The Nigeria Immigration Service granted 38% more passports in 2021 than it did in 2020, according to records from the service, PUNCH reports.
In 2020 and 2021, respectively, there were 767,164 and 1,059,607 passports issued.
The categories of passports included normal, official, diplomatic, emergency travel certificates, refugee passports, and conventional travel documents, according to information gleaned from the NIS.
Out of the total number of passports issued in 2020, 761,825 were standard; 2,024 were official; 444 were diplomatic; and 2,871 were ETCs, according to a breakdown of that figure.
Also, 1,041,537 normal passports, 2,811 official passports, 895 diplomatic passports, 14,214 ETCs, and 150 refugee passports were all issued by the NIS in 2021.
In 2020 and 2021, respectively, that works out to around 2,081 and 2,853 passports being granted per 24 hours.
According to the United Kingdom immigration statistics, 13,609 Nigerian healthcare workers were given work visas during the year under consideration. Only India, with 42,966 practitioners, has more figure.
Seven out of ten Nigerians would be willing to leave their nation if given the chance, according to the Nigeria Social Cohesion Survey 2021 conducted by the African Polling Institute.
In addition, a World Bank poll conducted that year found that 56,000 more Nigerians left the nation each year than entered.
Additional research revealed that in 2019, Nigerians received over 19,000 skilled work and study visas from the UK. However, that number increased by 59,000, or 210%, in 2021.
Furthermore, data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada shows that 12,595 Nigerians moved to Canada in 2019 alone. In that year, the NIS issued an average of 3,282 passports each day, or 1,198,274 total.
A closer examination of the Nigerians fleeing the country uncovered a diverse group of professionals, including academics, doctors, nurses, and technology experts who are reportedly quitting their jobs at numerous local banks to take advantage of skilled work visas in the UK or its equivalent in other countries of their choice.
Additionally, more citizens are leaving the country to pursue higher education abroad, primarily in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.
Speaking to PUNCH, Mr Ariyo-Dare Atoye, Executive Director of Adopt A Goal Initiative, claimed that the high emigration rate brought on by the difficult economic conditions and security issues of the previous ten years was directly related to the increased number of Nigerians obtaining passports.
However, the new passport system introduced in the middle of last year might also be a factor in the ease with which many applicants were able to obtain passports.