A diplomatic row seems to be brewing between
Nigeria and the United Kingdom following a proposed policy by the
British Government requiring Nigerian travellers to the UK to deposit £3,000 as bond in case they overstay their visa limits.
On Monday, the Federal Government summoned the British High
Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Andrew Pocock, over the development while
the House of Representatives which flayed the policy, argued that it
could have negative impact on the relationship between the two
countries.
Nigeria, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Pakistan and India
are listed by the UK as countries whose citizens are to deposit the
£3,000 under the proposed policy that will take off in November.
A Home Office official said the six countries highlighted were those with “the most significant risk of abuse.”
About 2.2million people are granted visas to enter Britain every year.
Last year, 296,000 people from India were granted six-month visas, as
were 101,000 from Nigeria; 53,000 from Pakistan; and 14,000 apiece from
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
According to media reports, the Home
Secretary Theresa May, said the administration of British Prime
Minister, David Cameron, is serious about cutting immigration and
abuses of the system.
The Sunday Times of London had reported that
every visitor aged 18 and above granted a six-month visa would
forfeit the £3,000 if they overstayed in Britain after the expiration of
their visa .
Initially, the scheme will target hundreds of
visitors, but the plan is to extend it to several thousands, according
to the broadsheet’s front-page report.
It was gathered that Pocock
would meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga
Ashiru, on Tuesday (today) to explain the policy.
A source close
to the ministry, who confirmed the meeting, said the government was
seriously concerned about the implication of the policy on the economy
and image of the country.
“Pocock is to explain to government if the
plan is true and why Nigeria is a target. Government is worried about
the highly discriminatory policy which tends to portray the country in a
bad light,” he explained.
Another source told one of our
correspondents that the Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK, Dr.
Dalhatu Tafida, was also billed to brief Ashiru on the development.
But Ashiru, at the 2013 Ministerial Platform on the mid-term
activities and achievements of the ministry in Abuja on Monday, said he
had not been contacted officially by the UK authorities on the
development.
He said, “We have not received any official
communication from the UK government. When we receive communication, we
will study the proposal. I can assure all Nigerians that President
Goodluck Jonathan’s government will defend the interest of Nigerians by
whatever means it can. When we get the proposal, we will study it to
see how it will affect ordinary Nigerians.”
In the House of
Representatives, Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Ms. Nnena
Elendu-Ukeje, stated that the policy was a U-turn on a promise by the
British Prime Minister, David Cameron, to improve trade relations
between the two countries next year.
She said, “This policy will
not foster true relationship between Nigeria and the UK. It does not
promote the spirit of the Commonwealth either.
“The same British Government that promised improved trade relations with Nigeria is introducing such a discriminatory policy.
“It is a somersault, to say the least.”
However, Elendu-Ukeje observed that the policy appeared to be “a political issue.”
She explained, “The Conservative Party wants to prove that they are
serious about immigration matters. They are doing this to win voters
ahead of the next elections.”
But, she called on the Federal Government to take urgent steps to register its protest before the take-off date of the policy.
“We have to take proactive measures to oppose this policy and by way of
reciprocity because next time they will increase this bond of a thing”,
she said.
The lawmaker recalled that in 2008, the British Government introduced £1,000 “fine” on travellers.
“They tried it first in 2008; today, four years down the line, they are
saying that it will be £3,000. What will be the next figure if we don’t
take proactive measures now?” Elendu-Ukeje asked.
An expert in
constitutional law, Prof. Itse Sagay, also described the policy as “
hostile and therefore contrary to international diplomacy.”
He
said, “It is evidence of contempt and a clear case of saying ‘we don’t
want people from their country and so let us make it impossible for
them to come.
“How many people can pay N750,000 as deposit which
the British Government will keep and probably trade with while the owner
cannot touch it. I think we need to respond appropriately by also
raising impossible barrier to British people coming into Nigeria so
that at the end, we will see who will lose more.
“I think they are
making the mistake of believing we need them more than they need us.
In fact, it is they who are making more out of Nigeria.
“They have a wrong idea of their importance to us. We are more important to them than they are to us.”
Meanwhile, Ashiru said at the Ministerial Platform that Nigeria’s
foreign policy in the 70s could not be compared with the present.
He said, “The problem today is unemployment. We have to use diplomacy
to support job creation in Nigeria so that we can develop our private
sector to make it employ more people.
“Our youths from universities
cannot get jobs. So foreign diplomacy must be used to create jobs and
that is what we have been doing.”
Justifying the budgets for
generators and fuel used by Nigerian High Commissions in countries with
constant power supply, Ashiru said the criticism “is the ignorance of
the highest order.”
“It is to power the boiler which in most
countries in Europe either uses fuel or gas. It is to heat and power the
foreign mission houses in winter and also to get hot water.”
According to him, the biggest challenge facing the ministry is the plight of Nigerians living abroad.
“All ambassadors now know that their priority is to attend to the needs
of Nigerians in their countries of accreditation. No Ambassador today
is allowed to close his doors on Nigerians,” the minister said.
Ashiru warned Nigerians living abroad against drug trafficking, adding that it was tantamount to committing suicide.
“I must warn those who willfully commit crime and thereby commit
suicide. Drug trafficking in some countries attracts death penalty. All
the airports today have sophisticated equipment; there is no where you
hide the drug in your body that you will not be caught.”
Ashiru also
ruled out closing any foreign mission house because, “when you close a
mission, you lose a friend. Nigeria cannot afford to lose a friend at
this time”.
He promised that no Nigeria would be treated unjustly in foreign lands.
Source: Punch
