GIST TECH-I and why I need my passport.
It seems I have been speaking Greek and the immigration service has left me no choice but to cry out to Nigerians to save me.
I have a few questions for the Comptroller General and the Comptroller in Charge of Oyo State: Why is the immigration service always running out of booklets & dealing with backlogs?
Why are immigration officials immune to deadlines & genuine emergencies? Why must an entire command stand still because an official is not around? Why must I need to know someone who knows someone before I can secure my passport?
Why do I need to pay 2X or 3X the official rate before I secure my passport? Why do I need to pray and fast, the trend on Twitter or write a diary such as this before I get my passport?
I have deadlines looming. I am a law-abiding citizen. No criminal records. I am travelling to make Nigeria proud. Immigration service, give me my Passport.
