Canada Denied Nigeria's Chief of Defence Staff Visa

Canada Denies Visa to Nigerian Chief of Defence

Nigeria is once again in the spotlight as Canada denied visas to Christopher Musa, the chief of defence staff, and seventy other officers so that they could travel to Canada for an official engagement. For the way and manner in which the visa refusal came about, as well as the response of the country's national security adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, this would not have garnered much criticism and currency in a normal situation.

For the sake of clarity, it is important to note that granting a visa to a country that is not one's own is not a right or privilege; rather, it is at the mercy and discretion of the country that one wishes to visit.
Canada's denial, on the other hand, could have been handled with more diplomacy rather than rubbing it in Nigeria's face. This is because in international relations, there is something that we refer to as due process and the acceptance of the sovereignty of countries at the same time.

For example, if there are gaps in the requirements that are expected from the chief of defence and the officers who are accompanying him, the best thing that they could have done would have been to get in touch with the ministry of foreign affairs, make the necessary arrangements, and grant the visa, which, according to all indications, is only for a few days and the contingent will be back in the country!

In the same way that the charming chief of defence staff has stated that the refusal of the visa could be a blessing in disguise, we intend to agree with him. Every disappointment is a blessing.

The response of the national security adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, when he said that for all he cares, Canada may go to hell is something that needs to be evaluated before we can genuinely go into why we consider it to be a blessing.
We recognize the perspective that Ribadu is coming from regarding the humiliation that his number one defence man is experiencing as a result of the refusal to approve his visa. The feeling is both nauseous and unpleasant.

However, as the old adage goes, "two wrongs do not make a right," and in this case, the use of such impolite and undiplomatic language from a government official who has such a high position in the government shouldn't have been made in the first place.

In addition to this, the Minister of Defence, Matawale, responded in a manner that has been criticized by a number of professionals in the field of international relations and attorneys. He stated that Nigeria will provide retaliation for the acts taken by Canada. In the field of international relations, there is a concept that is commonly referred to as the idea of reciprocity. This concept can be informally understood as "tit for tat." Notably, in Nigeria, we refer to this concept as "Do me I Do You God No Go Vex." The concern is whether or not information is supposed to be released at this time without first conducting an investigation into the reasons why the visa was denied.

It has been pointed out by Chidi Odinkalu, a human rights activist and professor of law, that it is a foolish move on the part of the military and Nigeria to apply for a visa in order to attend a winter game with seventy military personnel and the chief of defence staff. What can be resolved through diplomatic means is the question of whether or not that is appropriate.

To add insult to injury, it was in the same Canada two weeks ago that a retired senior police officer was granted refuge. The judge stated that the rationale for the decision was based on the fact that the Nigerian police force is infamous for bribery, extortion, and all kinds of other forms of evil.

In the same way that we have said earlier that it might be a blessing in disguise, we are seeing it from the perspective that with this international humiliation, it is time for Nigeria, the self-proclaimed powerhouse of Africa, to say that enough is enough and get their house in order.

In their search for a better life in other countries, including some West African nations, Nigerians have been subjected to a great deal of humiliation and a great deal of garbage for a considerable amount of time now. For the sole purpose of leaving the country, there are certain Nigerians who go to such extremes as selling off their properties, inheriting money, borrowing money, and going through a series of rites and signing an oath.

For the purpose of accomplishing this, a simple trip to the embassies of a foreign nation will demonstrate the level of depravity that has been reached throughout the entire process. In order to keep their visa appointments, Nigerians leave their homes as early as three in the morning to get to these embassies and wait in line. Nigerians are treated like shit and animals at the entry of these embassies gate. They are left in open spaces to be dealt with by the elements, such as rain and sun, which beat them severely while they fight, sholve, struggle, and curse themselves in order to be attended to by the authorities of the embassy.

In the event that they are fortunate enough to secure entry, those individuals are subjected to additional humiliation and are spoken down to by embassy officials who are primarily young and may not be up to their age or the age of their children.

