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."