Some-security-concerns-on-the-new-nigerian-visa-policy-2020
September 7, 2020 | News
SOME SECURITY CONCERNS ON THE NEW NIGERIAN VISA POLICY 2020
When it was initially hinted to the Nigerian public that President Muhammadu Buhari, while on his visit to Egypt during the Aswan Forum, had said that starting from January 2020, all Africans will be able to arrive in Nigeria without visa, but will be issued visa on arrival, we wondered why would the Federal Government tow this path, especially when other powerful countries across the world like the US, are tightening their boarders, changing their foreign and diplomatic policies to proactively prevent and address the global concerns on terrorism. Why then should our Nigerian President Buhari-led Federal Government be busy issuing an ‘Open Invitation’ to every dick and harry in Africa into Nigeria? We asked what exactly was the rationale behind this?
As expected, the announcement of the said Visa on Arrival policy in December 2019 by the President, was greeted with loads of condemnation from some quarters, largely due to the existing public distrust towards the Presidency on how it has been dealing with the insecurity situation in the country. Chief among the allegations was that it was a ploy to import more killers (terrorists) into the country under official cover, and that foreigners, particularly from Africa, would also come to take available job opportunities meant for Nigerians. Then before we knew it, a new Nigeria Visa Policy (NVP) was been officially launched recently and rolled out by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja.
According to reports, it was noted that a greater part of 2019 was said to have been devoted to conceiving and enunciating the policy, with retreats, conferences and engagements with stakeholders by the Nigeria Immigration Service. These were held in August, October, and December 2019, in Lagos, Benin, and Abuja, respectively. That means, in their own words, this was not a hasty decision. Looking to the Federal Government, the said NVP 2020 is a global visa system, and there is biometrics linked to online applications for each applicant, and that biometrics is to be conducted at port of entry, which entails that the Visa on Arrival will be issued only at Airports, not at land borders.
Now, the problem we have with this is that, what are the mechanisms in place to ‘track’, identify and fish out these foreigners within Nigerian if they decide to go missing, carry out one crime or the other, or travel to another distant location within Nigeria where they cannot be easily reached/accessed? The popular Sambisa forest, readily comes to mind here - which our security operatives have not been able to secure and cover properly in the fight against insurgents. Agreed that the said new visa policy has three categories of visas: short visit, temporary, and permanent residence, but they still have not told Nigerians how they would be able to keep on track, and monitor the whereabouts of foreigners who enter the country, especially when their visas and stay must have expired? How would they know? All that talk about biometric link still does not address this question because today, despite the so many biometric capturing within Nigerian Institutions, which include the banking sector, many corrupt and criminally-minded Nigerians are beating the system to commit various crimes. If they cannot handle this situation as it concerns Nigerian citizens, what makes them think they would handle that of foreigners who find their way into the country?
Agreed that the said new visa policy system is automated with no cash transaction, so the chances of corruption are reduced, and it is gone from the previous six classes of visas, to now 79 classes of visa, but all of that only creates room for Africans (especially those from nations that are prone to terrorists organizations) to have more access and avenues to gain entry into Nigeria.
When it was recently reported that the US President Donald Trump administration's controversial visa and travel ban has now been extended to include more countries, with Nigeria on the latest list, we noted that the ban, which is one of the US President's signature policies, is not about anything else that is happening in the country. Other than the fact that it HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE ABSENCE OF A WORKABLE SYSTEM IN OUR IDENTIFICATION AND VERIFICATION PROCESSES. The main reason Nigeria is suspended from Immigrant visas category is because Nigeria does not have a credible background investigation system that groups like INTERPOL can rely on to vert and certify originality. What that means is that if someone commits a crime in Lagos and relocates to Kano, there is no system in place that can be used to track crimes and people across State lines. Virtually all African countries have such systems. Even Ghana has it. Cameroun, and everyone has original birth certificates. But Nigeria prefers to have multiple identity cards not because they are interested in monitoring and tracking people, but because they want to make money. Our country is a transaction society, you can buy anything, even the human conscience. Most responsible modern states in the world have tracking systems, but Nigeria does not. So, what America is saying to us with their ban is that they cannot continue to give immigrant visas to our people if their investigators have no tools to work with to verify the true identity of our immigrant populations. With such an existing loophole in the nation’s security integrity, wouldn’t the said new visa policy only make things worse for the country?
We understand that the new visa policy has some aspects which most Nigerians, especially those in Diaspora, would appreciate. The NVP 2020 introduces special visas for Nigerians in diaspora who either by birth, marriage or nationalization have assumed dual citizenship. That means Nigerians in diaspora will now be able to make use of the passports of their adopted countries to visit Nigeria without the need for short stay visa. According to the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, "the new visa policy will be helpful to diaspora Nigerians by birth who can now use other passports to visit the country because some countries do not allow dual citizenship."
