THE Organisation for the Advancement of Nigeria (OAN, Inc) is disappointed in the Federal Government over the stress Nigerians in the United States go through to renew their passports
The group’s disappointment is shared by 16 other groups.
The groups, in a joint letter to Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola, blamed the stress on passport booklets shortage.
The letter reads: “We are requesting your Excellency to work together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama and facilitate the provision of adequate passport booklets.
“This will enable the Consulate in New York to clear the backlogs at all processing locations and ensure that Passport processing from application to issuance is completed within a reasonable time frame of not more than three months.
“The ministry should expand the number of available appointments on the central portal to at least 100 each day, or to the number each Embassy or Consulate has the capacity to handle.
“It should also hold Innovate1, the vendor managing the payment portal, accountable to improve their service and deliver a more customer friendly platform to Nigerians.’’
These steps, the groups said, will make Nigerians proud of their embassies and consulates.
The groups added: “Nigerian Consulate in New York has come a long way in improving consular services to the Nigerian community, and we would hate to see all their efforts go to waste.
“OAN, Inc. and other Nigerian Organisations have worked diligently with the Consulate in New York to improve the delivery of consular services to Nigerians who need such services and the Consular officers have responded very well to Nigerians seeking their services.
“Unfortunately, all the service gains made over several months in the past are in jeopardy of being lost, due to the consistent chronic shortage of passport booklets.
“When booklets are eventually released, the number is grossly inadequate to serve the large number of applicants.
“If this shortage of passport booklets should continue, we are afraid that the safety of the Consulate officials as well as the Nigeria House, New York and other Nigerian Missions in the United States may be in grave danger.
“The recent unwarranted aggression towards our fellow citizens working in our Consulates is not an aberration. It is the product of consistent Consulate’s inability to provide basic consular services to them.’’
