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Penultimate week, I had gone to Ikeja Passport Office at Alausa to renew my international passport. It was our first time there (my wife and I). The Ikoyi passport office had always been our destination. Fortuitously, this time, we decided to try the Ikeja office. I had done a mental calculation of how to navigate the usual crowd at passport offices. The sight of hangers-on heckling you for one service or another. But we were pleasantly surprised at the turn of events.
From the gate to the waiting lounge and right inside the offices, there was order. A calming balm of decorum and decency. Immaculately dressed Immigration officers who manifestly exhibited an uncommon sense of duty. Except the military famed for their smart dress code and discipline, some of the paramilitary agencies, especially the police and the civil defence corps, usually have the challenge of turning up clean and crisp. It is worrisome to see some of them in worn and jaded uniforms unbefitting of their offices and duties. Appearance matters. It confers respectability. Dressing spick and span emits a friendly, pleasant stimulus. It earns confidence and a measure of trust.
One of the elements of a good workplace is the ergonomics of the office. A clean office matched with gaily kitted personnel is a motivation to do more; a catalyst for efficiency. Ikeja Passport office has both. Friendly staffers doing their beats within a clean ambience. Even with heavy traffic of Nigerians seeking to procure new passports or to renew expired ones, Ikeja passport office still wears a tidy halo with pleasant atmospherics. No litter. No loitering on the premises. Intermittently, a voice wafts from the Information office urging bystanders to either go into the waiting lounge or get into the offices.
Aside the order and tidiness of the premises, the real pleasant surprise was the organised efficiency that attends the processing of passports. Speed. Responsiveness. Courtesy. No disorder, no rowdiness, the type that highlights operations in many public offices. Never! Here, you won’t miss the adoption of global best practices as you wait for your turn to be captured. Persons with a Disability (PWDs), the elderly and infants are accorded prime expeditious attention. And nobody on the queue complained. It’s a global practice that seeks to promote equity, social inclusion and a noble show of empathy. Is this a Nigerian public office? Yes, it is. No noise. No clatter. Just friendly staffers sharing smile and laughter with Nigerians needing their service. Right before you, operations move swiftly. Ethical sense of duty. Professionalism of the highest order. Again, you wonder: Is this a Nigerian public office? But it is.
And more pleasant surprises. I did not only enjoy the expedited attention inside the capturing room (you know, senior citizen status), my passport was ready same day. My wife who had her biometrics captured the previous week had long collected hers. Indeed, this is a new vista for the Ministry of Interior, especially the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS). It was obvious that NIS has improved in automation and has upskilled its officers to drive the processes in the passport issuance ecosystem. Out of excitement and impressed by the open display of cohesive work ethic, I requested to see the Passport Control Officer (PCO) leading the positive change. And in a matter of minutes, Mr. Adekunle Agboola, the public relations officer, ushered me into the office of Deputy Comptroller Abdulsalam.A. Sadiq. No airs. Zero hubris. Just a neatly dressed officer doing his beat. We shared warmth and laughter. The only words I could utter was “I came to thank you for birthing the change we all desire to see in every workplace.” You could feel his elation as his face flushed with a broad, sustained smile. Truly, he deserves the compliment.
Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, should really be proud of this office. Even prouder should Comptroller-General Kemi Nanna Nandap be. She leads Immigration at a critical time when Nigeria is dealing with influx of migrants some of whom have only one agenda: to do harm to Nigeria and Nigerians.
I have always believed that only Nigerians can make Nigeria work. Great societies are built when every citizen does his or her best. When merit is promoted over mediocrity. In his popular book, From Third World to First: The Singapore Story, transformational leader, Lee Kuan Yew, recounted how he used Singaporean citizens, not foreigners, to build one of the strongest economies in the world from the ruins of war. He achieved this by promoting a work ethic of the highest standard, moral rectitude, quality education and healthcare. A typical Asian creed. Quality input yields quality output. No short cut to excellence. Lee’s philosophy is that public service must be efficient; and that efficiency is achieved when workers are skilled-up, motivated and adequately rewarded. He believes that the public sector must be populated by brilliant men and women, not dimwits and grubby dummies.
Over the years, Lee’s efforts have paid off. Today, Singapore is one of the most livable countries in the world. It has the strongest passport which gives its citizens access to 192 destinations (visa on arrival). Tied in second position are Japan, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates (187 destinations). Note, these countries have more powerful passports than the United States, all European nations, and Canada. It is not an accident or mere happenstance. Such greatness is achieved by intentional leadership; a leadership that recognises the reality that the public sector is the foundation for development of any country. An efficient public sector creates the right ecosystem for the private sector to thrive. The Ikeja passport office models this type of efficiency; an efficiency where human capital deploys machine (technology) in a decent environment to achieve great result.
Deputy Comptroller Sadiq and his team have evolved a neo-workplace culture of efficiency, a template deserving of replication across the nation’s public offices.
Now, you know why the minister was able to clear a backlog of over 204,000 international passport applications in his early days in office. It is the difference the right leadership can make. It should not take months to process a critical travel document like the passport. Never!
