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    Wednesday, January 11, 2023

    Nigerian Passport Falls by 38 Places in Global Ranking


    The Henley Passport Index reports have shown that the Nigerian passport has fallen by 38 places in a global passport ranking in the last 17 years between 2006 and 2022.

    The Henley Passport Index ranks passports according to the number of countries their holders can access visa-free or with a visa-on-arrival programme.

    The Nigerian passport gained 11 more destinations but it fell from 62nd in 2006 to 100th in 2022, showing a steady fall in strength amongst the 199 countries and 227 travel destinations studied, the quoted the index reports.

    It is worthy of note the Nigerian passport now grants visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 46 countries, up from the previous total of 35 in 2006, however, Nigerians cannot access over 181 travel destinations without a visa, visa-on-arrival or e-visa arrangement.

    By September 2022, travellers with Nigerian passports can only access 25 countries on visa-free, but the number rises to at least 46 destinations when visa-on-arrival or e-visa programmes are added to the mix.

    Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Cabo Verde, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique , Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe offer visa-free, visa-on-arrival and e-visa access to Nigerians as of the time of this report.

    Others include Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Timor-Leste, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Fiji, Micronesia, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

    The Henley Passport Index is based on data from the International Air Transport Association.

    The data shows a fall or improvement in ranking based on several factors including the country’s efforts to strengthen its diplomatic relations with other nations and its efforts to modernise its visa processes and improve security measures at its borders.

    But experts believe that the strength of the green document is only reflecting the internal challenges bedeviling Nigeria.

    The spokesperson of the NIS, Amos Okpu, was quoted as saying that “This ranking is based on passport admissibility. And that is largely a function of mutual understanding, reciprocity among countries which does not necessarily reflect the true strength of a passport. A good example is the European Union and the ECOWAS.

    “While we appreciate the work done by Henley & Partners, we are more concerned with deepening our passport technology to meet up with the standards of the ICAO; ensuring that our passport complies with ICAO guidelines.”

    Okpu said that Nigeria has been a public Key Directory of the ICAO since April 2009 and, therefore, sits in a respectable position in the comity of nations.

    Note that the Public Key Directory is a central repository for exchanging the information required to authenticate electronic Machine-Readable Travel Documents such as e-Passports, electronic ID cards and Visible Digital Seals.

    The NIS spokesperson noted that “What we put more emphasis on here is our standing in the ICAO. When ICAO alerts us of any lapses with our passports, we get to work. Nigeria has been part of the Public Key Directory since 2009 and it took us complying with several passport security specifications to be reflected on that directory."

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