Drop in rating poses grave socio-economic challenges for Nigeria
Rating has nothing to do with quality, utility of passport– NIS
BY TIMOTHY AGBOR AND BRIGHT JACOB
For Nigerians who are regular travellers outside the shores of the country, the alleged stigma attached to the Nigerian passport and the disdain with which its holders are treated and regarded are, probably, some of their most painful experiences in foreign lands, which they wish they are not burdened with.
These travellers are aware of the challenges ordinary Nigerian passport holders encounter as they contend with immigration.
It seems that when foreign immigration officers come across a Nigerian passport, they assume an unfriendly disposition, and with eagle eyes, scrutinise and critically profile the holders of such passports.
According to some of these immigration officers, Nigerians “are potential suspects.”
Thus, owing to such unpalatable experience, the Nigerian passport has been regarded as one of the most vilified and discredited set of travel documents in the world.
The passport of any country, amongst other things, is supposed to offer its holders the protection of the national government that issued it.
The passport should symbolise the values and prestige of a people.
Unfortunately, the Nigerian passport, in the eyes of the international community, is passing through the cesspit of infamy and ignominy.
Added to the passport catastrophe is Nigeria’s ranking in passport index, by independent bodies, such as Global Citizen Solutions and Henley & Partners, which have ranked the Nigerian passport very low indeed.
The Global Citizen Solution, in its Global Passport Index for 2021, had placed the Nigerian passport at 178th in its passport ranking for 2021; a far-cry when equated with Nigeria’s diverse potential, and with government’s effort in trying to launder the image of the country.
Calls made to the Ministers of Interior and Foreign Affairs, as well as Information and Culture, were not answered.
The Point, however, sought the response of the spokesperson for the Nigeria Immigration Service, Amos Okpu, on the matter.
When asked why the Nigerian passport was not respected globally, he said that was a hypothetical question because The Point did not give him any clear-cut instance.
“They just look at the countries passport holders are travelling to, or what you call visa-assess, and that shouldn’t be a standard for rating passports
“
When it was relayed to him that there were passport rankings in which Nigeria was ranked very low and also commentaries about Nigerians being subjected to stiffer immigration procedures outside the country because of the passport they held, Okpu said, “it is important that I tell you that there is a world body that regulates travel documents, and that is the International Civil Aviation Organisation. It is a global body that regulates passports. I know that you’re coming from the angle of the Henley’s passport index.
“There are many guidelines and regulations on passports. Nigeria is about the first country in Africa to come up with an e-passport. In 2009, Nigeria became a member of the Passport Key Directory of ICAO, and you don’t just get that because you have a big country. Rather, the quality of your travel document is a serious consideration, and to date, Nigeria is still a member. And so if there’s an agency somewhere in the United Kingdom that wakes up and says that they’re rating passports, all you need do is to look at the criteria of their ratings. Their rating has nothing to do with the quality or utility of the passport. They just look at the countries passport holders are travelling to, or what you call visa-assess, and that shouldn’t be a standard for rating passports.
“ICAO has the standards for rating every country’s passport. Those agencies base their ratings on criteria they set for themselves, and unfortunately when they go to town with these results, people generate so much noise about them.”
On the question about Nigerians being subjected to stricter immigration procedures abroad, Okpu said, “I have worked at so many control posts as an immigration officer. When a visitor is coming to your country, we do tactical and technical profiling. During these procedures, a passenger or somebody coming into your country has to wait until you finish what you are doing. That doesn’t mean that we are stomping anything on any nationality. It’s just the normal immigration procedure.”
“However, when an immigration officer has reasons to have a second check on you, of course, he does that. Let us not ruin our image by taking this narration out that Nigerians are subjected to indiscriminate checks abroad because of our passport,” he advised.
“The truth”, he went on, “is that Nigerians are doing marvelously well abroad. I have interacted with so many of them. We have some of the best professionals in any field abroad. Thus, let’s come up with positive dimensions in our stories.”
When The Point brought to the attention of the NIS spokesman the fact that one of the agencies that released the rankings had considered, apart from visa-free access or enhanced mobility index, the economic investment index, which measures the economy as an investment option, as well as the quality of living index, that has to do with the quality of life obtainable in the passport’s country, he replied, “That shouldn’t be my concern. I work for the Immigration Service. I can’t speak for these agencies because they don’t have any concern for us.”
A former Nigerian Ambassador to Philippines, Yemi Farounbi, said Nigeria’s poor performance in economy, technology and military might have further depreciated the value the nation’s passport carries in the world.
Farounbi note that these indices were criteria for determining the value of the country and therefore the respect accorded her passport, adding that corruption of political leaders of the country, insecurity and level of cybercrimes being committed by Nigerians had negatively affected the nation’s passport.
In an exclusive interview with The Point, Farounbi, argued that the international worth of Nigeria, globally, had decreased, adding that it also affected the value of the passport.
