Face-to-Face with Embassy’s Syndicated Cesspool of Corruption

The Nigerian embassy in Washington D. C. is plagued with organized corruption that portends great danger to the exemplary reforms instituted by the Interior Ministry in the processing of passport applications. Dr. Sebastin Ayeni writes on his first-hand account of the escapades of the officials’ intent on derailing the reform

A passport is recognized globally as a travel document given to citizens by the authority of a country’s government to facilitate their movement. Obtaining this vital document is the first step an individual takes besides visa considerations before embarking on international travel. Countries around the world have their distinct requirements to fulfil before this important document is issued. Nigerians in the diaspora have faced enormous man-made challenges in their quest to renew or apply for passports. Lately, the Nigerian government has strived to reduce the hiccups citizens face to either apply for fresh or renew their passports by introducing some reforms to smoothen the hitherto chaotic and corrupt-ridden process. Specifically, the advent of the Minister of the Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, reportedly led to the clearing of an unprecedented backlog of over 200,000 passport applications using the reforms to drive the process. Online applications which was kick-started years ago became firmer with payment for services outsourced to Innovate (A United States-based financial services company).

However, before the gains of the reforms engineered by this technology-savvy minister could be fully consummated by citizens, especially those in the diaspora, well-organized syndicates at the Nigerian embassies abroad have set out to torpedo what could have really become the “golden era” in this aspect of government service delivery in the country. Rather than this account  being labelled as generalizations by cynics, before I set out to document my experience with the lethargic and brazen corruption at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington D.C. recently, I have read reports of the shoddy and corrupt practices at the Atlanta Consulate and five years ago, I witnessed first-hand the unsavoury scenes and chaos at the New York Consulate too.

Again, another instance of this lethargic affliction of these Nigerian consulates in the United States, is the simple courtesy of answering the official telephone numbers. Sometime ago, I learned reliably that some consulate staff were due to visit either Columbus Ohio or Chicago Illinois to issue passports to needy applicants as they seldom do. Delighted that I could drive to these cities within a few hours of where I live, I pulled their phone numbers from the consulate webpages to find out the exact schedule of the visit, but to my amazement, no one answered! For two days, I dialed the embassy in Washington and the consulates in New York and Atlanta, none answered or returned my calls from the messages I left on their answering machines. Over here in the U. S., if you have any complaints with any government department, the telephone is the best outreach. Be they IRS, utilities company, BMV, or the issue is with either a 500-fortune firm or a one-man LLC handling your home’s plumbing or electrical issues, the telephone is your first resort, and the phone is promptly answered and the issues sorted out with dispatch.  But not the embassy or its sister-consulates! Honestly, I can’t hazard any guess why these officials won’t embrace this efficient communication strategy other than their nebulous corrupt motives! You will find out why they want to see you in person in this piece!

 I am compelled to narrate my harsh experience with this embassy staff because Nigerians are the loudest (justifiably so) at hauling criticisms for the government’s inefficiency and lukewarm attitude to service delivery! If the government has taken steps to reshape a dysfunctional system, why would the agents of the same government truncate these efforts on the altar of self-aggrandizement? It has become imperative that these corrupt agents of darkness must be stopped for Nigerians to enjoy a new lease of life in this aspect of service delivery. They must be stopped from clogging the wheel of progress engineered towards efficient service delivery in this sector.

When I needed to renew my Nigerian passport, I went in search of requirements on the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) website. I noticed that to apply online for renewal you would need the National Identification Number (NIN) which I didn’t have. I drove my family to a center two and a half hours from where we live, paid the prescribed fees and had the numbers emailed to us in a week (quite fast)! Being the only one whose Nigerian passport has expired in my family; I proceeded to the NIS webpage to apply for the renewal. It was very smooth-sailing at this point, paid the fee of $240 for the 64-page with a 10-year validity booklet and picked an appointment date at the Washington D.C. outpost for my biometrics.

