LIVID Nigerian readers contacted Metro Éireann this week after its embassy decided to introduce a “registration fee” amidst an economic recession.
It is believed that no other Nigerian embassy in the world operates such a system, and Nigerians have expressed their anger towards Ambassador Kema Chikwe for presiding over the levy.
It’s another black mark for an embassy that charged €400 for new passports when thousands of parents of Irish-born children desperately required them for residency applications in 2005.
Many Nigerians had hoped that the high-powered Kema Chikwe – a former transport minister who took over the ambassadorial role in the summer – would implement a new regime at the Dublin 4-based embassy. However, this appears not to be so.
The fees, published recently on the embassy’s website, amount to €30 for adults and €20 for children. Metro Éireann understands that following a heated complaint from a Nigerian citizen, information on the fee amounts was withdrawn from the website.
“Everybody’s shouting recession and she doesn’t care,” commented Ireland-based Nigerian Yinka Odeajo in reference to the ambassador’s sanctioning of the fee. “It’s crazy, there’s no purpose for it.”
Odeajo speculated that with around 20,000 legally resident Nigerians in Ireland, the payment would generate €600,000 for the embassy – and that this could veer towards €1m when counting Irish-Nigerian children entitled to dual citizenship.
When contacted by Metro Éireann, an embassy representative claimed that officials are continuing to deliberate over the fee level. Asked if Nigerians who don’t register can receive assistance from their mission, he responded: “If they won’t register, we won’t help.”
Several Nigerians who spoke to Metro Éireann now fear that applications for replacement and renewed passports will be hampered if they don’t accede to the registration fee. The Nigerian embassy in Dublin charges €200 for a replacement passport, compared with around €114 at its sister mission in London.
