A recent report by the Punch Newspaper says that the number of passports issued by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) increased by 38 per cent between 2020 and 2021. Passport issuance increased from 767,164 in 2021 to 1,059,697 in 2021.
It reported that data from the NIS shows that the passport types range from standard, official, diplomatic, emergency travel certificates or conventional documents.
Out of those issued in 2020, about 761,825 were standard, 2,024 official, 444 diplomatic, and 2,871 were emergency travel certificates. It means that almost 3,000 passports were issued by NIS every 24 hours last year.
The United Kingdom immigration showed that 13,609 Nigerian healthcare workers obtained working visas of the passport issued during the period, after India with 42,966 practitioners.
The 2021 Nigerian Cohesion survey 2021 by the African Polling Institute said seven out of every 10 Nigerians were eager to leave the country if given the opportunity. A World Bank study in 2021 showed that 56,000 more Nigerians were relocating from the country yearly than those arriving.
Top travel destinations by Nigerians
Further investigation shows that 19,000 skilled work and study visas were issued to Nigerians in 2019. In 2021, that number surged to 59,000.
12,595 Nigerians left the country for Canada in 2019 alone, information from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said. That same year, NIS issued 1,198,264 passports, a daily average of 3,282 visas.
The number of Nigerians leaving the country showed a mix of professionals like academics, medical doctors, nurses and tech experts who either resigned from their jobs or prospected overseas travels. More Nigerians are fleeing the country through the study route, getting study visas mainly in the UK, Canada and the US.
