A media Consultant and Publisher of Ourtimesng.com, Mr Jonathan Eze has described a former Governor of Osun State and the current Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as a shining light in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari over policies and reforms he has introduced in the passport service sub-sector of the ministry.
Carrying out an under-cover investigations in some passport offices in Lagos and Ogun State spanning over three months, the media entrepreneur singled out Sagamu Passport front office and its Passport Control Officer, Mr Musa Maigida as an epitome of transparency, efficiency and an outstanding manager of human resources over the manners he commands respect among his personnel and how he interfaces with applicants with utmost humility.
Eze also extolled the leadership being provided by the Controller General of the Immigration Service, Mr Idris Isah Jere who has brought his ingenuity and years of experience into bear.
In a statement signed on Friday, he stated that little was expected from the Minister on assumption of office because of his engineering background but has exceeded expectations in the discharge of his duties in the ministry and has rebranded the image of the passport service with innovations that must be sustained by the next administration.
Aregbesola now enjoys high proficiency ratings like Babatunde Fashola, Professor Isa Patanmi and a few others, as a result of their principled approaches to governance. He has completely reformed the process, people can now apply and pay online, get appointments online as it is done globally.
The statement reads in part: “the passport process has being reformed by boosting the operations of the existing passport offices across the nation and the Diaspora to deliver improved passport experience for Nigerians with the ultimate goal of eliminating corruption.
“Recently, he also ordered its offices across the nation to work on Saturdays to clear the backlog of passport applications. The aim was to reduce the backlog caused by the 2020 and 2021 prolonged lock-downs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As such, the Passport offices across the country with a high volume of pending applications worked on Saturdays between December 3, 2022 to January 28, 2023.
I however urge the Minister to approve another of such window to clear the backlogs.
“I urge Nigerians to support the passport reform programme by applying well in time, avoid using middle men, apply yourself online and discourage corruption.
“The passport reform under Aregbesola has recorded several bold initiatives vis-a-vis the elimination of cash payment for any passport service at all Passport Centres, the introduction of a digital Appointment Management System (AMS) allowing Nigerians book bio-metric capture appointments in advance and the introduction of standardised timelines for passport collection after biometric capture.
“Same minister launched the enhanced e-passport and a passport production centre for Nigerians in Canada making Nigeria among the first five countries worldwide and the first in Africa to have the enhanced passport.”
I call on President Muhammadu Buhari to single out Aregbesola for special recognition as he has created significant impressions as the Minister of Interior. I also urge the Minister and the Controller General, Mr Jere to recommend the PCO in Sagamu for a higher responsibility and should be a model of how passport services should be managed and coordinated. His administrative acumen, his interpersonal skills in ensuring utility and satisfaction to all applicants has made the centre a Mecca of sorts which the Minister and the CG should be very proud of.
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