The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Nigeria’s relations with the U.S. and U.K. still remains intact in spite of their refusal to issue athletes going for the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games in Bahamas visas.
The competition held in Nassau, Bahamas between July 18 and 23.
The outgoing Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Sola Enikanolaye, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, had protested to the ministry that the U.K. and U.S. refused to issue transit visas to Nigerian athletes for the Commonwealth Youth Games.
Dalung lamented that Nigerian athletes missed the Games.
“Team Nigeria, having secured Bahamas visas, had applied to the U.K. for transit visas to enable the team to fly through London.
“Only one athlete was issued visa of the 26 applicants, while 24 were denied and one is still pending.
“The same response was received when the Ministry of Youth and Sports took their applications to the U.S. Embassy,’’ a statement by the Ministry quoted Dalung as saying.
It added that Dalung lamented the refusal to issue transit visas in spite of several attempts to get the Foreign Affairs Ministry to intervene.
Dalung had also in his protest letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, called for a review of the policy on issuance of visas to Nigerian sportsmen and women.
However, the permanent secretary said that relations between the two countries and Nigeria were not measured by issuance of visa, noting that visa was just one out of the many aspects of the relations.
Enikanolaye insisted that it was exclusive right of every country to determine who to admit and who not to.
According to him, the applicants can only appeal that the event is important to us and that the best the ministry could do was to only persuade using diplomacy.
“This does not suggest any strained relationship between us. Our relation is excellent.
“You don’t measure relations with issuance of visa. Visa is just only one aspect. We have economic, political, defence, military and strategic relations.
“Not issuing visa to applicants has nothing to do with relations between countries,’’ he said
Enikanolaye, who said that the ministry was following up the issue, however, said that the Ministry of Youth and Sports did not inform them early enough on the issue.
“However, we can’t predict what the mission will do because the issuance of visa is the sovereign right of every country.
“We can only persuade and encourage them to do so just like we also don’t issue visa to everyone that applies to come to Nigeria,’’ he said.
The British High Commission in a mail sent by NAN to request for an explanation on the denial responded: “Regarding your inquiry we don’t comment on individual or specific visa cases.
“Every application for a U.K. visa is assessed and decided on its own merit.’’
The U.S. Embassy as at the time of filing this report has yet to respond to the mail requesting for explanation on the denial of the visa to the athletes. (NAN)
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