The Nigeria Visa Policy (NVP) launched on Monday will boost local economy and allow for the processing of visa by travellers upon arrival into the country, President Muhammadu Buhari has said.
The President said NVP 2020 was designed to attract innovation, specialised skills and knowledge to boost local capacities.
Speaking during the document’s public presentation at the State House in Abuja, President Buhari noted that the implementation of a new visa policy, which has seen the expansion of application category areas from six categories to 79, will make the local economy globally competitive.
A statement by the Special Adviser (SA) to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, quoted President Buhari as saying: “The implementation of the Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 will support the attainment of a globally competitive economy for Nigeria by building on the efforts of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council.”
The President also said the policy would improve the business environment, attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and boost tourism without compromising national security.
“Earlier in the course of this administration, we introduced the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (2017-2020) with one of the objectives being to minimise bottlenecks which impede innovation and market based solutions for building an inclusive economy.
“The NVP 2020 is intended to attract innovation, specialised skills and knowledge from abroad to complement locally available ones,” he added.
President Buhari explained that the NVP 2020 provides an avenue to achieve African integration by introduction of visas on arrival for short visits to Nigeria for holders of passports of African Union countries.
“I, therefore, commend the document to the international community, foreign and local business entities. We are open for business,” he said.
Interior Minister Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola said the visa policy took into consideration specific needs of foreigners who would want to visit the country without compromising the nation’s security.
The minister said the policy had followed a process that considered the security, economy and territorial integrity of the country, adding that it would only be issued after due diligence with other security components of the country.0
Aregbesola said: “Especially, the new visa policy will be helpful to Diaspora Nigerians by birth, those who can now use other passports to visit the country because some countries do not allow dual citizenship.”
In a technical presentation, the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigrations Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede, said the service had put in place a technological hub, called the Migrants Information and Data Analysis (MIDAS), to ensure strict compliance with the conditions for the issuance of the visa.
Babandede assured the nation that corruption or bribery would be controlled by the automated system.
The NIS chief allayed fears of possible infiltration of the economy by criminals and terrorists.
He said the new policy has 79 categories, including health, education and tourism, among others.
Babandede added that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the InterPol also made inputs into the system and would be carried along in the processing before approvals.
