The latest
report regarding the world’s most powerful International Passport places the
Nigerian passport at 95.
According to
the list put together by Henley Passport Index which occasionally curates a
list of the world’s most travel-friendly passports, Nigeria is just above
countries like Djibouti, South Sudan, and other war-torn countries in the
middle-east.
In the
recently published report, the Japanese passport is the most powerful in the
world, as it avails those who possess it visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to
about 191 destinations around the world.
The list
also shows another Asian country – Singapore sitting in second place, with
other European countries trailing right behind.
Travel
Dilemma for Nigerians
Though the
largest nation in Africa and often called the giant of the continent, Nigerians
still do not have it easy while travelling internationally.
Those who
possess a Nigerian passport often experience difficulties going through a
plethora of checks, many have often described as dehumanizing the way they were
treated at the airports of other nations.
Every year
millions of Nigerians leave the country’s shores some for pleasure visits,
others for medical tourism and a lot more in search of greener pastures.
However,
these trips are not all palatable as the Nigerian passport only avails
visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to only 41 countries, with many having to
struggle and pay through their noses to visit the highly developed nation.
Terrorism
and fraud culture
The weakness
of the Nigerian passport and the way Nigerians are treated when they travel is
not unconnected with the nation’s battle with terrorism, fraud and other
crimes.
In December
2019, Nigeria was added to a United States ‘special watch list’ of countries
that had engaged in or tolerated the severe violation of religious freedom.
Boko Haram
and eight other terrorist groups were also described as ‘Entities of Particular
Concern’.
This in no
way puts the nation and those who bear its passport in a good light, hence, one
can tell where the unpalatable treatment meted out to Nigerians when they
travel, stems from.
In recent
times, the name ‘Nigeria’ had become very synonymous with fraud.
US
authorities in August 2019, announced charges against 80 people, most of them
Nigerians, in a wide-ranging fraud and money laundering operation that netted
millions of dollars from victims of internet con jobs.
Federal
prosecutors unsealed the dozens of indictments after 17 people were arrested
and taken into custody in Los Angeles and elsewhere in the United States.
Most of the
remainder of those indicted were believed to be in Nigeria.
With such a
reputation, one cannot expect that many nations will be more skeptical about
their interactions with Nigerians and those with Nigerian passports.
The
Government’s reaction
In an
interview granted to the New Telegraph, President Buhari warned his fellow
citizens to stop trying to make asylum claims in Britain, saying that their
reputation for criminality has made it hard for them to be “accepted” abroad.
President
Buhari said the number of Nigerians imprisoned for law-breaking in Britain and
elsewhere, is the reason many are unlikely to get much sympathy.
Similarly,
while addressing Nigerians in the Diaspora in Yokohama, Japan, Buhari said
their actions should not reflect on the majority of Nigerians who are
law-abiding.
He said
there are few Nigerians in the Diaspora that are giving the country a bad name
by engaging in criminal activities.
According to
him, those Nigerians are a minority and do not represent the values of the
country.
The
President pleaded for those tarnishing the country’s name to change their ways,
adding that his government will not condone any crime whether at home or
abroad, and we will also not allow fraudulent Nigerians to define the nation as
a people with reputation for criminality.
It is hoped
that the fight against crime which is about the most important focus of the Buhari-led
administration, will yield results which would see a turn in the value of the
nation’s passport as well as a change in the way the world sees Nigerians.
Channelnews
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