Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has voiced strong criticism of the Canadian Embassy’s decision to deny visas to Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Christopher Musa and other top public officials.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Tunji-Ojo condemned the move as “disrespectful” to Nigeria and called for an immediate explanation from Canadian authorities.
“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 added that even if questions were raised, diplomatic channels should have been used. He expressed confidence that Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs would take the necessary steps to address the issue and ensure that mutual respect is maintained between the two countries.
