Outrage over visa-on-arrival ban

…Travel experts warn of severe impact on tourism, business

By Chinelo Obogo    

[email protected]

The federal government’s abrupt suspension of the visa-on-arrival policy has ignited widespread criticism from travel experts and aviation industry stakeholders, who have warned of dire consequences for the country’s global accessibility.

•Akporiaye

Describing the move as a major setback, players in the aviation industry insist the decision could deter international visitors, weaken investor confidence and undermine Nigeria’s standing as a key gateway to Africa.

The federal government recently justified the scrapping of the visa-on-arrival initiative during the conclusion of a week-long capacity-building training for Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) personnel, where the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, said the country will no longer be “a destination for criminals.”

Introduced in 2020 under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s visa-on-arrival policy was designed to facilitate short-stay visits by allowing travelers to obtain entry visas upon arrival.

However, according to the Interior Minister, the policy has fallen short of its intended purpose.

Authorities, he said, have observed a rising trend of travelers circumventing direct flights into Nigeria, opting instead to arrive in neighbouring countries before crossing into Nigeria by land, an exploitation of the system that ultimately undermined its effectiveness.

He said: “The visa is not just an approval of entry; it is a migration management device. It is a security device to manage migration into your country. So, the way it is at the moment is very subjective. We are not really too objective and that is why we are automating the whole process end-to-end. We do not want foreign attachés approving and issuing visas. It is not going to be that anymore; we want to be able to screen people. This country cannot be a destination for wanted criminals in the world. Nigeria is not a safe haven for any criminal, and it will never be. Security is not a sector where you can afford to be 99.9 percent correct. You just have to be 100 percent.”

Tunji-Ojo added that under the proposed policy, the  federal government will introduce a more streamlined and efficient visa approval process, including the electronic visa (e-Visa) as a separate channel for processing and obtaining Nigerian visas, which will be integrated with Interpol systems. “We are working hard on the e-visa solution to be able to meet the first of March or, per adventure, if we are unable, the first of April. We will hit it live. We will automate the system. People apply online, and we will do what we need to do. That solution will be integrated with the Interpol system and the criminal records system so that we can be able to make decisions.

“We believe that it is better for us to make decisions based on objectivity rather than subjectivity, and of course, that will lead to the cancellation of the visa-on-arrival process because the visa-on-arrival, we understand, is not a system that works. I don’t expect you to just come into my country without me knowing that you are coming into my country. It is never done anywhere, and of course, we are also introducing what we call the landing and exit card. We do it now, but it is manual. We are not going to be doing that anymore. This is 2025, not 1825. So, technology must take its place.”

Tourism sector concerns

The ban has sparked a storm of criticisms from travel and tourism stakeholders. The immediate past President of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Susan Akporiaye, told Daily Sun that the scrapping of the visa-on-arrival policy is “disastrous,” “a setback” for the country, and “a very wrong move” that would significantly impact the tourism sector negatively.

Research has consistently shown that liberalising visa policies results in a five to 25 per cent increase in tourist arrivals, depending on the country. Countries with more open visa policies generally see more growth in tourism revenue or visitor numbers.

For instance, after implementing visa-on-arrival and e-visas, Rwanda’s tourism revenue grew by approximately 17 per cent annually. Seychelles’ visa-free policy has significantly boosted its tourism-dependent economy, with the sector accounting for approximately 25 per cent of the country’s GDP.

Kenya has an easy-to-use e-visa system for most visitors, which was introduced between 2015 and 2016. After implementing the policy, the average processing time for Kenyan visas decreased from several weeks to just 48-72 hours, tourism earnings increased from $1.2billion in 2015 to $1.6 billion in 2019, international visitor arrivals grew from 1.3 million in 2016 to nearly two  million by 2019, and the sector contributed 10 per cent to the country’s GDP.

Another country that has benefited from being visa-free is Mauritius. After implementing this policy, the country’s annual tourist arrivals grew from around 800,000 in 2010 to approximately 1.4 million by 2019, with the sector directly contributing about 18-20 per cent to Mauritius’ GDP, which is $2-2.5 billion annually pre-pandemic.

Akporiaye told Daily Sun that those coming into Nigeria for business will not mind going through difficult visa processes because they’re coming to make money, but tourists who are coming into Nigeria to spend their money are more sensitive to visa hassles and will avoid destinations with complicated visa procedures. She said that as a travel and tourism consultant, she usually recommends countries with simple visa processes to her clients and cited Rwanda, which is visa-free and Kenya, which has easy e-visa processes, as preferred destinations.

