There are strong indications
that the United States of America authorities’ refusal to allow some
Nigerians with valid visas entry
into the US has caused a division in the Federal
Government.
The Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, on Tuesday countered a travel advisory by
the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora,
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, barely 24 hours after it was issued.
Onyeama, at a press
conference in Abuja, stated that
Nigerians with valid US visas were free to embark on their trips.
Our correspondent gathered on Tuesday that certain elements
in the Federal Government were displeased with the advisory issued by
Dabiri-Erewa in which she advised Nigerians against visiting the US for now
until there is clarity on US President Donald Trump’s new immigration policy.
The advisory, which was against the backdrop of the barring
of some Nigerians at the US ports of
entry, was believed to have offended some top functionaries of the government.
A source said that Onyeama might have been directed to issue
a rebuttal on the advisory in order to assert his position as the one in charge
of the nation’s diplomatic relations.
The source said, “The rebuttal of Dabiri-Erewa’s travel
advisory clearly exposes the division in the Federal Government. For the
minister to have issued a counter-advisory without broaching the issue with the
SSA (Dabiri-Erewa) or even taking time to find out the veracity of the report
confirms the deep crack in the government.
“Onyeama may have been pressured to stick his neck out by a top member of the cabal and this is
clear from the hastily organised press briefing he held.”
Onyeama at the
briefing refuted the report that
Nigerians were being sent back at the US borders, adding that he had reached
out to the US ambassador who he said denied the incident.
He insisted that his ministry was the right authority to
speak on the nation’s external relations and asked the public to ignore the
alleged barring of Nigerians by the US Government.
The minister stressed that the most authentic sources of
information on the issue of the nation’s foreign relations should be the
President’s spokespersons and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He said, “On the
issue of Nigerians being turned back from the US, this is not the case. If the
Nigerian government is speaking on any external relations, you will hear it
from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Office of the President.
“I have reached out to the US Ambassador to Nigeria and the
country’s high level officials who said nothing of such had happened. I can
tell you to ignore the advice to reconsider travelling to the US because there
is no basis for that,” he added.
Onyeama said Nigeria
is not among the countries currently under US travel ban, noting that both
countries enjoyed cordial bilateral relations.
Dabiri-Erewa had said that at least four Nigerians were
denied entry into the US in the last two weeks, adding that her office had been
receiving reports about the incident.
She advised Nigerians without any compelling or essential
reasons to visit the US to consider delaying their trips “until there is
clarity on the new immigration policy.”
But a victim of the US travel ban, Francis Adekola, had
narrated to The PUNCH how he was detained for over 10 hours at the Atlanta
Airport on February 15 and then placed on the next available flight and returned to Abuja via Johannesburg.
A software engineer, Celestine Omin, had also tweeted his
experience with the US border protection guards who delayed him and subjected
him to mental humiliation when he visited America on the invitation of a tech
firm, Andela.
The US Mission to Nigeria, however, denied that Nigerian
citizens were barred from visiting America, pointing out that those denied
entry might have had immigration issues peculiar to them.
The embassy spokesman, Russel Brooks, said Nigeria was not
among countries affected by Trump’s executive order on immigration.
“On the statement
issued by the special assistant to the president, again Nigeria was not
named among the six countries, Nigerians are still able to travel to the US
just as they were previously. An individual’s ability to travel to the US is
based on that individual’s circumstances,” Brooks said, noting that the US
Department of Homeland Security which
was in charge of all the US ports of entry was free to allow or deny
entry to any visitor.
He advised those barred from entering America to contact the
homeland security department for clarification on their cases.
Meanwhile, a group, the Nigerian Coalition for Quality
Governance, has tackled the minister for defending the US travel ban, saying he
should rather put Nigeria first.
In a statement by its National Coordinator, Gbenga Omoniya,
it said Onyeama should have been circumspect in issuing his denial “if he had taken the time to go through the
experience of Mr. Adekola.”
It said, “While we’re not questioning the right of the
foreign minister to an issue that borders on foreign policy as this, Mr.
Onyeama has undoubtedly put the wrong foot forward in calling on Nigerians to
ignore this travel advisory in the face of verifiable evidence that Nigerians
are being unfairly targeted and included in the dragnet of the US immigration
authorities.”
The group admonished the minister “to wake up to his
responsibility” and put the nation first.
It asked him to confirm the cases of those affected by the
travel ban many of whom it noted might have had no one to complain to.
“Rather than engaging
in spurious denials that has no basis in fact, we enjoin the Foreign Affairs
minister to collaborate with the relevant agencies of the Federal Government in
making sure that Nigerians are treated with dignity and respect wherever they
may be; Trump is putting America first, Onyeama should put Nigerians first,”
the group admonished.
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