Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has condemned the Canadian High Commission for denying Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, a visa.
General Musa disclosed on Thursday at the maiden annual lecture of the National Association of the Institute for Security Studies, that the Canadian High Commission denied him and some members of his team visas to attend an event to honour war veterans in Canada.
Tunji-Ojo, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, said the action by the Canadian mission is condemnable and shows a lack of respect for Nigeria as a country.
The minister is in charge of the ministry overseeing the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the agency responsible for visa issuance in Nigeria.
The minister questioned how an average Nigerian would be treated by the Canadian High Commission if the CDS were disrespected in that way.
“Without knowing the full facts, I think even for us it is a policy, the issue of reciprocity as I always say, has to be given due consideration.
“As much as we are not ready to dabble into the sovereignty of other nations, the issue of visas, issue of migration management is a sovereign issue.
“As much as we don’t want to dabble into that, it is not a disrespect to the chief of defence staff. To me, without knowing the facts, it is disrespectful to the country, and it is disrespectful to us as a people. If that can happen to the chief of defence staff, then I am worried for an average Nigerian,” Tunji-Ojo said.
The Minister said that he is struggling to find a justification for the action by Canada, noting that even if there are questions the High Commission needed to ask, there are diplomatic back channels in which that could have been done.
He said he is confident that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will take the necessary steps to resolve the issue diplomatically and ensure that there is mutual respect between the two nations.
When contacted for a response on WhatsApp, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, Ag Head of Crisis Monitoring & Public Communications, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, did not respond to a message sent by our correspondent.
Oluwademilade Kosemani, a senior public affairs officer at the Canadian High Commission in Abuja, who had earlier promised to release a statement on the issue on Friday, later backtracked.
In a message to Daily Trust, he said: “The High Commission of Canada in Nigeria is aware of media reports related to planned travel by senior officials. However, for privacy reasons, we are unable to comment on the status of visa applications of specific individuals.”
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