The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, has revealed that the United States is applying pressure on African countries to take back Venezuelan deportees, a demand Nigeria finds difficult to accommodate.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Tuggar clarified that the recent 10 per cent tariffs imposed on Nigeria by the Trump administration may not be linked to Nigeria’s participation in the BRICS summit.
“The issue of tariffs may not necessarily have to do with us participating in BRICS,” he stated.
He further explained the complexity of the deportation issue, noting, “You have to also bear in mind that the U.S. is mounting considerable pressure on African countries to accept Venezuelans to be deported from the U.S., some straight out of prison.”
“It will be difficult for a country like Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria. We have enough problems of our own.”
“We cannot accept Venezuelan deportees to Nigeria, for crying out loud. We already have 230 million people. You will be the same people that would castigate us if we acquiesce to accepting Venezuelans from U.S. prisons to be brought in,” Tuggar added.
He also cautioned that accepting such deportees could set a precedent, saying, “The issue of accepting Venezuelan deportees, honestly, I don’t think is something that Nigeria is in a position to work with. And I think it would be unfair to insist that Nigeria accepts 300 Venezuelan deportees. Maybe that might just even be the beginning.”
Regarding the new US visa policy, Tuggar disputed claims that it was a reciprocal move.
“We are talking to the Americans. We are engaging them. We are also explaining and reminding them that we issue them five-year multiple entry visas, the same way that they issue regular travellers five-year multiple entry visas.”
He clarified the difference Nigeria introduced: “What Nigeria has done that differs is simple. We used to have a visa-on-arrival that wasn’t running efficiently.”
“We introduced these online electronic visas that you can apply so that it saves you time, instead of just arriving and then going through the process of getting the visa when you have already arrived.”
“We have different categories of visas. There are people that are first-time travelers that are coming as tourists that are probably not likely to come back to Nigeria again, maybe because they’re coming for a short while, and they get those 90-day visas.”
“So our visa is not saying that every American is only being given 90-day visas or three months or whatever. We give Americans, there are loads of Americans, that have these long-term visas. It is not based on reciprocity,” the minister emphasized.
