Passport Racketeering: Applicants Distance PH Office

Sequel to the involvement of about 80 personnel of the Passport Unit of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) nation wide, as announced by its Public Relations Officer, Mr Tony Akuneme, passport applicants in Port Harcourt have expressed optimism that no officer from Port Harcourt unit would be involved.
The applicants, who spoke in exclusive chats with The Tide in Port Harcourt, yesterday, said they have no complain as far as the services they received were concerned.
One of the passport applicants who gave her name as Rossy, said the passport unit under the watch of the new Controller, DCI Audi Musa Maisudan, was upto something great.
She exonerated the unit from any form of sharp practices, saying that the modus operandi of the unit was in line with best international practices.
Another Applicant, Mr Joe Aso, noted that  illegal fee issuance for renewal of passport was not part of the deal in Port Harcourt office of the NIS.
According to Aso,  the officers in that unit are careful to observe and carry out their duties in that they are under round the clock watch by the controller.
On the three-key agenda of the  Controller General of NIS, Mr Isah Jere: “Passport Issuance Reform; Righting Border Security; and Improving Welfare of Officers”, the applicants said more should be done about Passport Issuance Reform.
This, they argued, will put the outfit on better ground in the eyes of the public.
To the applicants, passport issuance is the selling point of the organisation and should not be toyed with.
The overall business of the NIS, they noted,  was to market the image of the country, hence they should not cut corners in passport related issues.
On welfare, they suggested an inward  profiling of officers who are diligent in their duties and reward them accordingly.
General welfare, as some argued, will not put the officers on their toes, but will compel them to live up to expectations, upon noticing improvement in some of the officers.

“Leave Mr. Maisudan alone. He is a diligent officer. If he is rewarded as an individual, no one will query it. There is one Aliyu, too, and others here in Port Harcourt Passport Unit, they are all doing well”,  they said.

By: King Onunwor