My about-to-expire Nigerian passport - Kaduna experience

So I decided to renew my about-to-expire Nigerian passport in Kaduna, believing that the NIS passport office there would be less crowded and thus more efficient than the one in Abuja. I had previously taken advantage of visits to Nigeria to renew my passport, so I expected this to be routine. Boy, was I mistaken.

The first day was smooth. The NIS folks ushered me in, gave me a spot to park, and one of them accompanied me to the right office where I submitted my old passport, paid the N24,000 fee they demanded (I simply obliged as I didn't know the prevailing official rate), and supplied the information they requested. They did not even give me a receipt but I didn't want to be fussy or tick them off.

The NIS officer who accompanied me then asked me to expect his call later in the day when they would be ready for me to come back for the biometric capture. Sure enough he called around 3:30 pm and I immediately headed back to the passport office and got my biometric data taken after a brief wait.