Another aspect of the new visa policy, which we find laughable, was the statement that it holds immense economic benefits for the country. According to President Buhari: “The Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 is intended to attract innovation, specialized skills and knowledge from abroad to complement locally available ones…it will support the attainment of a globally competitive economy for Nigeria by building on the efforts of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council. The policy is expected to improve the business environment, attract Foreign Direct Investment and boost tourism without compromising national security.”
Now, let us be realistic with ourselves. What exactly makes Nigeria an attractive destination for investors, when the nation is still battling with serious insecurity concerns? What would attract investors, when the nation’s power supply sector is nothing to write home about? Or is the Presidency not aware that no nation’s economy can grow without sustainable and reliable power supply. Is Mr. President not aware that there cannot be any meaningful investment in any sector of Nigeria without reliable power supply, and that modern societies, as a result of population growth, require much energy/power supply to make good transition out of poverty, both for economic and social development.
Apart from this, we should tell ourselves the truth, even if President Buhari is not told the truth as it is by his aides and Ministers. Let us be real with ourselves – is there any African country that has attained the economic and developed capacity to significantly contribute to the economic growth of Nigeria? If an advanced and a world power country like the UK, could pull out of the European Union (EU), why are we inviting our neighboring African countries to come have a field day in Nigeria, and at the same time worsen the insecurity situation to our already boiling Nigeria? What would countries like Sudan, Somalia and other war-torn, and poverty-stricken African countries offer to Nigeria towards improving its economy, other than coming into the country to make the insecurity situation worse in Nigeria?
Let us be real with ourselves. We strongly advise President Buhari to review the said new visa policy in the interest of Nigeria’s security and economic wellbeing. We implore the members of the National Assembly and its leadership to take a critical look at the issues and concerns raised above, regarding the said new visa policy in Nigeria. We cannot afford to officially ‘open all African countries’ nationals to enter our country on account of the said new visa policy on arrival. Our Government at all levels should focus on developing the country and make it more attractive for foreign nationals from developed countries of Europe and America. This was what the leaders of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) focused on, and within less than two decades, they transformed places like Dubai to what it is today – a tourist, investment and business place for well-to-do-global nationals.
Zik Gbemre.
February 17, 2020
We Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
When it was initially hinted to the Nigerian public that President Muhammadu Buhari, while on his visit to Egypt during the Aswan Forum, had said that starting from January 2020, all Africans will be able to arrive in Nigeria without visa, but will be issued visa on arrival, we wondered why would the Federal Government tow this path, especially when other powerful countries across the world like the US, are tightening their boarders, changing their foreign and diplomatic policies to proactively prevent and address the global concerns on terrorism. Why then should our Nigerian President Buhari-led Federal Government be busy issuing an ‘Open Invitation’ to every dick and harry in Africa into Nigeria? We asked what exactly was the rationale behind this?
As expected, the announcement of the said Visa on Arrival policy in December 2019 by the President, was greeted with loads of condemnation from some quarters, largely due to the existing public distrust towards the Presidency on how it has been dealing with the insecurity situation in the country. Chief among the allegations was that it was a ploy to import more killers (terrorists) into the country under official cover, and that foreigners, particularly from Africa, would also come to take available job opportunities meant for Nigerians. Then before we knew it, a new Nigeria Visa Policy (NVP) was been officially launched recently and rolled out by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja.
According to reports, it was noted that a greater part of 2019 was said to have been devoted to conceiving and enunciating the policy, with retreats, conferences and engagements with stakeholders by the Nigeria Immigration Service. These were held in August, October, and December 2019, in Lagos, Benin, and Abuja, respectively. That means, in their own words, this was not a hasty decision. Looking to the Federal Government, the said NVP 2020 is a global visa system, and there is biometrics linked to online applications for each applicant, and that biometrics is to be conducted at port of entry, which entails that the Visa on Arrival will be issued only at Airports, not at land borders.
Now, the problem we have with this is that, what are the mechanisms in place to ‘track’, identify and fish out these foreigners within Nigerian if they decide to go missing, carry out one crime or the other, or travel to another distant location within Nigeria where they cannot be easily reached/accessed? The popular Sambisa forest, readily comes to mind here - which our security operatives have not been able to secure and cover properly in the fight against insurgents. Agreed that the said new visa policy has three categories of visas: short visit, temporary, and permanent residence, but they still have not told Nigerians how they would be able to keep on track, and monitor the whereabouts of foreigners who enter the country, especially when their visas and stay must have expired? How would they know? All that talk about biometric link still does not address this question because today, despite the so many biometric capturing within Nigerian Institutions, which include the banking sector, many corrupt and criminally-minded Nigerians are beating the system to commit various crimes. If they cannot handle this situation as it concerns Nigerian citizens, what makes them think they would handle that of foreigners who find their way into the country?
