FG working on visa-free agreement with eight countries
- Minister says new initiative by President Buhari's administration will open up trade opportunities
- Adds that it will strengthen ties among countries
- Informs that it is working with the Immigration Service and Trade and Investment ministry
Nigerians may not need visas to travel to eight African countries anymore, Nigeria's ministry of Foreign Affairs has disclosed.
According to the head of the ministry, Geoffrey Onyeama, the federal government is in discussion with these countries and plans have been concluded to sign the agreement with them.
Vanguard reports that Onyeama made this announcement at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday, May 24, to mark one year of President Mohammadu Buhari’s administration, where he explained that it will breed partnership among countries involved.
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The new agreement, Onyeamah said, is expected to encourage an upsurge in economic activities.
He said: "Africa is the centrepiece of our foreign policy but it is a paradox that as a Nigerian, you cannot go to an African country without a visa unlike what is obtainable in Western Europe.
"To address this as a leader in the continent, the country is at a point of introducing an initiative to promote African trade as part of the country’s foreign policy of Africa as the centrepiece."
Speaking further on the initiative which is like the one in Western Europe where one could enter any sister country without a visa, the minister said: "what we are trying to do at the ministry is to promote visa-free, free movement of business people.
"We want to start with about eight countries or see if they come up as a group of eight countries. At the presidential level, they agreed to that, and signed up to free movement.
"If we can achieve that within a year, then other countries may want to join and we believe this is a better way to go than institutional ECOWAS etc, as countries take so long to ratify agreements.
"We believe we can just start off, eight countries and they agree among themselves, then others will come in."
With the ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment also working with the Foreign Affairs ministry, Onyeama said it will not help if the continent continued to export just raw materials to developed nations.
Adding that the Trade ministry was working towards enhancing doing business with ease in Nigeria, he said it is looking at seeing a rise in the number of visa issued to businessmen and investors
According to Onyeama: "It is one of the cardinal strategies for the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to facilitate investors doing business in Nigeria."
The new development may help Nigerians travel freely to some of these countries without fear of deportation as about 40 of them were repatriated from the United Kingdom and Australia on Wednesday.
It was gathered that these deportees; both male and female, touched down at the Hajj camp area of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) on a chartered aircraft.
Some of the deportees discussing after being cleared by the NIS officers. Photo: The Nation The police, National Agency for Protection and Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Immigration officers were on hand to receive the Nigerians and checked their identities to confirm their nationalities.
According to The Nation, some of the deportees complained when Immigration officers attempted to collect their fingerprints, while others simply obliged and left the airport.
Source: Legit.ng
