The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has berated the Canadian embassy for denying Nigeria’s Chief of Defense Staff, General Christopher Musa, and other top military officers visas.
It will be recalled that General Musa, while speaking at the maiden annual lecture of the National Association of the Institute for Security Studies on Thursday, disclosed that the Canadian embassy denied him and some members of his team visas to attend an event honouring war veterans in Canada.
Reacting to the development on Friday, Tunji-Ojo, while appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, described the act as disrespectful to Nigeria.
According to him, there is no justification for the defence chief to be treated that way, adding that the action reflected a lack of respect for Nigeria as a country.
The Interior Minister wondered how an average Nigerian would be treated by the Canadian embassy if top military officials could be denied visas.
He, however, expressed optimism that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would take the necessary actions to resolve the issue diplomatically and ensure mutual respect between the two nations.
He said, “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, the 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.”
Earlier, Tribune Online reports that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, criticised the Canadian embassy over the development.
Ribadu, who did not hide his displeasure over the issue, described it as disrespectful and painful. He commended the defence chief for speaking up over the issue.
He said partly, “Thank you for the courage to say Canada denied you visas. They can go to hell,” the NSA said.
“Even though it’s painful, it’s disrespectful, but we are peaceful and strong, and I agree with you that it is time to fix our country.
“Yet, this is another reason we work hard to make Nigeria work.”
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