Hopefully, this experience of a Nigerian will spur a positive change.
So many things can be made right through a collective effort.

"It’s difficult sometimes to walk in the thin line of
presenting your country in bad light, and genuinely making
public, ugly experiences one encounters with the Nigerian
civil service. I have decided to make public my
experiences with Nigeria immigration services lately. This
is to also help other Nigerians in diaspora who might be
going through same thing with me or about to experience
it. No one will care to listen in Nigeria, so one won’t
bother sending any complaints to them because it will
never be attended to. I have refrained from every
temptation of criticising Nigerian officials in government
and in civil service, but such a posture is detrimental to
the development and continual improvement process I
have always advocated, hence this my true life story.
In April this year, I noticed our passports will expire in four
months’ time. So my wife and i decided to start the
process of renewal, knowing how our civil service work:
that things can’t get done on time. It was an ample time
for me to take care of any delays, albeit the fact that 3
months was the official time we could start. It took 2
months for me to be able to complete the application
process due to challenges posed with SW global online
payment system i.e. my son's surname did not match
exactly with name on my credit card so I had to register
the card online. I did and followed the procedure listed on
their website but it failed. The SW global contact details
were not operational as mails and phone calls were
neither responded to nor calls answered. In any case,
payment was eventually made.
We booked appointment with Nigeria High Commission in
Canberra. We requested for an earlier date but they
refused and asked us to come on Tuesday 28th July 2014.
We booked our flight for the entire family at the cost of
over $2,000 AUD and locked in the date. Four days to our
scheduled date of travel, precisely on Friday 25th July, my
wife rang the High Commission to confirm that our flights
have been booked and we will be coming on Monday 28th
July as discussed. She was told by the official that
Tuesday is and there will be no consular services. Why did
you give us appointment on public holiday and we had
paid for flight that is not flexible? She queried. The officer
claimed they did not know the holiday will fall on that day.
Knowing where we are coming from, it wasn't difficult to
understand. So what do we do? I asked. Due to the nature
of our case, and because the date was given by the High
commission, we were asked to come anyway but we will
be attended to by 11am. We agreed and thanked them for
making out time to be at the office, despite the holiday in
Nigeria that day.
We left by 11:45 pm on Monday from Perth Western
Australia with a stopover at Melbourne and arrived
Canberra the next morning, Tuesday by 8:20 am. Flight
time from Perth to Melbourne approximately was 4 hours
plus one and half hours of wait at the airport for
connecting flight to Canberra. From Melbourne to
Canberra, over 1 hour flight duration totalling 61/2 hours
spent on travel.
We arrived at the High Commission at 9:20 am and
decided to wait till 11:00am as scheduled. The officers
came few minutes after 11:00 am and made us
comfortable and told us the ambassador will also briefly
come to the office later in the day. They took all our
papers and proceeded to process the application for
renewal. After a long wait, one of the officers invited me
into the office and broke the bad news to me,” We cannot
connect to the server in Nigeria “, he said. “Could it be the
public holiday?” I queried. “The server should work for 24
hours, 7 days a week, irrespective of public holiday or not
in Nigeria”, was his response. He assured me it might be a
minor technical glitch which happens sometimes. My
heart started racing because I know what Nigeria is and
how things operate. Someone can switch it off and travel
to his/her village to celebrate Salah since it’s a long
weekend. I prayed that this shouldn’t be the case. The
officer asked me to be patient and wait. Then the
ambassador arrived.
The ambassador, Ayo Olukanni welcomed us and we told
him why were at the High Commission. Apparently, he was
aware we were coming that day from Perth. He was
informed of the situation that the server was switched off
from Nigeria and they couldn’t do anything. The
ambassador asked us to wait till 3pm Canberra time which
is about 6am in Nigeria to see if any contact could be
made. We waited. As the day went by I kept asking
questions, why can’t our data be taken and stored in the
system and it can be uploaded anytime the server comes
on so we can head home. After all, we never planned to
collect the passport same day. The response was its
impossible, the data cannot be captured unless the server
in Nigeria is on. Jesus Christ! In this age and time? This a
renewal and not a new passport, our identity have been
confirmed, can’t we go and you can later retrieve the data
and print the passport for us at a later date? I kept
prodding. The official said it’s a No because our faces
have changed since the last time we first had the e-
passport in 2009. I suggested that they can take our
photos now and upload into the system later. The answer
was no as they have to do it on real-time when the server
is on. This is preposterous! I have residency in Australia
and I access all the benefits therein without setting my
foot at any immigration office from visa application till
date, why are things different in Nigeria? I protested. Until
the server in Nigeria is switched on, my trip was coming
to a headless, fruitless and frustrating end. The staff of the
High commission looked helpless and I guess they were
wondering how to tell me to go back to Perth and come
back again when the server is switched on.
It was 3pm and they put a call through to Nigeria…guess
the response? The server was switched off because the
system was being upgraded! So why didn’t they inform
their mission in Australia that within this period, there will
be a system upgrade and that no e-passport application
will be successfully done? I became numb! Are you people
aware of this and you asked me to come with my entire
family from Perth to Canberra? I muttered in frustration.
We were not aware, they informed me.
I had become frantic and made few calls to Nigeria to see
if anything could be done and was later told that the server
was switched off because immigration is increasing
passport fees and making changes. Why was Nigeria High
Commission in Canberra not informed? This is a dream, I
tried to assure myself…but it’s true. We were told to go
back to Perth and come again when Nigeria immigration
decides to switch on the server. No official apologies, no
compensation for all the costs and above all the risk I
subjected my family to during this travel. The terrible
turbulence we experienced landing at Canberra and the
weariness and toll of this unnecessary trip on my children.
It was such a horrible experience!
I headed to the airport with my family and wondering how
I am going to explain to my children that we will have to
come back on this tortious journey again simply because
they are born in a country where the system is inefficient,
corrupt, hopeless, incompetent people occupy sensitive
positions and because of these reasons, their passports
couldn’t be renewed and that this country is called
Nigeria.
I have to also explain to my friends and colleagues that
the unbelievable trip to Canberra for passport renewal
was unsuccessful and that I my boss will have to approve
another days off to go back and get this passport renewed.
I need answers! I need to get this story out to the
authorities in Nigeria, otherwise I will go to air my
frustrations in a foreign media!!! "