Giving an example of “Detty December,” which was held last year in Lagos, she said it was successful due to the visa-on-arrival policy but noted that with the policy now gone, no one will be interested in attending such events.

“People who come into Nigeria come for business to make money, so those coming to make money would not mind going through the visa process, but for someone coming for tourism, they would not want to stress themselves for a visa. The visa policy of a country is what determines where a tourist goes. When someone comes to me and wants to go on a vacation, I’ll have to look for countries where getting a visa would not be a problem because someone going on a tour doesn’t want headaches while trying to get a visa. If the person sees that the process of getting a visa is too stressful, they pull out.

“When my clients come to me for tourist travel, I usually recommend countries where you don’t need visas, like Rwanda, or countries where you can get electronic visas that are not stressful, like Kenya. This is because getting visas is usually difficult for a first-time traveler. We are talking about how to improve tourism, and the cancellation of this visa-on-arrival will really affect it negatively. Lagos made so much noise with Detty December, and it is the visa-on-arrival policy that made it possible, but with this new policy, who will come again?” she queried.

Akporiaye said she has received many complaints from people in various countries who narrated how getting visas through Nigerian embassies causes “serious headaches” and also pointed out how many African countries simplify visa processes for Europeans and Americans because these travelers prefer destinations with easy visa policies.

“It is also not a very good experience going to Nigerian embassies to get a visa because I have received complaints from different countries. I know tourists who decided to come into Nigeria because of the visa-on-arrival policy because they could easily come. So, this cancellation is a very wrong move because we are still trying to grow our tourism, and if you make getting a visa difficult, it is going to be a problem. Why do you think that many countries make visa processing very easy for Europeans and Americans? It is because those people understand tourism, and they prefer traveling to countries where they can get visa-on-arrival or, at most, an electronic visa. If you take that away from us, what would be the incentive for people to come? Trust me, getting a Nigerian visa causes serious headaches,” she said.

E-visa

Akporiaye said NANTA was one of the major organisations that advocated for the visa-on-arrival policy during the last administration but she now feels that their efforts “have gone down the drain” with this policy reversal. On the issue of replacing the visa-on-arrival with e-visa, she recalled how those who tried to get Nigerian visas to attend Akwaaba Travel Market found it difficult to do so because the online visa portal wasn’t functioning properly and the organiser had to seek the minister’s help, who then allowed the visitors to bypass the online application process and get their visas upon arrival in Nigeria.

“When I was NANTA president, we went as a body to complain to the government about this issue, and that was how the visa-on-arrival policy even came to be. We were the ones that pushed for it during our interaction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration. It was our constant clamoring that brought the policy about, only for this to happen, and all our efforts have gone down the drain.

“I also remember that the organizer of Akwaaba Travel Market, Ikechi Uko, said many of those who wanted to attend were finding it difficult to get a visa because the online portal was not working at all, so he reached out to the minister, and he had to help out by allowing them to skip the online thing, and they did it when they got to Nigeria. Now, with the policy gone, how would people attend events like Akwaaba? This is a serious setback for our tourism sector. Though I will still make my money because I will take clients to destinations where they have visa-on-arrival policies, the downside is that we would now have fewer tourists coming into Nigeria. Whoever made the decision should have consulted stakeholders first,” she said.

Insecurity

On the issue of insecurity highlighted by the minister as a major reason for scrapping the policy, Akporiaye said that from her observations, the main source of insecurity lies at the country’s porous land borders and not from the airports. She points out that travelers entering Nigeria by air are mainly tourists and businesspeople whose purpose is to engage in economic activities and contribute to the country’s growth. “Insecurity is at our porous land borders and not at the airports. Those who come into Nigeria by air are tourists and businesspeople who are coming to make money and contribute to the economy,” she said.

NANTA’s president, Yinka Folami, echoes Akporiaye’s sentiments.  He told Daily Sun that the government should focus on improving security rather than scrapping an important policy. According to him, ensuring security is the responsibility of the government and should not come at the cost of hindering regional and global integration.

He said: “I personally don’t think that we should do away with something that is important because we are not able to live up to our responsibility. It is the responsibility of the government to provide security and not to make visa-on-arrival suffer because they cannot manage security. We need to live up to our responsibility in terms of security rather than cancel a policy that helps regional and global integration. You can’t cancel such an important diplomatic tool on the excuse of providing security. We are talking about ‘Africa for Africa,’ and Nigeria is canceling visa-on-arrival. I would like to believe that it would be temporary. In terms of ease of travel, I know for a fact that it improved greatly because I have had many clients that came into the country using the visa-on-arrival and obviously, it would have impacted the volume of legitimate travel.”