Due to President Bola Tinubu’s refused to appoint a Nigerian ambassador to the United States of America, the federal government had no top diplomat to anticipate a US Visa policy change by President Donald Trump’s administration 21 months later.
On Tuesday, the US government announced that Nigerians entering its country would now be issued a single-entry visa that would only be valid for three months.
The US Mission said that this was in response to Nigeria’s Visa policy towards American citizens, and the policy was effective immediately.
This has generated a lot of reactions, especially about Nigeria’s diplomatic relationship with other countries since Bola Tinubu assumed office as president in May 2023.
Tinubu had recalled all 82 envoys appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in September 2023. Yusuf Tuggar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated that their tenure had ended and they should return home in 60 days.
Among those recalled was Dr. Uzoma Emenike, Nigeria’s ambassador to the US and one of its most senior diplomats abroad.
Since then, Nigeria has not appointed a substantive replacement to its Washington mission. Naijapunchnews understands that the position has remained vacant, with a chargé d’affaires or lower-ranking official handling routine matters.
To salvage the visa policy situation, Bianca Ojukwu, the federal minister of state for foreign affairs, said on Wednesday that the federal government was working to ensure that the policy was reversed.
“Meantime, Nigerian travellers are encouraged to respect and adhere to the terms of their visas and ensure travel documents are authentic, accurate, and up to date, as our government continues to intensify efforts to facilitate the revision of this policy,” Ojukwu wrote.
Between 1960 and 2023, when the president recalled the envoys, Nigeria has had 21 heads of missions, including both ambassadors and chargé d’affaires.
This is the longest time in over two decades that Nigeria’s ambassadorial post in Washington is vacant with no substantive envoy.
It remains unclear how long the new visa situation between both countries will last or how soon Nigeria intends to fill the ambassadorial post in Washington.
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