Hahahahahahahaha!!! I couldn't resist laughing. I truly feel for u and ur family. I was laughing because i knew where ur story was headed. I just knew they would disappoint u. Hmmm! Take heart my dear!
As a student in Europe, I took a 10hr bus ride to our embassy to renew my passport. As I stepped into d embassy, I had this strange feeling of really being on Nigerian soil. The workers were very loud and arrogant. They didn't treat me with any respect. In fact they were very unprofessional.
I was told to wait because the server in Nigeria was not yet on. With 2hrs difference in time zone, if d server came on by 9am, I would be attended to by 11am. I waited dt day till 5pm and d server didn't come on. They made some calls and asked me to return d next week. Jeeesuus!!! Another 10hrs ride back to my city! I was heart broken.
Fast forward to d next week, another 10hrs to our embassy and I was told the server was down due to official maintenance protocol. I am naturally soft-hearted. I couldn't hold back my tears. I blamed God for associating me with Nigeria. Another fruitless 10hrs back to my school. The passport officer mercilessly asked me to come back d next week. I had no option. I thank God I renewed it at d third trial.
My dear pls take heart. Pray before ur next trip. I believe dt one day the evil tormenting our nation will be no more.

Chai!...

OP it is well...All the way from Perth.........CHAI!!!

my wife was dealt the same hand in Jo'burg. Excuse she was told was that the passport officer had taken his wife and kids to the airport and he has taken the day off, that's why she would have to come back the next week. 2 trips later, she got her kpali.

Anyways heading to Canberra myself this month. If i had my way i would have been in Lagos to get this done but oh well, lets see the excuse this time around

Question tho is, did you get any subtle hints from them to "grease their palm"? If not that's a HUGE improvement if you ask me.

Ok....

So i must come here to allay a few fears. Eventually made the trip to Canberra and i must commend the level of service i got at the High Commission. Granted that I still have a few opinions about getting a whole new passport number thing in the event of a renewal, i will add that the official [Great Service and super Service...Mr Umar] i met was very quick to assist with the explanations on why one needs a new passport number while renewing an existing one (still don't agree with this reasoning tho after all if everything were maintained online like they are, then i should be able to request an extension and not a new passport identity)

Anyways, I didn't spend up to an hour for everything there and it is was a welcome decision.

Data Capture: I was made to fill a data form twice [This was so that the High Commission can build its database of Nigerians in Australia] . The logic i did not get was why did I have to fill the same document by hand twice when it could have been photocopied after filling it once? Then again if you say that they will save money on ink..isn't that the same ink that they used to print multiple copies of the form in the first place.

Administrative fees: Still don't get why we have to pay an extra fee for Administrative services, after paying the due fare for the passsport services.

Guarantors Form: This is a requirement as even the immigration website says that it is only needed for the first timer applications, however, it is recommended for all visa applications from High commissions outside Nigeria so you have to get it while going to the High Commission.

Anyways, was glad i didnt have any sad stories to recount afterwards and it was a welcome process.