The Director-General Liaison Office, Abuja and Lagos, Hon Ezekiel Temitope Oladimeji OTOPE, has given a renewed hope to the residents of Oyo State on an easier and more efficient process of obtaining their Certificates of Origin.
OTOPE, during interview with newsmen in Ibadan on Tuesday, announced that the certificate will be issued electronically, which will make the process faster, easier, and more transparent.
He added that with the approval, the State Government has put an end to the manual or analogue collection of the certificate adding that the online application will help in curbing fake certificates as well as checkmate those applying for indigeneship certificate without any means of valid identification.
According to him: “Certificate of origin in Nigeria is a vital document from job placements to admission into educational institutions and political appointments, the certificate, issued to only indigenes of a particular state, validates that one is indigenous to a community in the area.”
“It is like a password to unlock many opportunities in each state of the federation.”
“Online application will also put an end to likely extortion and backdoor activities prevalent among those that are not staff of the agency but issued certificate of Indigeneship to non-bonafide citizens of Oyo State, with no proper background check of presented names and no mention of any official documents to back their claims.”
“As soon as our office received your application, we will embark on background and thorough checks to ascertain that the information the applicant provided is genuine and thereafter after our investigation, the applicant will be contacted for interview which will be done electronically.”
“You can do this at the comfort of your homes without any hitches.
“This is also to the advantage of Oyo state indigenes living abroad who may want to apply for Oyo State certificate of Indigeneship.”
The Director-General added emphasized that the agency would embark on advocacy and sensitization of members of the public on this latest development in days ahead.
