The negative perception about Nigeria and its people is one of the reasons for the current poor ranking of the country’s passport, according to experts who spoke to BDSUNDAY on the matter.
Despite being referred to as the giant of Africa boasting of the largest economy on the continent, Nigeria’s passport is only more powerful than nine of its peers out of the continent’s about 54 countries.
The 2019 passport ranking by Henley & Partners, a citizenship and planning firm, in collaboration with the International Air Transport Authority (IATA), takes into account how many countries Nigerians can visit without applying for a visa.
Citizens of Africa’s most populous nation can travel to only 74 countries without visas out of a possible 218, ranking behind Seychelles, South Africa, Mauritius, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland, who emerged as the countries with the most powerful passport in the region.
“Perception about the country and its people is one of the reasons for the passport current ranking, as some Nigerians are perceived as fraudsters, and drug traffickers, which is not true,” Tayo Ojuri, CEO of Aglow Aviation Support Services Limited, said.
BDSUNDAY analysis of the passport ranking for the year under review showed that Nigeria dropped one spot in Africa from 11 least powerful in 2018 to 10th. Although it improved globally from 94th position a year ago to 91st this year, out of the about 199 countries ranked by the London-based organisation.
Although, the country’s performance in the review year is poorer than its ranking of 62nd in 2006, the all-time best position since BDSUNDAY started tracking the ranking.
The latest ranking now leaves Nigeria trailing behind Ghana (77), Rwanda (84), Guinea (82), Mali (83), Togo (83), Senegal (82), Chad (85), Benin Republic (80), Cameroon (90), and Central African Republic (89).
“These are to request and require in the name of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria all those who it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford him or her every assistance and protection of which he or she may stand in need.”
Decorated with such beautifully worded presidential note, Nigerian passport is presumably a very valuable booklet that is supposed to facilitate its holder’s movement around the world in dignity and respect.
This was, however, not the case for Ike John, a young Nigerian business man who went to a neighbouring country to buy goods as he was held up in the destination country for hours waiting to be inspected owing to the fact that he was carrying a Nigerian passport.
“They allowed me to enter the country after they had taken me to their security room for hours and I was asked series of questions, whereas some other countries’ passport holders who were more horribly looking than myself were allowed to pass without any interrogation,” John said.
When asked the reason why he was held up for that long, he said, “I think it’s the perception they have about Nigerians and those carrying Nigerian passport. They see us as bad and corrupt people.”
“For some people, a passport is a portal to the world. For others, it is a barrier to the travel freedom they seek,” Henley & Partners said in its 2019 passport index.
A further analysis by BDSUNDAY on the passport ranking revealed that Seychelles ranking 27th in the global survey was Africa’s record holder of the most powerful passport in the region as it citizens can travel on a visa-free access to 151 destinations.
This is followed by Mauritius, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia with world rankings of 31st, 53rd, 62nd and 68th respectively.
“You will find out that we do not mostly use our passport for tourism but it is used by those seeking greener pastures as well as for business purposes and this makes some other countries sceptical about the passport,” Ojuri explained.
Meanwhile, Nigeria currently is referred to as the poverty capital nation of the world with the rate increasing extremely by 6 people every minute, this according to industry experts has fuelled the appetite of the country’s youth to seek opportunity in other countries at all cost.
According to the 14 years old data spanning firm, five bottom African countries on the Harley passport index in 2019 were; Ethiopia with rank of 96th which gives its citizens visa-free access to 42 destinations.
“The Henley Passport Index is the original ranking of the entire world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa,” the passport ranking firm quoted.
Meanwhile, Nigerian Immigration Service announced in December last year that the service had concluded plans to extend the validity of Nigerian passport to ten years, that is double of the current duration of the country’s passport.
A breakdown of the passport index revealed that Japan holds top spot on the Henley global Passport Index for the second year running, offering citizens visa-free access to a record 190 destinations.
Singapore continues to hold 2nd place, along with South Korea, which has moved up from 3rd place, with citizens able to access 189 destinations. From the 2nd place it held at the beginning of 2018, Germany now drops to 3rd place, with access to 188 destinations. It shares this position with France.
Denmark, Italy, Finland, and Sweden share joint 4th place, with access to 187 destinations around the globe. The UK drops from 4th place to 6th place, while the US drops from 5th place to 6th place, with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 185 destinations.
In further demonstrations of Asian passport power, China moved five places up the rankings from the beginning of 2018, from 74th to 69th, while Cambodia (84th), Laos (86th), and Myanmar (90th) have each moved up four places.
The UAE climbed five places up the rankings, from 27th place at the beginning of 2018, to 22nd place currently.
Afghanistan and Iraq continue to hold joint last place, with a visa-free/visa-on-arrival score of just 30.
The ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s largest and most accurate database of travel information, and it is enhanced by extensive, ongoing research by the Henley & Partners Research Department.
Endurance Okafor
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