The White House has said that Nigeria was included in the list of countries which citizens are to be denied immigration visas into the United States because she does not, adequately share public-safety and terrorism-related information, which is necessary for the protection of the national security and public safety of the United States.
Already, President Muhammadu Buhari has established a committee, to be chaired by the Minister of Interior, to study and address the updated U.S. requirements. The committee will work with the U.S Government, INTERPOL and other stakeholders to ensure all updates are properly implemented, a statement by Presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, said.
The Presidency says Nigeria remains committed to maintaining productive relations with the United States and its international allies especially on matters of global security.
The US government adds, in a comprehensive post on its White House website, that Nigeria does not comply with the established identity-management and information-sharing criteria assessed by the US government’s own performance metrics.
But for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the blame for the suspension of the issuance of immigration visas, should be put squarely at the doorstep of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC and President Muhammadu Buhari.
This suspension, which does not apply to other U.S visas such as those for official, business, tourism and student travel comes into effect in 20 days time.
However, if Nigeria quickly puts her act together, sharing necessary security information, and working with US officials, she could get off the list, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, hinted on Friday.
Said Wolf while announcing the ban on immigration visa for Nigerians, Eritreans, Sudane, Krygyztanis, Tanzanians, and Burmese (Myanmar citizens), “These countries, for the most part, want to be helpful but for a variety of different reasons simply failed to meet those minimum requirements that we laid out”.
It has been suggested that this pressure to comply may be the catalyst for the reliable citizen Identity and credible census being pushed by advocated, if the Nigerian government will seize the opportunity.
Nigeria, the White House States further, also presents a high risk, relative to other countries in the world, of terrorist travel to the United States.
Said the post, “Nigeria is an important strategic partner in the global fight against terrorism, and the United States continues to engage with Nigeria on these and other issues. The Department of State has provided significant assistance to Nigeria as it modernizes its border management capabilities, and the Government of Nigeria recognizes the importance of improving its information sharing with the United States.
“Nevertheless, these investments have not yet resulted in sufficient improvements in Nigeria’s information sharing with the United States for border and immigration screening and vetting.
Consequently, it stated that the entry into the United States of Nigerians as immigrants, except as Special Immigrants whose eligibility is based on having “provided assistance to the United States Government, is hereby suspended.”
(Details of the full report can be found at https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-improving-enhanced-vetting-capabilities-processes-detecting-attempted-entry/ )
According to the opposition party
Nigerians should hold the Buhari Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) responsible for the negative impacts of the proposed travel sanctions imposed on the country.
It describes the sanction as yet another huge misfortune brought by the Buhari Presidency and the APC which have continued to wreck the nation with its compromised handling of security issues, in addition to escalated bloodletting and human rights violation under their watch.
The party laments that the travel ban will have grave consequences on economic, educational, and healthcare opportunities; hurt family and social ties as well as further put pressure on overall national economy.
It adds: “More depressing is that the APC and the Buhari Presidency have been reversing diplomatic gains achieved by previous administrations while gradually pitching our nation against other countries of the world with its poor record on security, corruption and human right issues.
“Our party is worried that our nation that, have become a global destination and investment hub under the PDP, is now being pushed back to a pariah status under the incompetent and divisive APC, as reports from other members of the international community, including credible international organizations, have continued to raise concerns on security and human right issues under the Buhari administration.
“Only recently, our nation was rated as third country with the highest level of terrorism in 2019 after Iran and Afghanistan, in the Global Terrorism Index rating by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).
“This is in addition to damning reports by reputable organizations including Amnesty International (AI), Transparency International (TI), European Union (EU), United States Department of State among others, which in various independent reports, raised grave issues of escalated corruption, violation of human rights, disregard to rule of law, abuse of processes, election rigging and poor handling of security issues under the APC
“The APC administration has failed to rejig its security high command despite the calls by Nigerians, in the face of worsening security challenges and mass killings in our country under their charge.
“It is also worrisome that the APC-led administration had failed to take a decisive step to apprehend and prosecute perpetrators of acts of terrorism including the mass killings in Benue, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Taraba, Kogi, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Zamfara, Kaduna, Ekiti, Kogi and other parts of the country under the current administration.
“The PDP restates that such failures by the APC had continued to bolster insurgents, bandits and kidnappers to continue to launch deadly attacks on Nigerians.
“Moreover, the APC have failed to account for hoodlums and political mercenaries it imported from neighboring countries to assist in unleashing violence on Nigerians during the heavily rigged 2019 general elections.
“The PDP therefore urge the National Assembly not to relent in its efforts to take decisive action on security, as the travel ban is a wake-up call on our leaders and all critical stakeholders to address the issues at stake.
“The party however called on the United States to ensure that the ban does not hurt innocent Nigerians who are also bearing the brunt of the poor handling of security in our country under the APC administration.”