The Federal Government has announced that Nigeria will henceforth adopt the principle of reciprocity in the issuance of visas to foreigners coming into the country.
The Minister of Interior, Honourable Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made this statement on Thursday at the Business Day Conference titled “Nigeria Forward: Catalysing Funding for High-Impact Social Projects,” with the theme “Funding for Change: Building Bridges for a Resilient Nigeria.”
According to him, Nigeria will begin treating foreigners seeking Nigerian visas the same way Nigerians are treated by their respective countries.
Tunji-Ojo also revealed at the event that the federal government would introduce more stringent surveillance measures at the country’s borders to check the inflow and outflow of people, ensuring the safety of the country.
The Minister stated that the era where countries treated Nigerians with disdain in terms of visa issuance is over and that the Nigerian government will adopt the principle of reciprocity.
Tunji-Ojo, the keynote speaker on the topic “Ministry of Interior Potential High-Impact Social Projects,” emphasised the importance of the topic, highlighting the vulnerability and the weakest people in the country.
He said, “The credibility of a government’s performance should be based on how well it addresses the needs of the weakest members of society. The essence of government is not just to protect the strong but also to support and amplify the needs of the weak.”
Regarding the principle of reciprocity, he explained, “Yesterday (Wednesday), the director of the Centre for Illegal Migration in Turkey visited my office.
I told him that in the next few weeks, we can expect reciprocity in our travel policies. Any country that doesn’t grant visas on arrival to Nigerians will not receive the same privilege in Nigeria.
We’re not dumping grounds. If you declare your usefulness, people will see you as valuable. But if you present yourself as useless, people will question your utility.
We want to establish partnerships with other countries, and in these partnerships, we must be equal and base our investment relationships on the principle of reciprocity. This is our approach to all countries worldwide.
The committee is actively working on this, and I will receive the report tomorrow. If you charge me $100 for a visa, I will charge you $100 for a Nigerian visa.”
On the issue of border control, the Minister emphasised the need for advocacy, saying, “I want to talk from the heart and not just from the head.
By my own analysis, one of the major problems we have is that our border communities are more interconnected than one can imagine.
What does that mean? It means that we have border communities that are in Nigeria but do not always see themselves as Nigerians. This poses a major threat to national security.”
The Minister also discussed the issue of identity management and questioned why the country should not have comprehensive details of every citizen in one database.
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