The Federal Government has announced plans to cancel its visa-on-arrival policy and introduce landing and exit cards, which prospective visitors will pre-fill before coming into and leaving the country.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, announced this on Friday in Abuja during the closing ceremony of a weeklong capacity building training organised for personnel of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
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The training was on Advanced Passenger Information/Passenger Name Record API/PNR Data in National Security and Law Enforcement.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government had in 2020 introduced the visa-on-arrival policy, a class of short-stay visa issued at the point of entry.
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However, Mr Tunji-Ojo on assumption of office in 2023 said the visa-on-arrival Policy would, henceforth, be based on reciprocity.
Visa-on-arrival is often given to frequently travelled high networth investors and visitors unable to obtain visas in their countries of residence due to the absence of Nigerian missions or embassies in those countries.
The minister of interior, Mr Tunji-Ojo, however, said that the API/PNR was not optional, recalling that the system was not in place when he became minister.
According to him, what the API/PNR gives is objectivity in decision-making, objective profiling, not subjective profiling.
He added that what existed previously was subjective.
“Today, we have heard and we have sorted the API across all of our five international airports,” Mr Tunji-Ojo said.
“We think that what we need to do is for us to be able to expand the capability of this in an adaptive manner to allow other border posts.
“The visa system that is one of the core, because I always tell people the visa is not just an approval of entry, it is a migration management device.
“It is a security device to manage migration into your country. So the way it is at the moment is very subjective.
“We are not really too objective and that is why we are automating the whole process end-to-end.
“And the e-visa solution, we are working hard to be able to meet the March 1st or peradventure if we are unable, April 1st, we will hit it live.”
Mr Tunji-Ojo said the system would be automated, adding that people would apply online and the service would do what it needed to do.
He said: “That solution will be integrated with the Interpol System, the criminal records system, so that we can be able to take decisions.
“We do not want foreign attachés approving and issuing visas. It is not going to be that way anymore, we want to be able to screen people more.
“Nigeria cannot be a destination for wanted criminals in the world. Nigeria is not a safe haven for any criminal and it will never be.
“Another thing we are trying to do even for our expatriates is to see how we can integrate all these our immigration solutions.
“What we are doing is to harmonise all these solutions in our data centre, harmonise the database and be able to let the solutions speak to one another rather than having solutions in silos.
“We want to have integrated solutions. So what we are looking at is that, for any decision that borders on immigration into Nigeria.
“It will be impossible for approvals to be given without the clearance of interpol, criminal records system and all background checking agencies in real time.
“Security is not a sector where you can afford to be 99.9 per cent correct. You just have to be 100 per cent. We believe that it is better for us to take decisions based on objectivity rather than subjectivity.
“And of course, that will lead to the cancellation of the visa-on-arrival process because the visa-on-arrival we understand is not a system that works, because I don’t expect you to just come into my country without me knowing that you are coming into my country.
“No, it is never done anywhere and of course, we are also introducing what we call the landing and exit card.
“We do it now, but it is manual. We are not going to be doing that anymore. This is 2025. This is not 1825. So technology must take its place,” he said.
Speaking further, Mr Tunji-Ojo said that people must fill the landing card which would be integrated with the visa solution, the passport solution, and to all background checking systems across the world before a visitor comes.
According to him, the ministry will be able to share this data with other agencies and across the world, to sanitise the process.
He said, “A scenario where it is difficult for NIS, on the tip of a finger, to tell me the number of foreigners who are entering into Nigeria is unacceptable.
“A scenario where somebody comes into Nigeria, disappears and becomes untraceable is unacceptable. A scenario where there is abuse of immigration policies and processes is unacceptable.
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“A scenario where somebody needs to come to Nigeria, stay for six months, waiting to regularise their residency in Nigeria is unacceptable. It is not done anywhere in the world.
“So, we are going to bring these massive reforms and these reforms start between March 1 and April 1.
“Why we are trying to do these is to be able to safeguard our people, it’s for us to be responsible in the comity of nations, and for us to be able to contribute our fair quota to international peace,” he maintained.
Earlier, the NIS Comptroller-General, Kemi Nandap, said the programme originated from discussions held with the United Nations Organisation on Counter Terrorism in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2024.
“We recognise the need to fully maximise the administration’s investments in this project, and so we must engage in a lot of capacity building.
“We have successfully trained over 100 officers drawn from critical areas,” she said.
Nandap said the service had a crop of well-trained and patriotic personnel who were ready to give their best to the country.
(NAN)
