Milton Tella – The new Nigeria High Commissioner, His Excellency Chief Sarafa Isola and his team are appealing to Nigerians in the UK for patience and understanding as the various new measures put in place to ease the application; processing and issuance of passports come into effect.
The new administration at the Nigerian embassy London, is eager to depart from the perception of the past, by first acknowledging that there were problems and other issues associated with the consular services to Nigerians in the UK that they are now ready to tackle without delay.
In a media release made available to African Voice, from the office of the Minister/Head of Information, Mr. Nuradeen Aliyu-Biu, “the Mission intends to regularly engage Nigerians in the UK. The Mission is requesting suggestions, ideas and observations from Nigerians in a bid to improve service delivery.”
“We are still open to useful suggestions on how to improve consular services to Nigerians particularly on the issue of passport processing.
Suggestions are to be forwarded to publiccomplaints@nigeriahc.org.uk”
The Mission further expressed its appreciation to Nigerians for their resilience and promised that the challenges will be corrected. It is worthy to note that the problems and other issues associated with passport processing are being addressed and a lot of progress is being recorded.
The Mission particularly mentioned the experience of the weeks of Monday 3rd May to Friday 4th June 2021 as very hectic because many Nigerians showed up for capturing with their children, who were on school break.
“The Mission was under tremendous pressure to address all the challenges arising from the large turnout, as we needed to avail parents of the opportunity offered by the school break. Nevertheless, all applicants who showed up at an average of 452 per day were processed accordingly. Many applicants left the Mission as late as 10.00pm daily within the period, while lessons learnt would be useful for such future challenges.”
The Mission also praised the dedication of the embassy staff, “It is also important to commend the entire staff of the High Commission, who worked day and night to cope with the excruciating pressures. We salute their tolerance, compassion and threshold in the discharge of their duties.”
The statement gave an account of how the Mission is dealing with the passport backlog. “In line with the commitment of the Mission to ensure service delivery, we are happy to report that 14,189 passport applications have been captured from 16th April, 2021, whilst 12,580 have been issued and delivered in due course. The Nigeria Immigration Services has continuously ensured the availability of passport booklets and this would be sustained in the Mission. We appreciate this collaboration in the service of Nigeria.”
African Voice spoke with some of the leaders within the Nigerian community in the UK to gauge their impression of the new set of diplomats.
Many of the influential leaders expressed the hope, relief and confidence that the new High Commissioner, Sectional Heads and the entire Mission have pressed the reset button with the re – introduction of the fast track services.
Mr. Gbenga Bakre, a security consultant, said, “There is hope and optimism, with many believing the new team are on to a good start and embarking on the right direction by carrying the community along. This administration is communicating regularly, l hope they will keep this going.”
While some disagree, David Amurun, UK based Aviation specialist,said, “It is commendable that efforts are being made to clear the backlog of passport issuance, in addition to the express service. I see the reintroduction of the express service as a means to raise revenue for the UK High Commission. I honestly DO NOT have an issue with that knowing that enough funds are not made available to the various High Commissions and Embassies.
Mr. Amurun in his letter to African Voice further listed his concerns:
1. Express service should be pre booked. Not people turning up at the High Commission at will.
2. When paying for the passport, there should be an option for express service.
3. If express service is chosen, available dates and time should be shown for the applicant to choose from.
4. Payment of the passport and the extra £100 for express should be done online, not postal orders.
Presently, The UK High Commission still remains a DUGBE or OSHODImarket.
It is very embarrassing and l must say, it doesn’t make sense by any stretch of the imagination, that Nigerians as a people, we can’t seem to organise simple processes.
We want to hear…”They are trying o”…we want to be praised for our efforts, not for results.
NOBODY should visit the High Commission and spend the whole day there.
NOBODY should have to queue outside, waiting to get inside the High Commission.
It is truly embarrassing and it is madness to attend to 300 people.”
Wale Shogbanmu a public analyst, said, “It is a welcome idea to be able to apply for express service. However, the use of Postal Order to make payments, when they know that commission is charged on it. An alternative means of card payment or online transactions should be adopted.
Just on the commission on Postal order, my wife who applied for express service for the family paid about £25.00. How can we go on like this? This is 2021 for God’s sake.”
Kindly follow us on twitter:@AfricanVoice2