He said, “The passport itself as a printed document has no value. What confers value on the passport is the worth and rating of the country it represents in the international scene. Before, what determined the worth were the geographical size and the population. Today, the size of the country is irrelevant. The population is important as an indication of the market potential when it comes to international trade.
“Today, the significant criteria for determining the value of the country and therefore the respect accorded her passport are the economic, technological and military strength of the country.
“In all these three criteria, Nigeria has backslid. Economically, Nigeria is no longer strong. Years ago, its currency was strong and could even be spent on the streets of London and New York. With growing economic mismanagement and corruption, the value of the currency is just as good as the value of toilet paper.
“Secondly, Nigeria was respected for its military strength. This was why Nigeria played a significant role in peace-keeping operations in Lebanon, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Even Nigerian Police was respected for putting down uprising in the 1970s in the Kingdom of Cambodia. But with its inability to guarantee safety and security, nobody respects the military strength of Nigeria. Its inability to defeat Boko Haram and other terrorists has demeaned the respect accorded the nation.
“Thirdly, Nigeria has no technological strength. Nigerians are known for the abuse of technology, particularly for what has become the expertise of some Nigerian citizens in cybercrimes. Along with it is odious reputation in international drug trade and sale of human parts. The activities of some Nigerians in cybercrimes, drug mafia and rituals have reduced whatever is left of the worth of the Nigerian nation.
“Added to this is the increasing reputation of the country, the leaders and technocrats as to use the words of former British Prime Minister, David Cameron,” fantastically corrupt”. This corruption makes doing business in Nigeria extremely hazardous and slow. Combined with inadequate power supply, many businesses had moved away from Nigeria and had opted for other countries.
“Today, foreigners are frightened by what would appear to be increasing intolerance of the government, increasing and expanding scope of terrorism, banditry and criminality, the growing corruption in all facets and at all levels, and the down spiraling of the Nigerian economy until it became the poverty of the world.
“All of these have reduced the worth and value of Nigeria that could singlehandedly reverse a coup d’état in the past to an empty bystander. It’s to be expected that the passport that is a symbol of our nationhood cannot be more respected than the international worth of the country.”
Kassim Afegbua, a public affairs analyst and member of the People’s Democratic Party, said, “The rating has to do with the willingness of foreign nationals to come to Nigeria for whatever business they intended. The insecurity is threatening everyone and also affecting investments in all ramifications. Corruption is also not helping matters, ditto for ease of doing business and the effectiveness of our legal system.
“Following the agitations across the country, from the South East to the South West, coupled with armed banditry and insurgency, Nigeria is edging towards the precipice and almost characterised as a failed state. The global commentaries on Nigeria are not palatable, especially our poor rating on anti-corruption, poor economy, and leadership atrophy. So, given these scenarios and realities, people are not easily willing to get Nigeria’s visa or passport for whatever purpose.
“Don’t forget that the reality back home also makes it easier for people to desire travelling out of Nigeria than coming to Nigeria. Nigeria has become an endangered country with all the negative indices staring us in the face. Our global public relations have become an eyesore. Our leadership and foreign policy have become out modeled, without opening up new flanks for better recognition. The stories about Nigeria out there are too negative to attract serious patronage.”
“Crimes and criminalities are associated with our nationals, cybercrimes, called yahoo-yahoo, internet scams, drugs and all manner of indecent transactions are easily associated with us. You cannot therefore expect our passport to be highly rated in the global community,” he concluded.
Suggesting ways of revamping the Nigerian passport, Onaiwu Oduwa, a political/social commentator and senior lecturer at the University of Benin, said that he agreed with the notion that the Nigerian passport was not respected globally.
He said, “When you look at the indices used to rank passports, you will discover that Nigeria is way behind. A country like Seychelles is ahead of South Africa and Nigeria because their ease of doing business, security is remarkable. You cannot move down to a country where you’re not sure of travelling for 50km without being kidnapped. Your passport is worth it if people can come to your country, do business in a secured environment, and get a return on their investment. Unfortunately, nobody wants to do business in Nigeria. All the Michelins and Dunlops of this world have all relocated to Ghana.
“When I was travelling back from the United States after an official assignment, I was frisked and searched relentlessly at the airport. Surprisingly, those of us Nigerians with British passports were kept on a separate queue. While our queue was long, those with British passports were like five travellers on a queue. You see, our immigration system in Nigeria also needs to be strengthened. The security features on our passport, when compared with that of the United States, are like a watershed. The hidden details and inscriptions on the American passport are very sophisticated. In Nigeria, quacks can easily fake our passport, but they can’t do that with the American passport.”
