Scarcity of passports affecting over 1.5 million Nigerians in Italy --- NIDOE
The Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE), Italy Chapter, Engr George Omo-Iduhon on Thursday claimed that over 1.5 million out of 3 million registered in Italy had been affected with the acute shortage of Nigerian passport.
Engr George Omo-Iduhon made the claim in an interview while reflecting on the activities of the NIDOE in the Europe and Italy.
NIDOE is the European arm of a global Nigerian Diaspora network established in the year 2000 by the former President Olusegun Obasanjo and has its headquarters in London where it serves its 21 regional Chapters.
NIDOE is recognised as official platform through which individual Nigerian Diaspora, their community, organisation and corporate bodies can channel their development efforts in Nigeria.
The organisation partners with Nigerian community/professional organisation as well as public and private businesses in focused areas such as foreign Direct Investments (FDI) professional networking, stakeholders advocacy, medical missions, educational support and skill transfer to Nigeria.
The Chairman of NIDOE, Italy Chapter, Engr George Omo-Iduhon however said that the body had a change of regime in July after an election adding that the new management was poised to improve the welfare of Nigerians.
``We just had our elections in July this year, the first thing we have set out as a team is the improved welfare of Nigerians in Italy. This is a paramount interest to us.
``We are also liaising with the Nigerian embassy in Italy making them to do the right thing at the right time and importantly, our mandate in bringing investors from Italy to Nigeria.
``We need to grow the economy of Nigeria, a mission at which we are established by former President Obasanjo to come and assist in the development drive in Nigeria.
``We must try our best to come back to build our nation. For us, the Italians have been a good host and accommodating to Nigerians, most Nigerians are into legitimate businesses over there, he said.
Engr George Omo-Iduhon claimed that one of the major problems faced by Nigerians living in Italy was acute shortage of Nigerian passports that could help facilitate movements and work permit.
``One of the problems we are facing as Nigerians living in Italy is acute shortage of Nigerian passport. Most times, we go to the Nigerian embassy in Italy to address the problem.
``What we normally get as response is the shortage of booklets and backlogs. The Nigerian government should help to address this nagging problem because Italy serves as the gateway to other countries in Europe, especially for Nigerians.
``Most Nigerians prefer to have their political asylum in Italy. In Italy, we have more Nigerians than we have in other European countries; the registered Nigerians according to database are 3 million aside undocumented Nigerians.
``About 1.5 million Nigerians in Italy dont have passports, even some of those that have been accepted by Italian government have not been issued Nigerian passport which makes it difficult for them to work, he said.
Engr George Omo-Iduhon claimed that the supply of 500 booklets of passport to the Nigerian embassy in Italy was grossly inadequate to serve the numbers of the Nigerians resident in Italy.
``The number of booklets allocated to the embassy in Italy which is 500 is insignificant to the number of applicants; even giving Italy 20,000 booklets in a month may not go round.
``Using the same sharing formula for all the counties in Europe cannot work in Italy where we have more Nigerian resident. We cannot be compared with Sweden with lesser population and lesser number of Nigerians residents there.
``We are appealing to the relevant government agencies and our amiable Minister for Internal Affairs, Alh Rauf Aregbesola to help us address this issue. Our Chairman of NIDCOM, Mrs Abike Dabiri has tried for us as well.
``We have also enjoyed the support of the Nigerian ambassador to Italy, His Excellency, Ambassador Nfama Omini Abam who has always receive us with open arms whenever we need his help, he said
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