Against the insistence of the United Kingdom to collect visa bonds from Nigerians, Rep. Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje, Chairperson, House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, has advised Nigeria to review its policy geared towards creating jobs for its citizens.
In a statement, the lawmaker said the UK visa bond was discriminatory and called on the Nigerian government to look inward.
Britain’s Home Office confirmed on Monday that it would demand a 3,000-pound ($4,630) refundable bond for visas for “high-risk” visitors from six former colonies in Africa and Asia as from November.
Britain said in a statement that it would go ahead with the pilot scheme despite the outrage, charges of discrimination and warnings of retaliation.
The Federal Government of Nigeria on Tuesday insisted on retaliatory action against British citizens if their government went ahead with its plan to impose the £3,000 visa bonds on visitors from Nigeria and five other Commonwealth countries.
Elendu-Ukeje, in her reaction, said though such policy was discriminatory, the Nigerian government should look out for a policy that would give jobs to Nigerians within the country.
She said: “This is a call to look critically at our local contents bill, indigenisation bill and protect Nigeria jobs for Nigerians,”
Elendu_Ukeje (PDP-Abia) noted with concern the need by the Federal Government of Nigeria to take another look at its foreign direct investment pacts, which must be aimed at providing job opportunities for Nigerians at home.
She said the review must be comprehensive and replicated in all spheres and at all levels to protect Nigerians from such discriminatory and unfriendly migration issues.
Elendu-Ukeje expressed displeasure that the British Government, which had already set November as the discriminatory policy’s commencement time, had not deemed it necessary to formally communicate Nigeria on the next step of action.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, had at a meeting with the British High Commissioner, Andrew Pocock, conveyed the desire of Nigeria to retaliate the policy.
The other commonwealth countries affected by the policy are India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh where UK data shows citizens of those countries applied for more than half a million visas to Britain in 2012 alone.
Figures from Nigeria’s Ministry of Trade and Commerce show trade between the two countries increased nearly five-fold from $2.35 billion in 2010 to $11.57 billion in 2012, with the value of Nigerian imports of British goods doubling in that time.
Pocock said that more than 180,000 Nigerians applied to visit Britain each year and about 70 per cent, 126,000, got their visas.
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