Following a meeting between Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his Emirati counterpart, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Monday in Abu Dhabi, the UAE has lifted its months-long visa ban on Nigerians.
Following this directive, the Etihad and Emirate airlines are to resume full operations in Nigeria with immediate effect.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Monday in Abu Dhabi, have finalised a historic agreement, which has resulted in the immediate cessation of the visa ban placed on Nigerian travellers,” the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed in a statement he signed Monday.
“Furthermore, by this historic agreement, both Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines are to immediately resume flight schedules into and out of Nigeria, without any further delay,” he added.
He also stated that the president commends the UAE president, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his commitment and effort towards restoring and resetting to excellence the diplomatic and unalloyed friendhsip shared between both countries.
He added in his statement that an agreed framework had been established which would involve several billions of U.S. dollars worth of new investments into the Nigerian economy across multiple sectors, by the investment arms of the Government of the United Arab Emirates.
“Additionally, President Tinubu is pleased to have successfully negotiated a joint, new foreign exchange liquidity programme between the two governments, which will be announced in detail in the coming weeks,” Ngelale stated.
Recall that In October 2022, the UAE, following a diplomatic row, imposed a visa ban on all Nigerian travellers and suspended flight operations in and out of the country.
Ayomitide Adeyinka is a content writer, crypto journalist and editor with a Bsc in Political Science. He is also an egalitarian.
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