Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has said that if elected into office as president of Nigeria, his administration will ensure that the green passport becomes the pride of the citizens.
Speaking at the Chatham House on Monday, the presidential aspirant assured that his administration will work towards getting youths and other citizens, who have fled the country, to return.
Obi further stated that if elected, he would fight corruption to ensure that Nigeria becomes a country where its citizens are proud to hold its passport and foreign investment thrives.
“We will fight and stop corruption. The first thing about stopping corruption is yourself, if you’re not involved, your wife, and family are not involved, and those around you are not involved, then you will lose it by over 50 per cent. We are committed, we can’t disappoint these youths, we must build a new Nigeria,” he said.
“Investors will come back, those who left and those who are leaving will come back, we want to bring them back. Nigerians are prepared to come back if they can find that they have a country to go back to. This green passport, Nigerians must be proud to use it again.”
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This assurance is coming few days after Henley Passport Index, an authoritative ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa revealed that Nigerian passports are among the list of 20 worst passports to hold in 2023
The index which is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows that Nigeria’s place in the ranking is 97 among 109 places.
After Nigeria, other countries with worse passports include Eritrea with 44 destinations, South Sudan with 44 destinations, Iran 43 destinations, Congo 42 destinations, Lebanon 42 destinations, Sri Lanka 42 destinations, Sudan 42 destinations, Bangladesh 41 destinations, Kosovo 41 destinations, Libya 41 destinations, North Korea 40 destinations, Nepal, 38 destinations, Palestinian territory 38 destinations, Somalia 35 destinations, Yemen 34 destinations, Pakistan 32 destinations, Syria 30 destinations, Iraq 29 destinations and Afghanistan 27 destinations.
Countries offering visa-free, visa-on-arrival and e-visa access to Nigerians as of the time of this report include: Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Cabo Verde, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique , Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Others include: Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Timor-Leste, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Fiji, Micronesia, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
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