By Ogroh Ebikibena

Before now, the process of acquiring international passport at the Bayelsa State Command was greet with several rigorous processes, a situation that left many applicants stranded at the immigration office for months, but with the assumption of Mr Muhammad Ibrahim Zakirai, as the Passport Control Officer (PCO) at the Bayelsa State Command of the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS) on March 11, 2022, the backlog of booklets have been cleared.

He was on regimental posting from Lagos to Bayelsa State command of the Service, having served as Immigration Officer in different states, had to consult widely with staff on ground in the Bayelsa Command and immediately identified problems confronting the passport office and adopted measures for effective service delivery.

The seasoned and astute administrator, who believe in dignity of labour and respect for Nigerians irrespective of their tribe, creed, sex, religion, as a public officer, he is duty bound to treat everyone equal and fairly.

On assumption of duty, Ibrahim discovered that there were a lot of backlog of passport applications that were not processed hence, leaving applicants with no option than to spend more time trying to apply for the travel document, which prompted strengthening the existing  “SERVICOM” desk  in the office to enable applicants make inquiries without physically visiting the office for necessary information or complains  that will guide them in the process. 

Ibrahim hail’s from Kano State, the commercial nerve center of Northern Nigeria ,  knowing the pains of people waiting hours to get deserved service from government public offices. With this experience and to make things easier for applicants, he created more desks and deployed officers to attend to applicants visiting the office .

In his drive to zero tolerance for corruption, the ever gallant passport control Officer gave a strong warning to personnel to shun any form of  sharp practice that would paint the Command image black, noting that anyone found wanting will be disciplined accordingly.

His open door policy, took center stage with the manner at which he avail himself attending to applicants when the need arises.  He built a cordial relationship with Staff of the Command which ushered in productivity and commitment .

To meet the expectations of the command, the PCO took it upon himself to organize in house training sessions for officers in encouraging applicants to forward their particulars to desk officers in the Bayelsa State Command for documentation.

With these outstanding performance of the Passport Office, Mr Muhammad received commendation from the  State Government and functionaries who are direct beneficiaries of the quality service from the passport office and also a commendation letter from the State Comptroller James Sunday.

Already, passport applicants have confirmed that despite  the challenges of limited booklets at the disposal of the service, they are satisfied with the officers attitude towards work and commended the Immigration Service for putting efforts in rendering quality service delivery.

The applicants while pointing out that though the process of obtaining the e-passport was rigorous  and cumbersome  also expressed satisfaction with the civilized manner the immigration officers attended to them.

A team player, bridge and nation builder has left an indelible foot prints in the  Passport Office Bayelsa Command which will continue to resonates when he bows out due to national duty call.

On account of his quality leadership style exhibited, just few months of piloting the affairs of the passport office in Bayelsa state, many  are of the view that this  golden fish of a man is qualified for a higher elevated office in the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

Ogroh Ebikibena, writes in From Yenagoa, Bayelsa State