State Diaspora Focal Point Officers (SDFPOs) have condemned the visa procedures Nigerians in the Diaspora are made to now undergo.
The group in a communique issued in Abuja on Tuesday said since most of the
data required to produce a passport were already held by the Missions, following a citizen’s first passport, it was therefore “a waste of time, waste of money or at best a display of inefficiency to demand that applicants should present themselves physically for passport renewal or visas.”
The group while insisting that these type of services were conducted through the post by other Missions, which makes life easier for their people, said: “We fully support the motion recently moved by Sen. Matthew Urhoghide from Edo State as well as the recent public hearing by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, chaired by Hon. Yusuf Buba (Chairperson, House Committee on Foreign Affairs).”
They claimed that Nigerian citizens, friends and families faced great difficulties with Nigerian visa application processes, with allegations of the use of middle men and the lack of options to complete the application process online, only to mention but a few.
They said: “Nigeria prides itself on having just over 15 million Nigerians living in Diaspora with immense socio-economic contributions towards Nigeria; for instance Diaspora remittances have soared to over 20 billion US Dollars in recent years, making Nigerian Diasporans a strong economic force.
“Thus, Nigeria Missions in Diaspora must drag themselves into the internet age in order to provide efficient digital services and digitised information for its citizens and visitors alike.”
They added that. “We the State Diaspora Focal Point Officers, continue to share in the frustrations of Nigerians in Diaspora and we are truly sorry that they are having to endure this.
“We pledge to work constructively and swiftly with the powers that be to address these longstanding challenges. We urge the Nigerian Immigration Service along with our Missions to do the following:
To commence Nigerian passport application process mainly by post;
To increase periodic assessment of Nigerian Missions abroad; To increase centres for where passport can be processed especially in geographically huge countries such as the United States.
“To have ZERO liability for the costs of any additional charges arising from non mandatory travel to Nigeria Missions, Nigerian Diasporans are subjected to undertake, starting six months from the date of this press release.”
They also advised that where the use of middle men was uncovered that “the Mission automatically fires the compromised staff members, name and shame them and that the Nigerian Missions, invest in functional websites with
up-to-date information and where the websites are down for more than 12 hours, must provide working emergency contact numbers.”
They also asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to invest some of its resources to update, manage, and rectify the issues raised.
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