A former ambassador to the Philippines, Yemi Farounbi, has said that the recent hike in the price of the Nigerian passport will not stop citizens from migrating to other nations.
Recall that the Nigeria Immigration Service had recently announced that a 100 per cent price increment for the passport would begin on September 1, 2024 to ensure the quality and integrity of the country’s standard Passport system.
The NIS said that a 32-page passport booklet with five-year validity previously charged at N35,000 has increased to N50,000, while a 64-page passport booklet with 10-year validity which was N70,000 will be N100,000.
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Reacting to the development in an interview with PUNCH on Sunday, Yemi explained that although the increment might be necessary given the upsurge in inflation rate, but the move would only worsen the hardship in the country.
He said: “There is nothing whose price has not gone up in the last one year. Unfortunately, the poor people are the carriers of this burden so rather than ease the burden on the common man or the average Nigerian, we have only added to it.
“Increasing the cost of passports by almost 100 per cent or thereabouts will not discourage those who want to leave because they are being pulled by stronger forces than the cost of passports.”
