which they argued would help grow inbound tourism for Nigeria. Particularly, Ikechi Uko of Akwaaba and Peace Anyiam-Osigwe of AMAA have both made it a point of duty to always remind African leaders of the need to encourage free movement within the continent.
The announcement, though well received, raises questions about whether the president would follow through with immigration changing its policies. Notwithstanding, many Africans have hailed the pronouncement considering it is often cumbersome for African nationals to obtain visas to visit other countries across the continent. Countries such as Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda are among the few that currently grant visa on arrival to all Africans.
“Visa on arrival means I come to your country, whether I’ve booked online or not, and I can pick up the visa at the airport. Ghana started it last year; Rwanda, Ethiopia, Seychelles, Kenya does that. Nigeria does that to only Seychelles and Kenya in Africa; they are the only Africans that can come to Nigeria that way. Every other African has to apply and get an approval and pay before coming to Nigeria, that’s what Nigeria is currently doing.
On possible security risk, Uko said, “It’s because of Nigeria’s peculiar problem; the migration by the herdsmen, which is actually the biggest complain I’ve seen in the media. Outside that, I’ve not heard of any other complain.”In her reaction, Peace Anyiam-Osigwe of AMAA explained that visa on arrival doesn’t mean a no visa policy.
“It would also bring down the huge cost of running our missions within the continent. Increased tourism will give rise to new businesses opportunities in tour guides, affordable accommodation transport, shopping and food.”For Lagos-based tourism practitioner, Mohammed Abdulahi, visa on arrival policy is a welcome development as it aims to connect Africans easier and better.
Describing the proposed visa on arrival policy as a welcome development for Nigeria, Mohammed Kwajaffa of South Africa Tourism said it enables easy access for tourist and investors into the country. “On impact, globally, tourism grows faster ones access factors such as visa is made easier as more tourist/investors means more hotels needed to accommodate them, more restaurants to feed them, etc.
Ignorance and grammatical misinterpretation