Come June, Nigerians can bid farewell to the hassle of queuing at immigration offices, as a new home delivery service promises to bring passports directly to their homes, simplifying the application process.
While examining the advanced electronic gates at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport’s modernized terminal in Abuja on Friday, Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo made a major announcement.
To prevent undue strain on the system, Minister Tunji-Ojo revealed that the passport delivery service will be implemented in a phased approach, targeting specific areas to ensure a seamless experience.
Minister Tunji-Ojo revealed that the Nigerian Immigration Service will pioneer its home delivery initiative in four key cities: Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, and Abuja, marking a significant milestone in the passport application process.
To enhance the passport application experience for Nigerians abroad, the home delivery service will debut in the US and UK, following a trial period designed to perfect the process, as announced by Minister Tunji-Ojo.
The minister explained that the delay in implementing home delivery was due to a lack of data centres.
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He noted that the NIS had been relying on a private company’s data centre and emphasised the need for a permanent solution to this problem.
“We have completed the whole solution but when we came on board, we realised that the data centre was not really there. We were leveraging on a private company data centre and we appreciate them for that assistance. We think that it is better to create a permanent solution to problems rather than quick fixes.
“We could have done it in February but we had to build our data centre from scratch to be able to keep the integrity of our data and national security intact. This is more important. It is disgraceful that NIS is 61 years old and NIS is a custodian of biometric data of Nigeria and we believe that NIS should be in charge of the data of Nigeria.
“It is not acceptable that this data is domiciled in a third party and that is why we have been able to do this,” he said.
H added that the data centre has been constructed and the passport delivery issue has been resolved.
“It is about national security and I can assure you that It is comparable with anyone you can find anywhere in the world.
“We have built the data centre, sorted the passport delivery solution and done the final presentation in terms of technology deliverables and the tracking solution which will all be embedded in the application we have so we do not create multiple lines of failure,” the minister said.
The minister declared that the electronic visa’s development has reached its final stage, with the presentation now complete, paving the way for a more efficient, digital, and customer-centric visa application process.
He added that it will reduce the visa processing time from 72 hours to 48 hours.
“The passport automation process is almost complete,” he added.
Nine months have passed since Minister Tunji-Ojo initially committed to launching home delivery of passports for Nigerians by February 2024, and today’s announcement signifies a major breakthrough in this undertaking.
Last October, Minister Tunji-Ojo unveiled plans to revolutionize the passport application process, announcing that beginning February 2024, Nigerians would enjoy the convenience of having their passports delivered directly to their doorstep, workplace, or preferred location.