It is not uncommon to hear Nigerians complain bitterly about the national passport acquisition process. “I have waited five months to collect my passport, still not ready”, said Charles (not his real name), a school teacher who spoke to Nairametrics at the National Immigration Service Passport Office at Alausa, Lagos State.
Charles, who wants to further his education abroad had been visiting the office since May this year to collect his passport after ‘capturing’ two months earlier. However, his document is still not ready, frustrating his efforts to apply for an education visa.
Longer processing time for international passports by the Nigerian Immigration Service has stalled the plans of many Nigerians who seek to jump on the #japa trend, in search of greener pastures. This has caused some people to cut corners in order to get their passports faster, which in many cases yielded no positives.
It is not news that Nigeria is currently experiencing a massive wave of intellectual flight otherwise known as ‘Brain Drain’, following the worsening state of the economy and the society at large.
Among the festering conditions Nigerian youths have had to deal with that make staying in the country near unbearable, are the ever-rising prices of goods and services; a protracted strike by university lecturers popularly called ASUU Strike; rising unemployment and insecurity.
While most youths are leaving the shores, Nigerians at top management levels in their respective organisations are also leaving their jobs, selling their properties in other to ‘japa’, which they have attributed to seeking a better environment for their children.
However, many more Nigerians have to endure long wait times and queues to collect their international passports, which is a pre-requisite for applying for any visa in the first place. I
-Nairametric
