By Dr Joe Abah,
A policy and strategic management expert, recently narrated his experience during an unscheduled visit to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) headquarters in Abuja.
His observation summarised that the operational capacities of agencies and parastatals can be massively improved to enhance efficiency and public confidence just like the one being experienced in the NIS passport processing system.
At the heart of the change in how the NIS delivers service is the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who, upon his appointment, started making significant efforts to improve the service.
Some of the changes he announced are a two-week timeline for processing passport applications and a promise that home and office delivery of passports to applicants would commence in February 2024.
He also threatened to commence the execution of the principle of reciprocity in international relations by halting the visa-on-arrival privilege granted foreign nationals whose countries subject Nigerians to rigorous visa application processes.
On Jan. 8, the NIS commenced personal upload of passport photographs on the NIS passport application portal, while more e-passport offices have been established in Europe.
Many Nigerians say they would consider it an unprecedented achievement if Tunji-Ojo and, indeed the NIS, could break the jinx associated with obtaining passports in Nigeria.
However, some cynics believe that the corruption in the NIS passport issuance service cannot be solved by mere grandstanding.
Mr Fisayo Soyombo, Founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, said several failed attempts had been made in the past to wrestle the powerful passport syndicates.
“Very highly placed presidential appointees had internally attempted to snatch the passport application process from the grip of exploitative Immigration staff, but it never worked.
“A million websites and automated systems will not eliminate corner-cutting Immigration officials; they will continue bypassing the system, and they will be able to justify it,” he posted on his X account on Jan. 11.
He warned that the public should not “trivialise the scale, power, reach, or entrenchment of the interests frustrating Olubunmi-Ojo and his direct and indirect predecessors”.
Those who are sceptical about the success of the reform in the passport processing system are quick to cite the alleged conflict of interest controversy rocking the change driver himself.
They claim that those profiting from an agonisingly inept and corrupt system would resist any reform measure proposed by someone with some perceived stains in his own hands.
However, some optimists believe that to drive positive change and improve service delivery in any sector does not necessarily require a saint.
“The notion that only a saint can drive reforms is not backed by empirics or theory.
“A history of sainthood can be helpful (particularly in gaining public trust) but a combination of determination, passion, and the power to bring about change can be even more important,” Abah said.
There are some, such as the Renewed Hope Collective (RHC), who are directly linking the minister’s ordeal to a fight-back by the “monstrous passport cabal”.
The group alleged in a news statement on Jan. 10 that the minister incurred the wrath of and ferocious resistance of those profiting from the existing system for daring to bring change.
“The monstrous passport cabal is after him for daring to break their stranglehold on long, deliberate delays in passport production, which was costing the country billions of dollars in foreign exchange but was hugely profitable to the cabal”, it said.
Public administration experts say that, although bringing a radical change in a sector entrenched in wholesale corruption could be a daunting task, it is not unsurmountable.
“Changemakers with the right mix of relentless determination, support from their principals, the buy-in of the public, and available war chest to fight the cabal can bring about change.
One recurring example of a go-getter who excelled was the late Prof. Dora Akunyili, who was the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
She was able to win the war against fake drugs and their powerful perpetrators because she knew she was fighting a well-established system, thus she had to be persistent and dogged.
From 2021 when she was appointed, the proportion of fake drugs sold in Nigeria dropped from 70 per cent to about 10 per cent.
“Unfortunately, NAFDAC has gone to sleep again, which means we need another Dora in that sector. But the lesson is that her feat can be replicated in the NIS,” Abah said.
