Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Joe Keshi, weekend described as humiliating the visa policies of the British and US embassies in Nigeria.
“First of all, asking us to bring our bank statement and all sorts of unthinkable documents is very humiliating. It is becoming increasingly frustrating the way they treat Nigerians and they also engage Nigerian government officials in the most humiliating processes,’’ Keshi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.
“In other continents, the British and American interest had been affected,Nigerians have never attacked any of their interests; neither had any of their interests in Africa been attacked nor destroyed, yet we suffer some of the most humiliating policies on visas.
Some people will say I am being undiplomatic but this is an issue I am very passionate about,’’ he added.
The Permanent Secretary said the ministry was already engaging the embassies on the matter “even though some of the issues are not resolvable by the missions in Nigeria. You cannot force them to change their laws. You can only dialogue with them,” he said.
He, however, advised Nigerians to cultivate the habit of staying at home and contribute to the development of their country, adding that government officials should also be modest by cutting down on their foreign trips.