Nigerians in Diaspora lament over passport scarcity

Some Nigerians in Diaspora have decried the unavailability of Nigerian Passport booklets in missions abroad, describing the situation as a threat to their stay and livelihood in their host countries. The Nigerians in Diaspora Network (NDN), Germany, disclosed this on Friday at a rally in Oberhausen, Germany, via a video. They called on the Federal Government to address the problem urgently.

The Chairman, NDN, Mr Victor Ojeabulu, said the predicament, if not urgently addressed would create more hardship for Nigerians and even put them at risk of deportation. They made a special appeal to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, especially the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, to let him know the predicament in which the people are going through in Germany.

He said that for some months, the people have not been able to obtain their Nigerian passport and a lot are going through hell; those working need to renew their passport for them to continue work. He said that women, in particular were finding it difficult to get passports for their children. He said that women who supposed to get their children registered officially by the state for them to continue their lives could no longer do all that because there were no passport booklets.

He expressed that it is very sad and as a mouth piece of the people, the Nigerians in Diaspora Network, they felt they have to make an appeal to the Federal Government. Ojeabulu said he do not see any reason why the people should be going through all that, it is not responsible for the people to go through all these. Also speaking, Mr Odijie Irabor, General Coordinator, NDN, said the passport remained the most important single identity document required for the purpose of international relation.

Odijie urged the Federal Government to ensure the document was made available to its citizens in Diaspora as due. He explained that they had in the past gone to neighbouring countries in Europe to get their passports issued or renewed but unfortunately, the scarcity has hit all countries in Europe. On Friday they made a distress call on Nigerian government to urgently address international passport dilemma in Diaspora.

He added the sad story is that they book appointments for Nigerian international passport with Nigeria embassies; thjey travel unimaginable distance sometimes across international borders to pay and be captured for the passport. Thereafter, they are made to wait indefinitely on the ground that booklets are not available. Most times this happens when Nigerians needs this international passport urgently to renew their residency or embark on crucial documentation procedures in their respective countries.

Odijie said that imagine how it sounds to return to your host government authority with frivolous excuse why they could not present  international passport on demand. Odijie said that the massive revenue potentials of passport issuance have been grossly underestimated. It has been conservatively estimated that over 10 million Nigerians are in Diaspora. If 50 per cent of five million are documented, they would request for passport renewal every five years at an average cost of 100 dollars. Odijie said it would amount to foreign exchange earnings of Five hundred million dollars in five years cycle. The revenue accruing from international passport services in Nigeria is also staggering. Odijie urged the Nigerian government to look into the issue and investigate the artificial scarcity of the document by its staff for personal gains.