Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has expressed his thought on the speculated plan by the United States government to add Nigeria to its existing list of visa travel ban countries. He said it was ill conceived and the report was speculative, but if it turns out to be true, the government will respond comprehensively.
He stated this, yesterday, in London during an interview session. The Minister who is currently in London further said “However, in our view it was not well thought out but based largely on negative narratives spread by naysayers, I know that we are working very well with our neighbours to ensure that terrorism is addressed. We are working with the international community including the European Union and the U.S.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed also highlighted issues surrounding the border closure, he told Reuters that “Nigeria took the hard decision because the neighbours, notably Benin Republic and Niger Republic, failed to respect the ECOWAS treaty on transit of goods, not only that they are sabotaging the economy of the country but also the security of the Nation was being threatened,” he said. “Under the guise of smuggling rice, a lot of small arms and light weapons are being smuggled into the country.” he further explained.
He went further to say, “Our advice to the United State is that it should have a rethink on the issue because any travel ban is bound to affect investment and growth in the country and those who will be affected are the most vulnerable people in Nigeria.” The previous week, there were reports that President Donald Trump’s administration planned to add Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania to the list of countries on United State visa travel ban.