“The ease of getting our passport is another issue. As we speak, to get a Nigerian passport is a problem. The bottleneck is humongous. Nigerian embassies are telling us that there is no paper to print passports with. This is corruption. Getting a passport should be seamless. You should be able to apply for it and the processes digitalised. You need not go down to the immigration office to be captured, for instance. With a well-engineered software, anyone can sit anywhere in the world and be captured with their details. In Nigeria, going to the immigration office opens people up to patronise touts, and if we continue like this, we will continue to deceive ourselves,” the don noted.
Onaiwu added, “About the rankings, those indices should be looked at holistically by the government. If insecurity is nipped in the bud, and democracy is fully practised, people will come here. Take Dubai, as a case study. While they are now scanning the eyes, we are still at the level of fingerprints.
“Dubai has a central database that gives them interconnectivity with every form of registration, including passport, unlike Nigeria, where there is a different database for NIN, BVN and even for passport registration. We don’t have a central database because each ministry in Nigeria wants to get a share of the money.”
“This is part of the reasons why our passport is weak and we keep wallowing at the bottom of the rankings. So, take care of corruption, insecurity and ease of doing business, and our ranking will improve in the long run,” he enthused.
Checks by The Point show that the ICAO, as an agency of the United Nations, doesn’t necessarily rank passports, however, it is vested with the responsibility of safety and growth in international air transport.
The ICAO also outlines the standard for passports, which different national governments take as recommendation.
This is why passports are said to meet ICAO standards. That said a closer look at the Henley’s passport ranking show that Seychelles, Mauritius and South Africa lead the African charge with rankings at 28th, 31st and 57th respectively.
Apart from that, 24 other African countries soar above Nigeria.
“Today, the significant criteria for determining the value of the country and therefore the respect accorded her passport are the economic, technological and military strength of the country”
Among those countries are fellow West African countries of Gambia (80th), Ghana (84th), Sierra Leone (85th), Benin Republic (86th), Burkina Faso (89th), Cote d’ivoire (91st), Togo and Guinea (93rd), Niger and Mali (94th) and Liberia (97th).
Nigeria currently stands at 101st.
Two weeks ago, the acting Comptroller General of Immigration, Isah Idris, discovered a high prevalence of touts and hike in passport fees at Lagos Passport Offices during a sting operation he personally led.
A statement by Okpu on October 19, 2021, said Idris had paid an unscheduled visit to the Alausa and Ikoyi Passport Offices in Lagos as part of sting operations to assess the quality of service delivery to members of the public at the Centres.
The statement said the acting CG arrived the Alausa Passport Office Ikeja, at about 1100 hours and presented himself as a potential passport applicant. He moved round the premises unnoticed and was even attended to by some personnel.
According to the statement, he also met with some touts within and around the premises, who made entreaties to assist him to procure a passport.
It noted that both the touts and some of the personnel, who offered to assist him gave exorbitant fees, far beyond the official rates, with the acting CGI playing along with them. Some affirmed their readiness to assist him procure the passport within reasonable time, provided he met their charges.
Okpu’s statement said, determined to have a good understanding of the extent of touting in the area, the acting CGI opted to follow one of the touts to her Business Centre located not far away from the passport office, and while there, the tout produced all manner of forms and requested the acting CGI to complete same so that the process could begin.
The acting CGI, however, chose to see the process through by completing some of the forms and was thereafter asked to transfer the sum for the charges given him to an account number supplied by the tout if he could not make cash payment.
Satisfied with his findings at the Alausa Office, Idris proceeded to the Ikoyi Passport Centre, where the same experience played out. He afterwards left the premises unnoticed and proceeded to the Office of the Lagos State Command Comptroller, Alagbon Close, Ikoyi.
Speaking there, the acting CGI noted that the visit was very insightful, stating, “It has enabled me to assess the quality of service delivery at the centres, especially, against the backdrop of some public complaints about poor service delivery in some passport office locations.
“We shall use this experience to deepen our reforms very urgently. I have seen some gaps that must be quickly addressed. I think that the passport appointment system we are about to introduce will take care of some of the gaps while a huge emphasis on consequence management shall be vigorously pursued.”
He said none of the personnel found to have acted below expectation during the visit would go unpunished, assuring that appropriate sanctions would be applied.
Idris had, on assumption of office, promised to deepen passport reform efforts, improve border security efforts and emplace measures for enhanced staff welfare.
Consequently, the passport control officer at the Ikoyi passport office under the Lagos State Command of the NIS, Ibrahim Liman, a deputy comptroller of immigration, has been removed.
Liman’s counterparts at the Ikeja and FESTAC Town passport offices of the NIS, N.J Dashe and Adeola Adesokan, respectively, were also removed from their offices.
While Liman and Adesokan have been transferred to the service headquarters in Abuja, Dashe has been transferred to the zone ‘A’ command of the service, which covers both Ogun and Lagos states.
A deputy comptroller of immigration service, Abolupe Oladoyin Bewaji, was appointed as Liman’s replacement while Dashe and Adesokan were replaced by R.L Bukar and S. Umar, both of whom are also deputy comptrollers of immigration.
