- Nigeria ranked below Malawi, Niger Republic, Char, Zimbabwe, Uganda and The Gambia
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on Tuesday, in Abuja, reacted to a new global ranking that placed the Nigerian International Passport 98th out of 199 countries, and below African countries such as Malawi, Niger Republic, Chad, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and The Gambia..
The NIS stated that although it welcomes the latest ranking, it is more concerned with Nigerian International passport’s compliance with the global standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
According to the details obtained from Henley & Partners, a London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm, the passport index published quarterly, is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association, which maintains the world’s largest database of travel information.
The recently published Q1 2022 index cross-examined the passports of 199 countries, with 227 travel destinations, and ranked these passports based on global access and mobility.
Each passport was scored based on the number of destinations that the holder can access visa-free. This also applies, if the passport holders can obtain a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority upon entry.
Japan and Singapore topped the ranks with passports gaining access to 192 countries. The United States, US, and the United Kingdom, UK, ranked 7th, while Yemen, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, settled at the bottom 5.
Despite emerging 28th globally, the Seychellois passport ranked the highest in Africa, having visa-free access to 152 countries; Botswana and Namibia ranked 2nd and 3rd, with 86 and 78 countries, respectively.
Malawi (76th), Niger (90th), Chad (90th), The Gambia (75th), Uganda (76th), Zimbabwe (78th), and Sierra Leone (80th), all ranked above Nigeria and Ethiopia, which tallied at 98th. Despite Nigeria’s position on the list, it rose 5 places compared to the Q4 2021.
Reacting to the report, the Spokesperson of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Amos Okpo, argued that visa-free mobility is largely a reflection of bilateral agreements between countries, and within regional blocs.
His exact words: “While we appreciate the work done by Henley & Partners, we are more concerned with deepening our passport technology to meet up with the standards of the ICAO; ensuring that our passport complies with ICAO guidelines.”
Okpo argued that Nigeria has been a Public Key Directory of the ICAO, since April 2009, and therefore, sits in a respectable position in the Comity of Nations.
According to the ICAO: “The Public Key Directory is a central repository for exchanging the information required to authenticate electronic Machine-Readable Travel Documents such as e-Passports, electronic ID cards, and Visible Digital Seals.”
The directory which acts as a central broker for this information, ensures that information adheres to the technical standards required to achieve and maintain interoperability.
Asserting the NIS’ position on Henley’s ranking, Okpo added: “What we put more emphasis on here is our standing in the ICAO. When ICAO alerts us of any lapses with our passports, we get to work. Nigeria has been part of the Public Key Directory since 2009, and it took us complying with several passport security specifications to be reflected on that directory.
“This (Henley & Partners) ranking is based on passport admissibility. And that is largely a function of mutual understanding, reciprocity among countries, which does not necessarily reflect the true strength of a passport. A good example is the European Union and the ECOWAS.”
He also noted that when Nigeria joined the ICAO’s PKD, there were only 13 member States: New Zealand, Singapore, United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, United States of America, Germany, Republic of Korea, France, China, Kazahkstan, and India.
So far, the directory has 82 participant countries, with Mongolia joining in December 2021.