It was around the year 2009 when a terrible scenario occurred in an attempt to take a holiday to South Africa. After a number of days of trying to get inside for the visa, and when I finally made it inside, a member of the South African embassy staff told me to my face that Nigeria boasts about helping South Africa gain independence, and that Nigeria ought to tell them how much they spent in that regard, and that they will pay us back so that we can stay put in our country and stop disturbing them. When I heard that comment, I recalled the efforts that our government made to ensure that South Africans were granted complete independence. At the time, I was a young student, and I made a financial contribution to emancipate South Africa, which is now the destination of choice for Nigerians.

The next step of humiliation begins when you arrive at your destination, by which time Nigerians are typically subjected to a variety of checks, including fingering and frisking. This is the first stage of humiliation. As a matter of fact, I am aware that in many international airports, Nigerians are required to remain in a specific line in order to be attended to by immigration officers of the country at their own leisure and convenience.

Coming to your host country is not sufficient, as it is not enough. It is expected of Nigerians to carry out a wide variety of "dirty and menial jobs," which nationals of the host country or citizens of other countries will not accept to carry out. In order to obtain the metaphorical almighty dollars and pounds to pay their bills and repatriate some back home for investments and aid to their people, they are literally compelled to wash dead bodies, pack feces and urine of physically challenged, elderly men and women, and perform laborious industrial work. All of this is done in order to get the money. Just try to picture a scenario in which a man who is sixty years old and lives in Canada is required to work in a factory while standing for ten hours straight and packing items all through the night!

In point of fact, the agony and humiliation are out of this world; nonetheless, many Nigerians cheerfully do it because, when they consider what they go through back in Nigeria, they say that they would rather work and die in other nations than die in Nigeria.

To put it succinctly, the answer to the issue of what caused all of these is that it is the product of the evil of our rulers throughout the years, which has resulted in the destruction of the country in a variety of ways, including economically, politically, socially, and in other areas. As a result of their theft of our collective wealth and patrimony, Nigerians have begun a new age of the slave trade. However, this time around, it is not the white people who are coming to take us; rather, we are spending our last card and requesting them to take us in as slaves in this 21st century!

An somebody such as Nuhu Ribadu has been working in government for close to thirty years, first as a senior police officer, then as the head of the EFCC, and now as a national security adviser. As such, he is able to attest to the corruption that exists within the system and the actions that he has taken to save the nation. At the moment, he is employed by the government, which is responsible for the theft of billions, if not trillions, of dollars on a daily basis through the use of false and inflated contracts, budget padding, and the pillaging of national resources and wealth. He believes that countries such as Canada and others do not hear about this and base their judgments on it.

In the same Canada that he is ordering to go to hell, thousands of Nigerians are currently residing there, and the annual dollar repatriation that they are bringing back is having a significant impact on the economy of Nigeria at the now.

It is only if he is able to do his best to restore the dignity of Nigeria by performing his duties as the national security adviser in such a way that Nigerians and other nationals can feel safe enough to go about their normal business without fear of being kidnapped and killed that his outburst from hell will have any relevance or place in the world. Direct investments from overseas would be attracted as a result of this, and Nigerians living abroad will be encouraged to return home to help rebuild the country.

It is imperative that Ribadu and other government officials, including Tinubu in his capacity as President, recognize this as a challenge and an insult to the Nigerian people. They should take use of this chance to express their disapproval. They need to have a change of heart and put an end to all of this treasury looting and primitive accumulation of money that they have been getting involved in for all of these years.

One of the assurances that I am providing to the nation is that if things begin to turn around today, a large number of Nigerians, numbering in the thousands, are prepared to return home in order to make their contribution to the development of the country. The majority of these Nigerians have publicly expressed that they are dissatisfied with their current situation in a country that is ruled by a foreign guy. The East or the West is the best house, they say over and over again!

On a final note, it is time for Nigeria to stop calling the bluff of these countries that continue to insult them. Even countries like Ghana continue to humiliate Nigerians because of the situation back home, which has caused many Nigerians to flock to the country, forgetting that there was once an era in Nigeria where Ghana Must Go was the official government.

The only way to prevent Nuhu Ribadu from going to hell is for them to be prepared to make Nigeria a heaven for Nigerians. This will, in turn, inspire Nigerians living in Canada and other nations to return to their homeland.