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By Christopher Oji
It was joy all through recently at the Nigeria Immigration Service ( NIS), office in Lagos when a travel agency built a waiting lounge for passport applicants and visitors to sit while procuring passports and doing other transactions there.
The joy of applicants and staff knew no bounds as they expressed gratitude to the company, Partner Health Care (PHC), for giving succour to them. An applicant, Mr. Matthew Ngbemene, who expressed surprise as he was ushered into the lounge recently, said, “I am an old man, but when I came here all the seats in visitor’s rooms were filled up, but because people no longer respect the elderly, I decided to plead with an NIS official, who offered me his seat. The officer told me that a company was handing over a waiting lounge to them, that after the short ceremony I would be moved to the place. In less than 15 minutes, I was ushered into the beautiful waiting lounge, where I was offered snacks and cold drinks. I enjoyed the air-conditioner in the place. I am appealing to the service to reserve places for the elderly. It is a beautiful place and I pray for the company that donated the lounge. I enjoin other companies and well-meaning Nigerians to come to the office to do their corporate social responsibility. Don’t think that you are doing it for NIS, no, you are doing it for Nigerians who will be happy and be silently praying for you. I am so happy to sit in the comfort zone while my papers are being done.”
Comptroller-General General of Immigration, Idris Isah Jere, who inaugurated the waiting lounge, thanked the management and staff of Partner HC for deeming it fit to give succour to the service and its clients, saying the gesture was one of the best things that has happened to the service.
He said, “I am calling on other organizations and well-meaning Nigerians to emulate the gesture and do the needful, not only in Ikoyi passport office, but also other offices across the country. We are happy today because you have relieved us of some burdens, as people, especially the elderly, will not be loitering around because of lack of offices to sit down before their applications are granted. Large numbers of applications are treated daily and we are a disciplined service that will not want people to suffer because they are applying for passports, and that is why we welcome any reasonable organisation and persons who want to assist us in making our job easier.”
The CG, who was represented by NIS Comptoller, Lagos State Passport Command, Mrs. Mfom Robert Udoh, said,
“We thank Partner HC. The company, in its’magnanimity, deemed it fit to embark on this wonderful project from the foundation to finishing, with the sole aim of providing our teeming customers the comfort they deserve.
While waiting for the sorting and subsequent collection of their already produced passports. This shows the company’s readiness to collaborate with NIS in the provision of seamless service to the general public.
“I wish to say that the CG, Jere, and zonal coordinator, ACG O.G. Osisanya, wished to have witnessed this occasion in person to express their profound gratitude to Partner HC for the demonstrating humanity, especially towards passport applicants in Ikoyi passport office, but, due to the exigencies of duty, are unavoidably absence.
“However, I stand here on their behalf to say a big thank you to Partner HC for such a great feat. I assure you that you have written your name in the sands of time, because your act of kindness has gone into history as a good model of corporate social responsibility. We are most grateful.
“I believe that your kind gesture will certainly motivate other organizations and corporate individuals to partner with us by making contributions towards helping us serve fellow Nigerians better. I must emphatically say that you have made me proud by making this donation in my time as comptroller of Lagos Passport Command. Be rest assured that this building will be used for the purpose for which it was built and will be properly maintained . Like Oliver Twist, however, I wish you will extend this kind gesture to other halls where applicants sit to wait for other services by providing air-conditioners in these places too.
“May I also use this opportunity to congratulate the PCO, DCI Odunaya O. Olugbenga Ayegbusi, and your entire team for your doggedness in ensuring the provision of seamless service to the general public, in line with the presidential order on Ease of Doing Business. If not for your professionalism, such wonderful gestures wouldn’t have been done. I, therefore, charge all officers and men of Ikoyi passport office to be courteous and very civil in the discharge of duty always.”
Business development manager of Partner HC, Mr. Olajumoke Adedokun, who officially handed over the lounge to the NIS, said they were only on a mission to procure passports when they noticed that a lot of applicants were standing for a long time, queuing before it would come to their turn for transactions.
“We decided that we should contribute our quota to corporate social responsibility. We made enquiries on whether there was space available to build a waiting lounge. We found out that there was a vacant land on the premises. So, we approached the NIS management team, who gave us the opportunity to contribute to society. We thank God and the NIS management team, led by progmatic Jere, who gave us all the necessary cooperation. We are happy to hand it over to the NIS, believing that God will grant us the enablement to do more. I call on other organizations to help us give succour to the society by doing one or two things to complement what we have done. We are happy that over 100 people can comfortably sit down in the lounge before they are through with their transactions,” he said.
