Fresh international passports ranking shows why Nigerians drag through airports

The Nigerian international travel passport is among the least powerful in the world as the country occupies a low position in the global ranking of most powerful passports.

A new index by the Henley & Partners, a British immigration and citizenship firm, ranked Nigeria’s passport 92 alongside Cameroun, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. The ranking indicates that the countries have visa- free access to only 45 countries in the world.

A total of 199 passports were ranked. Nigeria’s position in the world and Africa was considered low, as many countries before it were grouped under the same position.

Henley and Partners said it produced the index in cooperation with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest database of travel information, and is published annually.

In the ranking, Germany’s passport was ranked as the strongest, giving the nationals visa-free access to 177 countries. Sweden’s passport came second with access to 176 countries, while Finland, France, Italy, Spain and UK were grouped in the third position, giving them visa-free access to 175 countries.

Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and USA were grouped in the 4th position with visa-free access to 174 countries.

In Africa, South Africa was ranked tops at 54 with visa-free access to 97 countries. Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Kenya passports follow with ranking of 68, 69 and 70 positions. They have visa-free access to 72, 70, 69 68 countries respectively.

Gambia, Malawi and Swaziland occupy 71 position with visa- free access to 67 countries, while Ghana occupies 73 position with visa-free access to 64 countries.

Afghanistan is ranked the worst in 104th place as one of the nations with limited travel. It has access to just 25 countries. Pakistan is second-worst, with travel permitted to 29 countries, and Iraq is third from the bottom, restricted to 30 other countries.

Somalia at 101 positions, Libya at 99 position and Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea grouped in 98 position are the worst African countries with least powerful passports.

According to the ranking, E-visas are treated in the same way as visas on arrival.

Where the conditions for obtaining an e-visa are straightforward (fee, return ticket, hotel reservation), a point was assigned. Where there are additional conditions (eg, invitation letter, consular approval) a point was not awarded