On the day of my appointment, I booked an early flight to D.C. to have the process completed having read reports that the reforms had necessitated the pick-up of the passport booklet the same day. I got my first shock when the Uber driver I engaged with from the airport took me to the street where the embassy was supposedly located. I looked up, I could see Pakistan Embassy boldly printed on the entry gate with the country’s flag and that of the host nation dangling in the air, I glanced at the other side, and I also saw the same for the Republic of Malaysia. The Uber made a U-turn, and I saw that of Brunei boldly written, and I asked: “where is Nigeria’s embassy?” At this point, the man asked me to alight from the car because time was running out, I thanked him and dropped off. Fortuitously, as I walked backwards, I saw a man seated in a parked car (presumably a Nigerian) who redirected me to the embassy. When I arrived, I saw a faded signpost placed on the wall of the fence (see picture)! How could a first-time visitor locate this? Unlike other nations that hoisted their flags conspicuously, Nigeria’s was shadowed by the branches of a tree in the premises and the pole probably meant for the host nation’s flag was standing empty!

As I entered the premises and walked into the hall where passport/visa applicants were being received and attended to, the stark inefficiency and corruption welcomed me. I registered my name, dropped off my old passport with my vetted application inserted, was given a serial number, and then asked to go and pay “$50 administrative fee” to an official seated at the base of the hall! I protested about this new charge and told them that I had already paid all the required fees of $240 when I submitted my application online. They stood their ground that unless I paid that charge, I won’t be attended to. Grudgingly, I acquiesced having sensed the “fire” in their eyes.  As soon as I paid, the lady cashier asked me if I wanted to collect my passport that day. I answered in the affirmative, she then directed me to another man who told me same day collection would attract another $200 charge! My countenance changed instantly, and I demanded to know why they would do this to me; it was then the man showed me a list of those who had paid, otherwise, I could just go for my biometrics and the passport would be mailed to me when ready!

When all pleas to include me fell on deaf ears, I requested to see his boss because he kept telling me that if a dime was removed, the boss would take it on him. He turned down my request to see his boss, and I was not surprised because as we negotiated all through the time, I could see superior officials come and go, which made it clear that the whole fealty arrangement was organized from the top. At this point, the time was approaching noon, and I had a flight back to my base at 4pm from Washington D.C. after which I would drive for another two and a half hours to get home. Perhaps, after I narrated what I had gone through to be there and the urgency of the need of the passport, the man reluctantly asked me to pay $150, and promised to make up the balance for me!! Not allowed to see whatever other official that sent them there, I obliged him. Shortly afterwards, I was led to another office where my biometrics were taken and was asked to wait in the hall for my passport.

As I waited in the hall, so many things went through my mind. Why are Nigerians like this? Is this much talked about corruption in DNA? Can’t we make a system work efficiently for once without gratification? I recalled when I called this same office brimming with officials and the two other consulates in New York and Atlanta, and no one answered! If they could be extorting Bonafide citizens, what would they do to aliens who come here seeking visas to visit Nigeria? For a fact, I saw non-Nigerians on the premises that day. The temperature in the waiting hall was harsh. The two giant standing fans stationed there to cool the rising summer temperatures in D.C. were practically blowing your face and obstructing ladies’ dresses! Frankly, since my sojourn in the U.S. I haven’t seen such fans indoors in any office except for outdoor events when temperatures surge skywards in the summer. The norm in offices here (both corporate and public) is that in the winter, you’re welcomed to the warmth of the office space and during the summer you cool off the harsh outside temperatures once you step inside an office space. Can’t this embassy embrace the culture of the host nation?

My final submission is that the Interior Minister’s reform must not succumb to the corrupt designs of these officials determined to continuously malign and reduce Nigeria. The online application and processing must be fully embraced. That has become a new way of doing business globally. Examples abound of other countries deploying the efficient online application and processing for passports and visas. My friend got his Canadian visa delivered to his doorpost within a few weeks of his application last month. My son’s American passport was delivered to our mailbox within weeks of the application. So, with the innovative NIN added to the passport application process, the processing authorities anywhere in the globe should be able to verify and process all applications expeditiously. All the consulates and departments that are issuing passports must be made to embrace this online method. If there is no in-person visit to the embassies or government departments, the demand for gratification will be minimized if not eliminated. Consulate staff or workers generally, should be content with their pay and desist from shaming Nigeria and Nigerians any further.

•Dr. Ayeni, a researcher with an American university, contributed this article from the United States.