Ajuri Ngelali, President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, has stated that the United Arab Emirates lifting of the visa ban on Nigerians does not mean that everything will return to “business as usual,” particularly in terms of UAE visa applications and processing.
President Tinubu’s visit to UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Monday, September 11, was to discuss the bilateral diplomatic row. Ajuri afterwards issued a statement stating that the UAE government immediately lifted the visa ban on Nigerians. Many Nigerians were ecstatic, and several began making plans to visit the nation right away.
Ajuri stated that there is never a free lunch anywhere in an interview with Channels TV last night, adding that every deal comes with reciprocal responsibilities.
“Every agreement comes with mutual responsibility. There is no free lunch. What I mean by that is the notion that floodgates will open up and we go back to business as usual. That is not what Nigerians should expect. I want to be very clear about this so that everybody can understand.
“One of the major challenges of the bilateral relationship with regards to visa applications, visa processing, and with respect to Nigerians being able to migrate to the UAE for example, was the fact that there was a laxity on the part of certain visa processes or certain applications that were being made that it created a lack of specificity and lack of diligent evaluation with respect to who is travelling to the UAE and why they are travelling.
“And this is why we had issues. Just a few bad eggs among our people giving a bad name to all of us which was a major sticking point as to how we got to this point. So, what we have done as part of this process is to put in place measures to ensure there is effective diligence done on the part of both sides.”
