Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior, Dr. Shuaib Belgore, has called on Nigerians to stop the illegal migration out for greener pastures due to the present unfavourable conditions in the country.
The permanent secretary gave this charge when the National Coordinator SERVICOM, Mrs. Nnenna Akajameli and her team paid a working visit to make formal presentation of SERVICOM Compliance Evaluation Reports (SCER) of Federal Marriage Registries in Nigeria on Tuesday, in Abuja.
Belgore expressed concerns over the rate at which some Nigerians were moving out of the country to the extent of renouncing their citizenship even through illegal means.
“When one denounces citizenship as a Nigerian, he/she will no longer have a Nigerian passport and for some reasons, such a person goes missing or dies, he/she will be difficult to identify and if found dead, the corpse can no longer be brought back to Nigeria to be buried as his or her right.
“Protecting citizens’ right is part of what we are saddled with; we handle marriages and we handle citizenship issues. Unfortunately, once in a while, some Nigerians want to renounce their citizenship and we don’t want them to do that, except through constitutional rights of such movement,” he stated.
He, therefore, admonished Nigerians not to use the present circumstances faced by the country as an excuse to move out of the country illegally but through proper manner.
Belgore further said his ministry is in support of the initiative as well as determined to collaborate with SERVICOM for quality service delivery to Nigerians, ensuring that Nigerians are well served across all the Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“We look forward to working with SERVICOM offices to strengthen our function and roles as in the Ministry of Interior as guidance of citizenship integrity.”
In her presentation, National Coordinator SERVICOM Presidency, Mrs. Nnenna Akajemeli said the overall objectives of SERVICOM Compliance Evaluation Report (SCER) was to ensure citizens focus-service delivery in MDAs to identify gaps as well as improve on them.
She said, “Interaction with customers reveals that Federal Marriage Registry is not established in all states of the federation and this has caused a lot of inconveniences for the intending couples and those who stand as their witnesses.”
