SAN FRANCISCO, December 19, (THEWILL) – Nigeria says it has started issuing biometric visa, the first in Africa, designed to effectively block unwanted persons from entering the country.
The introduction of biometric visa was announced by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior, Mr Abubakar Magaji, who represented the Minister of Interior, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd), at the 2017 End-of-Year Dinner and Award Night of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in Abuja Monday.
“You have made us proud because at this moment, Nigeria is the only country in Africa that is issuing biometric visa.
“It started this year, but we have already launched it. I know the biometric visa is going to block many people that we don’t want to come to Nigeria,” he said.
While urging the agency to do more in the coming year, Magaji assured it of the continued support of the ministry, which supervises the NIS.
Reeling out other achievements of the NIS, Chairperson of the event planning committee, Mrs Edith Onyemenam, said it was one of the first federal agencies to implement the Presidential Executive Orders issued earlier in the year.
Onyemenam, a Comptroller of Immigration, said the NIS was also the first agency to be awarded the Presidential Impact Award in recognition of its contribution to the country’s ease of doing business.
She said the introduction of online pre-approval for Visa on Arrival, contributed greatly to the country’s improvement in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking from 169th to 145th position.
The Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mr Mohammed Babandede also spoke describing 2017 as one of the best years for the agency.
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