By Oluwatosin Maliki
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Minister of Interior, has promised Nigerians that the Ministry is set to come up with a comprehensive review of migration and visa policies alongside the support of key stakeholders in the country with the purpose of easing all the processes for Nigerians both home and abroad in line with global standard.
This was made known by the Minister on Tuesday in Abuja, when he warmly received the Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who equally led the management team of the Commission on a courtesy visit.
The statement was also issued through the Head of Media, Public Relations and Protocols unit at NIDCOM, Abdur-Rahman Balogun
According to the statement, the minister of interior said the ministry is concerned about some lopsidedness in some migration, and visa policies which tend to make Nigeria look like a dumping ground.
Meanwhile, the Minister added that the review will also take note of the principle of reciprocity in line with international standards.
Furthermore, Tunji-Ojo praised the efforts of the Commission through the proactive nature of the Chairman, while saying that the NIDCOM has more to offer in the area of welfare for Nigerians in the Diaspora as well as creating and maintaining a positive image for the country abroad.
Additionally, the Minister shared his worries over the general challenges with passport processing, capturing and collection, stressing that everything possible will be done to make the process more seamless.
While, speaking earlier, Dabiri-Erewa commended the dynamism brought in by the Minister of Interior to further improve the issuance of passport to Nigerians both home and abroad
Also, she advocated for more effective passport capturing and collection process for Nigerians living abroad.
Dabiri-Erewa, equally solicited for a working collaboration with the Ministry of interior as she rolled out some of the activities of the Commission since its inception.
She listed data mapping of Nigerians in the Diaspora to know the actual number of Nigerians living there, improvement in diaspora remittances, creating diaspora focal persons, holding annually diaspora day on July 25th, Badagry Door of Return, Diaspora Quarterly lecture series, National Diaspora Investment Summit, Diaspora Investment Trust Fund and many other interventionist programmes for the welfare of Nigerians.
The NIDCOM boss emphasized that there is urgent need for the collaboration and creation of a structural platform to address or resolve complex diaspora issues that would require coordinated efforts from various Ministries, Departments and Agencies.