Pubdate: Mon, 09 Oct 2006
Source: Tide, The (Nigeria)
Copyright: 2006 The Tide
Contact:  http://www.thetidenews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3973
Author: Salihu Abubakar

NOT YET UHURU FOR NIGERIAN PASSPORT IN ASIA

Since his return to power on May 29, 1999, President  Olusegun
Obasanjo has worked tirelessly to restore  Nigeria's dignity in the
international arena. The  nation's integrity had been eroded following
a long  period of military dictatorship.

In the course of this campaign, the president had  travelled far and
wide around appealing to foreign  investors, many of whom had left the
country, to  return. He had also pleaded for Nigeria's debt relief.

The president's effort had, to a large extent yielded  the desired
result with about 60 per cent relief  granted and 12.4 billion dollars
paid up to enable  Nigeria have a final exit from the dragnet of the
Paris  Club of creditors early this year.

Also within the last seven years, the Obasanjo  administration was
able to attract huge investments  especially in the oil and gas sector
where more than  two billion dollars were invested to further boost
the  development of that sector.

However, one area that appears to have refused to  benefit from the
gains of the reform agenda of the  federal government is the
perception of Nigeria on the  international scene.

Many Nigerian youths have flocked out of the country in  search of
greener pastures only to end up in criminal  activities that tarnish
the nation's image.

Only recently, the House of Representatives dismissed a  motion
seeking clemency for a convicted Nigerian, a  footballer in far away
Singapore, who later ventured  into drug business. He was caught,
convicted and  sentenced to death in line with the laws of that  country.

Drug peddling attracts capital punishment in Singapore  with no
options of fine. And so visitors into that  country are warned not to
get involved as the notices  are boldly written in red at the airports
and visitors'  entry documents. As hard as it may appear, the killing
of the Nigerian and the refusal of the National  Assembly to render a
helping hand to save his life,  gave honour to the country for not
appearing to condone  dealings in hard drugs.

Also recently, the British High Commissioner in  Nigeria, Mr Richard
Gozney, said there were 350  Nigerians including women who are serving
sentences for  drugs-related offences in UK prisons.

He said many of them would soon be repatriated to serve  their
sentences at home.

Gozney also revealed that by next year, all applicants  for British
visas would be required to appear in person  to provide their
fingerprints. He said the new system  was aimed at assisting security
operatives to track  down criminals and subsequently stop them from
entering  the UK.

Although a transit rather than a major hard drug  supplier nation,
efforts by Nigerian authorities to  curb drug movements had seen quite
a good number of  couriers slip through the nation's porous borders.

Unlike Singapore, Nigerian laws do not prescribe the  death penalty.
But the National Drug Law Enforcement  Agency (NDLEA), the nation's
watchdog on drugs and  related offences, is collaborating with its
counterparts worldwide to check and arrest global drug  movement.

The defeat of that motion in the House of  Representatives was without
fanfare and hinged on the  fact that death for drug pushers was
legitimate law in  Singapore. Singaporean authorities, however;
welcomed  the development on belief that it would help stem the
increasing number of Nigerians involved in hard drugs  offences.

Because of her "no visa policy" for citizens of  Commonwealth
countries including Nigerians, Singapore  experiences influx visitors.
Her entry ports are under  very strict surveillance to check the
excesses  adventurers who might try to beat immigration and  customs
officials to smuggle in drugs.

Notwithstanding the effort by the federal government to  restore the
dignity and pride of the Nigerian passport  in the world, it is not
yet Uhuru for the green  document in most Asian countries. This is no
thanks to  the involvement of many Nigerians in hard drug  offences.

"Singapore is bad news for drug pushers. They all know  this, but
somehow, they take chances. They take risks  because of the
anticipated high turnover when they  successfully cross the ports
without being caught," a  Nigerian consular officer in an Asian
country said.

According to him, the unfortunate attitude of some  Nigerians in Asia
had gone a long way to tarnishing not  only the image of the country
throughout that  continent, but had diminished the stature of
Nigerians  passing through Asia by land, air and or sea ports.

A group of eight Nigerian officials travelling ahead of  President
Olusegun Obasanjo on his recent visit to  Japan and Singapore were
amazed that their passports  attracted greater scrutiny by immigration
officials.

Their story that they were part of the president's  delegation to
Japan did not impress the customs and  immigration officials who had
insisted on checking the  passports thoroughly. The security officials
also  demanded for a national identity or any other  identification
card alongside the passports. 
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MAP posted-by: Elaine