Agreed that the said new visa policy system is automated with no cash transaction, so the chances of corruption are reduced, and it is gone from the previous six classes of visas, to now 79 classes of visa, but all of that only creates room for Africans (especially those from nations that are prone to terrorists organizations) to have more access and avenues to gain entry into Nigeria.
When it was recently reported that the US President Donald Trump administration's controversial visa and travel ban has now been extended to include more countries, with Nigeria on the latest list, we noted that the ban, which is one of the US President's signature policies, is not about anything else that is happening in the country. Other than the fact that it HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE ABSENCE OF A WORKABLE SYSTEM IN OUR IDENTIFICATION AND VERIFICATION PROCESSES. The main reason Nigeria is suspended from Immigrant visas category is because Nigeria does not have a credible background investigation system that groups like INTERPOL can rely on to vert and certify originality. What that means is that if someone commits a crime in Lagos and relocates to Kano, there is no system in place that can be used to track crimes and people across State lines. Virtually all African countries have such systems. Even Ghana has it. Cameroun, and everyone has original birth certificates. But Nigeria prefers to have multiple identity cards not because they are interested in monitoring and tracking people, but because they want to make money. Our country is a transaction society, you can buy anything, even the human conscience. Most responsible modern states in the world have tracking systems, but Nigeria does not. So, what America is saying to us with their ban is that they cannot continue to give immigrant visas to our people if their investigators have no tools to work with to verify the true identity of our immigrant populations. With such an existing loophole in the nation’s security integrity, wouldn’t the said new visa policy only make things worse for the country?
We understand that the new visa policy has some aspects which most Nigerians, especially those in Diaspora, would appreciate. The NVP 2020 introduces special visas for Nigerians in diaspora who either by birth, marriage or nationalization have assumed dual citizenship. That means Nigerians in diaspora will now be able to make use of the passports of their adopted countries to visit Nigeria without the need for short stay visa. According to the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, "the new visa policy will be helpful to diaspora Nigerians by birth who can now use other passports to visit the country because some countries do not allow dual citizenship."
Another aspect of the new visa policy, which we find laughable, was the statement that it holds immense economic benefits for the country. According to President Buhari: “The Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 is intended to attract innovation, specialized skills and knowledge from abroad to complement locally available ones…it will support the attainment of a globally competitive economy for Nigeria by building on the efforts of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council. The policy is expected to improve the business environment, attract Foreign Direct Investment and boost tourism without compromising national security.”
Now, let us be realistic with ourselves. What exactly makes Nigeria an attractive destination for investors, when the nation is still battling with serious insecurity concerns? What would attract investors, when the nation’s power supply sector is nothing to write home about? Or is the Presidency not aware that no nation’s economy can grow without sustainable and reliable power supply. Is Mr. President not aware that there cannot be any meaningful investment in any sector of Nigeria without reliable power supply, and that modern societies, as a result of population growth, require much energy/power supply to make good transition out of poverty, both for economic and social development.
Apart from this, we should tell ourselves the truth, even if President Buhari is not told the truth as it is by his aides and Ministers. Let us be real with ourselves – is there any African country that has attained the economic and developed capacity to significantly contribute to the economic growth of Nigeria? If an advanced and a world power country like the UK, could pull out of the European Union (EU), why are we inviting our neighboring African countries to come have a field day in Nigeria, and at the same time worsen the insecurity situation to our already boiling Nigeria? What would countries like Sudan, Somalia and other war-torn, and poverty-stricken African countries offer to Nigeria towards improving its economy, other than coming into the country to make the insecurity situation worse in Nigeria?
Let us be real with ourselves. We strongly advise President Buhari to review the said new visa policy in the interest of Nigeria’s security and economic wellbeing. We implore the members of the National Assembly and its leadership to take a critical look at the issues and concerns raised above, regarding the said new visa policy in Nigeria. We cannot afford to officially ‘open all African countries’ nationals to enter our country on account of the said new visa policy on arrival. Our Government at all levels should focus on developing the country and make it more attractive for foreign nationals from developed countries of Europe and America. This was what the leaders of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) focused on, and within less than two decades, they transformed places like Dubai to what it is today – a tourist, investment and business place for well-to-do-global nationals.
Zik Gbemre.
February 17, 2020
We Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes