Japan denies Tinubu government's claim on migration, special visa opportunities for Nigerians

The Japanese government has denied the President Bola Tinubu administration’s claim of a newly created visa category allowing skilled Nigerians to relocate to Japan.

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It said, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that the claim of inclusion of immigration measures or special visas for Nigerian citizens in the new ‘JICA Africa Hometown’ initiative launched last week was “untrue.”

The Japanese government issued this rebuttal in a statement on Monday, about four days after the Nigerian presidency announced that it had launched an initiative with the Asian country creating a new migration route for Nigeria.

This announcement was made during the 9th meeting of the Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD9), which was held from 20 to 22 August in Yokohama, Japan.

The Tinubu government, in a statement issued last Thursday (21 August), claimed that under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) – its new partnership with Japan – Nigerian citizens could benefit from a special dispensation visa to work in Japan.

It stated that Japan had designated Kisarazu, a city in the country, as the hometown for Nigerians, and would offer a special visa category for highly skilled, young Nigerians willing to live and work there.

It further highlighted that artisans and other blue-collar workers from Nigeria who were ready to upskill would also benefit from the special category.

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Rebuttal

But refuting the claim, the Japanese government stressed that the programme was focused solely on fostering community-level exchanges and did not include a new visa category.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Japan had no plan to allow immigration or give special visas to Nigerians and nationals of other African countries under the programme.

“There are no plans to take measures to promote the acceptance of immigrants or issue special visas for residents of African countries, and the series of reports and announcements concerning such measures are not true,” it said.

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Rather, it noted that “contrary to the facts” in circulation, the ‘JICA Africa Hometown’ announced at the TICAD 9, “aims to strengthen exchanges between African countries and Japanese local governments based on the experience gained through its previous projects.

“Under this program, JICA plans to promote exchanges between the four Japanese cities and the four African countries through various activities, including the organisation of exchange events involving JICA overseas cooperation volunteers,” the statement read.