Photo caption: President Bola Tinubu, and his Emirati counterpart, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in United Arab Emirates on Monday.
By Emeka Ugwuanyi
The United Arab Emirates, on Monday, lifted its months-long visa ban on Nigerians.
This is as Etihad and Emirates Airlines are to resume flight operations to Nigeria with immediate effect.
The decision follows talks between President Bola Tinubu, and his Emirati counterpart, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Monday in Abu Dhabi, have finalised a historic agreement, which has resulted in the immediate cessation of the visa ban placed on Nigerian travellers.
“Furthermore, by this historic agreement, both Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines are to immediately resume flight schedules into and out of Nigeria, without any further delay,” the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed in a statement he signed Monday.
Besides resolving the Emirates Airline flight suspension to Nigeria and visa ban, Tinubu discussed other diplomatic issues with his Emirati counterpart, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in United Arab Emirates on Monday.
The UAE had imposed a visa ban on Nigerians in October 2022, shortly after Emirates Airlines suspended flights to Nigeria. The move was reportedly in response to Nigeria’s failure to repatriate billions of dollars in trapped funds.
In a statement released by the president’s spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, the presidency said that Tinubu and the President of the UAE, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, have finalised a historic agreement.
Five significant agreements made by the President with the UAE, as outlined in the official statement include:
*The immediate cessation of the visa ban placed on Nigerian travellers.
*Both Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines are to immediately resume flight schedules into and out of Nigeria, without any further delay. The immediate restoration of flight activity, through these two airlines and between the two countries, does not involve any immediate payment by the Nigerian government.
*An agreed framework has been established, which will involve several billions of U.S. dollars worth of new investments into the Nigerian economy across multiple sectors, including defense, agriculture and others, by the investment arms of the Government of the United Arab Emirates.
*The President has successfully negotiated a joint, new foreign exchange liquidity programme between the two Governments, which will be announced in detail in the coming weeks.
*An agreement to fully normalise and reset to excellence, the standard of relations between the two important countries.
