The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has strongly condemned the Canadian Embassy for denying visa to Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa.
General Musa disclosed on Thursday, during the maiden annual lecture of the National Association of the Institute for Security Studies, that he and some members of his team were denied visas to attend an event to honour war veterans in Canada.
Reacting to the development as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, Tunji-Ojo condemned the embassy’s decision, calling it disrespectful to Nigeria as a nation.
The minister questioned how an average Nigerians would be treated by the Canadian embassy if even the country’s top military officer faced such treatment.
“Without knowing the full facts, I think even for us it is a policy, the issue of reciprocity as I always say, has to be given due consideration.
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“As much as we are not ready to dabble into the sovereignty of other nations, the issue of visas, issue of migration management is a sovereign issue.
“As much as we don’t want to dabble into that, it is not a disrespect to the chief of defence staff, to me, without knowing the facts, it is disrespectful to the country, and it is disrespectful to us as a people.
“If that can happen to the chief of defence staff, then I am worried for an average Nigerian,” he stated.
The minister said that he is struggling to find justification for the action by Canada, emphasising that any concerns the embassy had could have been addressed through diplomatic channels.
He assured that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would take necessary steps to resolve the issue and uphold mutual respect between the two nations.
Meanwhile, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, has earlier berated Canada’s actions, expressing his frustration at the same event where General Musa shared his experience.
Ribadu said Canada could “go to hell,” adding that this is another reason Nigerian leaders must make the country better.
“Thank you for the courage to say Canada denied you visas. They can go to hell,” Ribadu said.
“Even though it’s painful, it’s disrespectful, but we are peaceful and strong and I agree with you that it is time to fix our country. Yet, this is another reason we work hard to make Nigeria work.”
The NSA also commended Musa for providing “purposeful leadership” in the war against insecurity.
He noted that all security agencies are collaborating across many parts of the country.
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