The present administration in Nigeria is about to bring into being a policy that would allow foreigners visiting the country to obtain entry visas at the airport on arrival.
Nigerians have continued to express reservations over this development, in the face of kidnappings, killings and violence in different parts of the country.
Interestingly the Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) has insisted that any undocumented alien that fails to take part in the e-registration of the Nigeria Immigration Service will be deported after the January 12, 2020 deadline.
The service also warned that aliens who are not captured in the ongoing e-registration would be deported and might be barred from returning to Nigeria, this is just as efforts to curb the influx of illegal immigrants remain invisible.
Similarly, President Muhammadu Buhari recently announced that Nigeria would soon commence the issuance of visa to foreign nationals on arrival.
President Buhari made this announcement on the sidelines of the peace and development summit in Egypt.
The visa shift is coming on the heels of the country’s signing of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, a treaty seeking to establish a continent-wide marketplace with increased trade and freer movement among its major pillars.
The policy is viewed by many as abrupt and lacking in details.
Of worry is that the fact that the Federal Government has raised the alarm over the latest plans of terrorists.
In this interview with the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke says that the Federal Government ought to , firstly conclude the electronic registration of foreigners in the country, before considering issuing visas to foreigners on arrival at the airports.Excerpts :
What is your reaction to the visa on arrival policy in the works of the Federal Government ?
Issuing visas to foreigners for the purpose of attracting investment as a policy makes government’s declaration seem vague, unimpressive and very suspicious. So many see it as a ploy to strategically, with all political influence, advance an hidden cause.
However, issuing visas to people at the point of entry into Nigeria, looks funny and suspicious because it would be very difficult to determine the sincerity of purpose of the aliens, whom the country wants to accommodate, considering the increasing rate of insecurity in the land.
This development looks like a plot, coming at a time when, the electronic registration of aliens are ongoing and probably the identification of a number of aliens who have participated in various criminal activities within the country.
Government must be very very cautious the way its handles security issues.
Government recently cried out about the support of the ISIS for the Boko-Haram, in the use of chemical and probably nuclear weapons.
Cases of Nigerians hiding under the umbrella of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)to attack government officials abroad are still fresh in people’s memories.
There is equally a probability that these people resonate with those from other geo-political zones in the country, with the sole aim to instigate secession .
Nigerians were happy when the issue of border closure came up, with the belief that the measure would check the influx of illegal immigrants into the country, but most Nigerians became confused when it was discovered that it was only the South West border that was shut for economic reasons, most especially in the area of controlling importation of goods and services.
Indeed, the borders in the Northern zone experience an higher influx of illegal aliens into the country, closely followed by the South East zone. The electronic registration of aliens is commendable , but the ongoing exercise ought to be concluded before dabbling into the issuance of visas to foreigners on arrival, in order that one does not negatively affect the other.
Generally, successive governments’approach towards security issues have been very poor because of our over dependence on foreign interventions for survival, thereby killing our ingenuity, innovation and probable hopes of industrialization which has been exemplified by China, in the way China manages its economy to a competitive level as the erstwhile prominent developed countries.
The issue of security votes in Nigeria is more political and less focused on addressing the specific areas of need. All these are to the disadvantages of the security well being of the country. And this is what is reflecting in the observed illegal influx of aliens even to the grassroots, to perpetrate evil.
Most of the time Nigerians have warned government officials not to focus on how best to enrich the government purse alone, but how to consider the attendant hardships and security implications on the people of government policies considered to be unfriendly.
A candid advice to government, is for the powers that be, to conclusively register aliens and do the needful to those found to be wanting without fear or favor.
What should come after this, is the urgent need to re-orientate all arms that are involved in law enforcement and those whose primary functions include the protection of the territorial integrity of the country. This is in addition to sensitizing all of them on the importance of patriotism and loyalty to the country.
After all these are in place, then government can now consider the issuance of visas to foreigners on arrival into the country at the airports, with due consideration to Nigerians who gave those in power the mandate to govern..
Also government should be considerate enough to give employment to the army of unemployed Nigerians before allocating employment slots to foreigners.
The public is very much concern as to what will happen to country if ever the new visa policy will be implemented in the country. They fear that it will weaken the immigration process of the country and that it will only give way for more illegal migration in Nigeria.