Guardian Nigeria
.Over 107,000 passports uncollected, says NIS
The automation of passenger services at international airports has reached advanced stages with installed facilities being tested at Lagos and Abuja airports.
While all eight gates at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, have been fully automated, about 21 at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) are just getting installed, starting with Wings D and E in Terminal II.
Electronic gates or e-gate facilities are automated passport control systems that use biometric technology to authenticate the identity of passengers. These gates limit passengers’ contact with officers, as they scan passports and capture the passenger’s face, which is then compared to the digital image stored in the passport’s microchip.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, during the inspection of the facilities in Lagos, at the weekend, noted that Lagos had the bulk of the automation work, with the installation at Terminal II rounding off with the User Acceptance Test (UAT).
According to him, by Monday (today) morning, the Terminal II installation would have been completed 100 per cent. From there, automation will move to the D Wing of four gates.
“We can’t block the three entrances at a go because of the ease of passengers using the terminal. So, we must take it one after another. The assurance we have is that by next weekend, the D Wing would have been fully completed. We will then be left with the E Wing, which has eight gates. This may take us a maximum of two weeks. In the next three weeks, Lagos will be 100 per cent good to go,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He added that after Lagos, attention would shift to other international airports in Kano, Enugu and Port Harcourt with four gates apiece.
“President Bola Tinubu came to power just last year and he started work immediately on this. This is not too late for the administration. The electronic gates are important because of the enhancement of national security. This is connected to all the databases all over the world. We are making life easier for Nigeria and at the same time securing the country,” he said.
The minister brushed on the automated processing of passports, citing the need and delivery of a central data command and control centre.
He said: “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 don’t create multiple lines of failure.”
We believe that the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) should oversee the data of Nigerians. It is not acceptable that this data is domiciled in a third party; that is why we have been able to do this, and we should be able to start by June.
“We will not start from everywhere because if you overload the system, you can cause system damage. So, we will commence home delivery (of passports) for Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Abuja, coupled with the Diaspora – the United States and the United Kingdom. We will first test it and see that it works. The final presentation of the e-visa was done today, which we have seen, to reduce the visa processing time from 72 hours to 48 hours and make it easier. The passport automation process is almost complete.”
The Comptroller-General of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, noted that over 107,000 passports had been produced and applicants had not picked them up, urging claimants to come for their passports.
