Why This ‘Shege’ Pro Max – CNN Reporter Disapproves Of Nigeria’s $215 Visa Fee

CNN foreign correspondent; Larry Madowo describes the Nigerian visa process as frustrating. Madowo voiced the grievance in a Monday post on his LinkedIn page.

Though he has only been to the country twice this year, the journalist claimed to have spent $215 for a single-entry visa.

Based on information provided by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Kenyan citizens, including Madowo, must pay $25 for a single-entry visa.

On every visit to the nation, the former BBC correspondent claimed to have paid $170 for biometrics and $20 for a “processing fee.”

“My fingerprints haven’t changed since I was here 3 weeks ago, why am I paying $170 to have them taken and to pose for a picture each time I visit? Isn’t that a standard part of admitting someone into a country?” Madowo said.

“How can we achieve a borderless Africa, or the promise of the AfCFTA, if we charge Africans $215 for a single-entry visa?”

Last year, Kenyan President William Ruto said Africans traveling to the country would no longer need visas by December 2023.

However, Awele Nwandu, a development worker, said she paid about $35 for her visa to the East African country in March.

Madowo compared the Nigerian visa system to Kenya’s visa-free “delusion”.

“In the 3 weeks since I was last in Lagos, I went to Uganda, South Africa, and Ghana where I don’t need a visa with a Kenyan passport. I’ve also been to South Africa 3 times this year. It cost me $0, like the ancestors intended,” he added.

“Nigeria’s visa-on-arrival system is similar to the “visa-free” delusion of Kenya’s Electronic Travel Authorization — you apply in advance, submit some documents, and wait for it to be approved. It can take up to 5 business days. If you know “someone,” you can pay them $50 or more to “facilitate” a faster approval.

“I love Nigeria, but the visa situation is showing me shege. It’s too much oo! Why this Shege Pro Max?”

For Africans to “see themselves as one people united under the ideals of pan-Africanism,” the African Union (AU) has made it clear that visa-free travel inside the continent is necessary.

The African Union has called for the dismantling of “the physical and invisible barriers” that have hindered Africans from integrating on multiple occasions during the last ten years.

A 2022 AU study states that the only countries that allow admission to all African residents without a visa are Benin, The Gambia, and Seychelles.