More than 1.5 million registered Nigerians in Italy are experiencing difficulty in returning home to Nigeria because of the lack of Nigerian passports.
George Omo-Iduhon, who is the chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe, NIDOE, Italy chapter made this known while speaking to newsmen in Lagos on Saturday.
NIDOE is the European outfit of a global Nigerian diaspora network that was established by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2000.
According to the report, out of about three million registered Nigerians in Italy, 1.5 of them are in need of passports. He said that one of the problems they are facing as a Nigerian living in Italy is an acute shortage of Nigerian passports.
He called out to the government to address the problem because Italy serves as the gateway to other countries in Europe and most Nigerians prefer to have their political asylum in Italy. He also said that the lack of passports makes it difficult for Nigerians to get jobs. He also said that as Nigerians have more registered residents in Italy than in other European countries, it will be unfair to use the same sharing formula while sharing the Nigerian passports with those in Europe.
Commending the chairman of NIDCOM, Abike Dabiri, who has been helpful to their plight, he also called on the Minister for Internal Affairs, Rauf Aregbesola to help them address the issue.
He said that NIDOE is a recognized official platform through which individual Nigerians in diaspora, their community organisation and corporate bodies can channel their development efforts to Nigeria.
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