Opinions

Passports in 16 minutes, blame in 60 seconds: Inside the viral visit that shook the NIS

February 2, 2026

By Wale Wali

Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, deserves recognition for the visible strides made in improving passport production and clearing long-standing backlogs. For years, obtaining the Nigerian passport—our cherished green document—felt like an endurance test for citizens.

Under his watch, thousands of delayed passports were processed within announced timelines, bringing relief to many Nigerians who had grown accustomed to frustration and uncertainty. For this, the Minister and his team merit commendation.

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My personal experience offers a useful contrast.

In 2023, while applying for passports for my children at the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) headquarters—popularly known as the “Glass House”—we arrived at about 9:45 a.m. What followed was a marathon of procedures: form filling, payments, movement between desks, and a visit to the NIN centre, where officers commendably prioritized children and the elderly. Despite the professionalism of officers, the process was slow and exhausting. It was not until about 2:30 p.m.—nearly five hours later—that my children were finally captured.

Fast forward to January 2026.

After completing my online application and payment, I visited the same NIS headquarters for capturing. I was directed to SERVICOM for vetting and then ushered into the capturing room. From the front desk to SERVICOM and finally to capturing, the entire process took under 16 minutes.

I was so astonished that I timed it on my phone stopwatch. The professionalism, orderliness, and courtesy of officers—especially the supervising officer in the waiting hall who wore a constant smile—left a lasting impression. I introduced myself to her and expressed my amazement at the transformation from a five-hour ordeal to a 16-minute procedure.

I was still basking in admiration for the diligence of NIS officers when a viral video surfaced online showing the Minister on an unscheduled visit to the passport office, publicly reprimanding officers over the case of a woman who had arrived with her baby and was reportedly unattended to since morning.

Initially, I paid little attention to the video. However, after it was forwarded to me by a colleague abroad, I watched it closely—several times—listening carefully to the exchanges.

The woman at the centre of the incident had, as I later learned, completed her application through the NIS portal. However, the application failed to reflect in the enrolment system, and she did not receive the printable acknowledgment slip required for vetting and biometric capture. Acting on advice from an unidentified source, she visited the NIS office in the hope that the issue could be resolved on site. The officers on duty asked her to wait while they checked whether the application would eventually synchronize with their system.

It was at this point that the Minister intervened, visibly moved by the sight of a nursing mother who had reportedly been waiting since 9 a.m. His reaction, though emotional, prompts an important question: what exactly could the officers have done differently under the circumstances?

This is where the matter becomes more complex. When an online application fails to sync with the NIS enrolment system due to a portal or network failure, there is very little a desk officer can do in real time.

Officers cannot manually generate an application the system does not recognize, nor can they proceed with biometric capture without the required digital record. In such situations, their only option is to wait for the system to respond and for the application to appear in the queue.

The challenge, therefore, was technological rather than human. It was a systems issue, not a personnel failure. This context makes the Minister’s reaction appear more troubling when viewed against the operational realities faced by officers on the ground.

Publicly scolding career officers for a system failure beyond their control, and releasing the video for public consumption, projected an image of blame-shifting rather than problem-solving.

Ironically, the Minister himself has often charged personnel under his supervision to uphold professionalism, institutional pride, and a deep sense of service. One must then ask: was this episode handled with the same to he preaches?

Before the close of work, the officer in charge of passport production ensured that Haizuran Wali Yusuf received her passport.

The recurring issue of network instability on the NIS portal is not new. There are days passport centres are practically grounded because the system fails. Officers sometimes resort to using personal mobile data to complete official tasks.

There are numerous cases of applicants who make payments online that never reflect on the NIS portal for receipt generation, forcing them to pay again for the same service—without refunds. When such applicants complain, they are directed to their banks for reversals that rarely materialize.

Are these the faults of NIS officers?

These are not excuses; they are indicators of deeper systemic challenges linked to infrastructure and service integration under the Minister’s oversight.

As an ICT-savvy Minister, the expectation is not public outrage at officers, but decisive intervention at the level where the failures originate.

The viral video, in my view, appeared more like a performance for public optics than a constructive administrative engagement. Such public displays of authority, while dramatic, risk demoralizing the very officers who are diligently implementing reforms on the ground.

The Nigeria Immigration Service officers I encountered in January were professional, diligent, and proud of their work. They are the human face of reforms that are working. They are also the ones who bear the frustration when the system falters.

As citizens, we celebrate visible improvements. As observers, we must also ask deeper questions about how systems are built, supported, and sustained.

My five-hour wait in 2023 and my 16-minute experience in 2026 tell a story of remarkable progress.

Both stories are true.

And somewhere between them lies the real lesson: sustainable reform is not only about speed, but about strengthening the invisible structures that make speed possible.

More importantly, the Ministry of Interior oversees several critical agencies beyond the NIS—the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Federal Fire Service, and the Nigerian Correctional Service. These agencies face pressing challenges: decaying fire service infrastructure, unresolved registration issues for private security companies, recurring prison breaks, and the welfare of correctional inmates. These areas require the same energy and visibility currently focused on NIS passport administration.

This is not written out of disdain for the Minister. On the contrary, it is written from a place of admiration and expectation. Dr. Tunji-Ojo represents a new generation of leadership, and many Nigerians, myself included, want him to succeed.

But leadership is not only about calling out problems publicly. It is about quietly fixing the systems that create them.

Power is transient. Integrity and institutional respect endure.

Wali writes from Abuja.