The Federal Government has announced that henceforth, the nation will issue visas to visitors from abroad based on the reciprocity principle.
This was disclosed by the Interior Minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, at the BusinessDay Conference, themed: Funding for Change: Building Bridges for a Resilient Nigeria and the title: Nigeria Forward: Catalysing Funding for High Impact Social Projects.
By doing this, the Government said that it would handle foreigners applying for Nigerian visas in the same manner as Nigerians in other nations. In order to control immigration and outflow and guarantee national security, it also intended to impose stricter surveillance measures at the nations frontiers.
The Minister declared that the days of giving international visitors a free pass when applying for visas were gone, and the federal government would start operating under the give-and-take model.
Speaking as the keynote speaker on the subject of Ministry of Interiors potential high impact social projects, Tunji-Ojo stated that he found the topic particularly significant as it addressed vulnerability and the nations most vulnerable citizens.
He said, “The credibility of performance of every government has to be based only on the evaluation of how the government handles the weakest in the society. The essence of government is not just to protect the strong but to make up and amplify the needs of the weak.
Regarding the reciprocity principle, he stated Any country that does not give me the visa on arrival cannot have a visa on arrival in Nigeria. Im sorry, but it is the truth. Were not a dumping ground. If you say you are helpful, people will see you as valid.
But if you tell people you are useless, people will tell you why you are this useless. We want to partner with you, and so on the table, we must be partners, equal partners, and our investment relationship must be based on the principle of reciprocity. So, we are doing that to all the countries in the world. The committee is working. I will receive the report tomorrow. You charge me $100 for a visa, and I will charge you $100 for a Nigerian visa.
If you give me a visa on arrival, I will give it to you. If you say the condition for me to enter your country today is that I must have an American visa, Schengen visa, UK visa etc., you will have the same conditions to enter my country. It is not a fight. It is about the issue of mutual respect.
My job is interior security and not external. So lets call a spade a spade. We must change our perception. Perception is everything in life. Perception is your reputation, if people have a wrong perception about you, they will have a negative interpretation about who you are.
So, for us, weve been doing that. I told them yesterday that you have stopped issuing to Nigerians with Schengen visas, America visas, etc. Please tell your people to change it because the issue of visa reciprocity is my own. The way you respond to us is how we will respond to you, so you know we are all partners in quality.
If they dont know I say this, this is the biggest economy in Africa. And you see the kind of assets Ghana has, South Africa has, even Seychelles, we dont have. No, Im not asking any country to open their gates to all 220 million Nigerians! Thats impossible. But at least we have to have a meeting point based on mutual respect, he explained.
