Nigerian passport among 20 least powerful for 10th straight year

The Nigerian passport has been ranked as one of the 20 least powerful in 2024, a new report has shown.

Data from the Henley Passport Index, which ranks all the world’s passports based on the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa, shows that the Nigerian passport ranks among the bottom 20 for 2024, a trend that has persisted for ten years.

The index, which provides historical data, is published by Henley and Partners based on information provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and other open-source online data.

Nigeria is ranked 92 out of 103 on the index, with visa-free access to only 45 countries out of 227 this year. Africa’s largest settlement has continued to maintain bottom ranking since 2015, performing poorly against its West African counterparts and forcing its citizens to spend millions of naira on visa travel to most cities.

Trailing behind Nigeria on the list are conflict territories including Sudan, which has been fighting a civil war since April 2023, Somalia, Iran, and Pakistan, which is in the midst of a sustained conflict with Israel.

At the top of the list is Singapore, which reclaims its title as the world’s most powerful passport on the Henley Passport Index. The city-state, home to 5.6 million people, sets a new record score, with its citizens now enjoying access to 195 travel destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free.

France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Spain, which dragged the top spot for long once now share second place, each with visa-free access to 192 destinations.

Some destinations Nigerians can still travel to without a visa include Ghana, Benin, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Maldives (Visa on Arrival), Niger and Togo.