Wednesday- 28th July, 2021: Nigerian missions, according to the ministry of foreign affairs will soon commence delivering passports to citizens through courier.
The ministry came to this conclusion in order to get rid of the stress Nigerians go through to keep interview appointments.
Many Nigerians have over the years, raised issues on the need for improved services on visa, passport issuance, delivery and emergency travel certificates.
The ministry’s permanent secretary, Gabriel Aduda, told NAN that the ministry was already making plans and discussing with courier companies to pilot the scheme.
He said, “We have started with a new innovation and we are trying to keep Nigerians from travelling to missions for passport renewal.
“We are already talking with some courier companies that will pick passports to the applicant’s doorsteps when they have made all the necessary payments and filled the forms online.
“We don’t want them to come to the missions anymore; it will be delivered to them and we have four consulates to pilot the innovation.”
According to Aduda, in reacting to the backlog of passports, the COVID-19 pandemic came with a dry spell in the production of passports, and it created a problem in all the missions across the world.
On the other hand, the Nigerian consulate in New York says it is making arrangement to enroll Nigerians within its jurisdiction for the national identification number (NIN).
The consul-general, Lot Egopija, said this at a hybrid town hall meeting in New York for Nigerian nationals within the jurisdiction.
According to Egopija, the consulate has received a directive from the federal ministry of foreign affairs to enroll its nationals and will soon conclude arrangements with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
