Victor EzejaNigerians have reacted to the reported lifting of the visa ban on Nigerians by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after two years.
A statement released by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, on Monday said Nigeria and the UAE have reached an agreement for the resumption of issuance of visa to Nigerians passport holders who wish to visit UAE.
Join our WhatsApp Channel“Following successful talks and extensive, mutually beneficial negotiations between the Government of the United Arab Emirates and the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, an agreement was reached allowing for the resumption of travel to the UAE for Nigerian passport holders,” part of the statement read.
The statement said the resumption of visa applications will be effective from Monday, 15 July 2024, adding that the agreement includes some updated controls and regulations to facilitate obtaining a UAE visa.
Prime Business Africa reports that UAE and Nigeria have been in a diplomatic row over issues involving flight allocations and travel bans since 2021.
It would be recalled that the UAE had imposed the visa ban on Nigerians in October 2022, while Emirates Airlines also suspended flight operations to Nigeria in November of the same year.
The ban left many Nigerians who frequently travel to Dubai stranded with some having to go through neigbouring countries.
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The federal government had on 11th September 2023, issued a statement that UAE had lifted visa ban on Nigerian travellers. However, on 15th September, an official of the Arab country said the visa restriction was still in place.
Thereafter, the President Bola Tinubu’s special adviser on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, claimed that the document announcing that the visa restriction has been lifted was not authorised by the Nigerian and UAE governments.
Reacting to the latest announcement that the visa ban has been lifted, Nigerians took to social media to express their doubts about the veracity of the story given past incidents.
They equally berated the Federal Government for celebrating that the UAE has lifted visa restrictions on Nigerians.
They said if the Nigeria has good leadership that develops the country, Nigerians would not need to troop to other country in search of greener pastures, especially a country with a small population size like UAE.
“A country of 200million plus celebrating lifting visa ban by a country of 9.5 million population that is like 1/3rd of that of Lagos is shameful,” @Sammy Ugonabo stated on X.
@Agbalaka wrote: “Finally, they did it. 64 years after independence, we are celebrating visa application to United Arab Emirates.”
“How does a nation celebrate something as this?” Uchenna Ekechukwu, a management consultant and policy analyst asked while reacting to the news.
Another X user wrote: “The reason this UAE is important to them is because of the real estate that the political elite have there.
“Same way issue of aviation fuel was resolved faster than any ASUU strike.”
@John Tyler Echefu, a Nigerian activist based in Luxembourg said: “So what is all the hype about UAE lifted visa ban on Nigeria and we are celebrating wao this nation was ones great.”
@opsyops wrote: “In the 60s & 70s Nigeria Economy was bigger than the UAE, even Emirates started its Aviation business by renting planes from Pakistan, look at today, see where UAE is, look at where our leaders has kept Nigeria.”
Expressing doubt about the authenticity of the news, @AgbataGodwin said: “We are yet to receive such news from the UAE side. I hope it will work out this time around unlike before when Nigeria government said similar thing earlier this year.”
“This Visa Ban you people are shouting upandan, is it coming from UAE govt or from Tinubu govt. Which source? If the only source is Tinubu illegit govt, then I doubt it,” @Abrahamadenuga stated.
Ejike Kanife said: “You better confirm from UAE authorities if this is true. That was how they announced this same visa ban lifting last time and it turned out to be a blatant lie”
@Brightmacauley wrote: “Don’t take this news seriously until you hear it from the UAE government, I live in Dubai and I’ve not seen or heard anything from the government media about it.”
Checks by Prime Business Africa correspondent reveals that UAE is yet to issue official announcement regarding the agreement as stated by the Nigerian side. However, the UAE Embassy in Nigeria only retweeted the announcement posted on X by Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
Beyond the euphoria that the Arab country has lifted visa restrictions on Nigerians, an X user, @AgboloIsaac who is resides in UAE said the question is not only about lifting the ban on Nigerians traveling to UAE “but have they also lifted employment restrictions on Nigerians.”
“I want to also let you know that you shouldn’t be deceived by the APC government because our major problem here is not even lifting the visit visa banned only to come to UAE but the question is, have they lift the banned on employment visa for Nigerians in UAE,” he asked.
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Another X user queried why the lifting of visa restrictions is being celebrated even when it is not free as Nigerians have to pay huge sums of money to obtain it.
“What’s the jubilation All about. It’s not Visa free, hundreds or thousands of applications fees will be paid and at the end they will refuse us visa, those that they grant Visa will be refused at point of entry and sent back to Nigeria. We need to do better as a country,” @Daniel2dim wrote.
However, another X user @Emmanueleferobo, said the attitude of Nigerians who travel to UAE was responsible for the visa ban slammed on the country and stressed the need for them to be of good behaviour this time.
“Hopefully our people can be of good character going forward cause they really spoilt the name of Nigeria over there,” he stated.
@Edwin said “What’s all this fuss about UAE? Nigerians Go to UAE, they spend Scarce Forex. Are the Arabs of UAE as desirous of visiting, coming, to Nigeria? If they do, which I doubt, Nigeria will earn some Forex.”
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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