Minister reacts to Canada’s denial of visa to defence chief, hints at next move

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has expressed displeasure over the Canadian High Commission‘s decision to deny a visa to the Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa.

The minister, who spoke on Friday during an interview session on Sunrise Daily, a programme aired on Channels Television, offered insights into the Nigerian government’s next line of action.

Mr Tunji-Ojo said while the right to grant a visa falls within the sovereign right of a country, denying the visa of a high-ranking official is disrespectful to the entire country.

He also expressed concern of what the poor treatment and disregard for Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff means for the average Nigerian.

“As much as we are not ready to dabble into the sovereignty or sovereign issues of other nations, issues of visas or the issue of migration management is a sovereign matter and the right of every nation.

“As much as we don’t want to dabble into that, it is not a disrespect to the Chief of Defence Staff; to me, without knowing the facts, it is disrespectful to the country, and it is disrespectful to us as a people.

“If that can happen to the Chief of Defence Staff, then I am worried for an average Nigerian,” he said

Mr Tunji-Ojo further hinted that Nigeria may reciprocate the poor treatment the Canadian government has meted on the CDS.

“Even for us in terms of visa policy, it means that the issue of reciprocity, like I always say, has to be given due consideration,” he said.

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Visa denial

During the maiden annual lecture of the National Association of the Institute for Security Studies (AANISS) on Thursday in Abuja, the CDS revealed that he and other officers were scheduled to attend a war veterans’ event in Canada but were denied entry.

“Every disappointment is a blessing. Yesterday, I was meant to be in Canada. There’s an event to honour our veterans, those that were injured during battles, and we were meant to be there.

“We were invited with our team. Half has gone and half has been denied. It’s very disappointing,” he said

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Reacting to the development, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, strongly condemned the Canadian government for denying visas to Mr Musa and other top military officers.

“Thank you for the courage to say Canada denied you visas. They can go to hell,” the NSA said.