The pledge was given by Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, at the official launch of the “Enhanced e-Passport” at the Nigerian High Commission in London yesterday.

The minister, who stated that the Nigerian passport is the highest affirmation of Nigerian citizenship, added that it is the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s obligation to produce the passport without delay and within a reasonable time frame.

“What we have come to do here is symbolic of the core mandate of the Ministry of Interior and indeed, the Federal Government of Nigeria – affirmation of citizenship integrity. The Nigerian passport is the highest affirmation of Nigerian citizenship. It is therefore our responsibility to provide the passport without any stress, within a reasonable period.

“As we are all aware, there have been huge challenges to passport administration, from shortage of booklets to touting and an economy of corruption built around it. These challenges have persisted for too long and a lot of people have become cynical while others have taken them as normal and then rolled with it. But I come from a tradition of problem-solving in public administration. I do not believe that any problem is insurmountable, so we are going to solve all the problems associated with passport administration and we are already succeeding,” the minister declared.

On the features of the enhanced passport, I Aregbesola said it is a huge improvement from the standard passport that was introduced in 2007, with more sophisticated security features, making it one of the most secure passports in the world.

“The Enhanced e-Passport is a great improvement on the Biometric Passport technology which Nigeria adopted in 2007 as a strategic step towards curbing forgery, impersonation and other forms of frauds associated with obtaining travel documents under the old Machine Readable Passport regime. We are aware that technology rules the world and we are keeping abreast of the latest development in the field.

“Over the years, the Nigeria Immigration Service had worked assiduously and in close synergy with Messrs Iris Smart Technologies Limited to develop and implement passport reforms that are in tandem with international best practices, including extant International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) Standards and Regulations,” he said.

The minister who seized the opportunity to reel out some of the achievements of the NIS under his tenure noted that the service has issued a total of 2.7 million Nigerian passports in the past two years.

“In the past two years alone, we have issued 2.7 million passports to Nigerians. We have taken substantial measures to address the issue of shortage of passport booklets. This year, the ministry approved the deployment of over 600,000 booklets, the largest of its kind ever done. That is not all. The Nigeria Immigration Service through MIDAS is now connected to INTERPOL and can upload information to the agency on lost, stolen, and invalidated passports in real-time.

“The Ministry of Interior has consistently provided the enabling environment for the Nigeria Immigration Service to undertake and implement several reforms, especially concerning Border Management and Passport Administration as well as Internal Monitoring/Control mechanisms to enhance efficient and effective service delivery to Nigerians and foreigners alike,” the minister announced.

Acting Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, DCG Isa Jere, stated in his remarks that the Service is prepared to meet the demand for passports in the United Kingdom, stating that his officers are ready to roll out the new passports at the official rate published on the NIS website going forward.

“We are ready to serve the public and start rolling out the new enhanced e-passport in the United Kingdom with immediate effect. Our staff are professionals and will deliver excellent service to our citizens. Those who have any complaints whatsoever are advised to use the publicly listed complaints channels to adequately resolve any issues raised,” DCG Jere stated.

The Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ambassador Sarafa Tunji Isola, the acting comptroller-general of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Isa Jere, top Nigerian diplomats, members of the diplomatic corps, and Nigerians in the diaspora were among those who attended the occasion.