…Says talks ongoing with Ethiopia over visa ban
The Federal Government, on Wednesday, said it is too early to ascertain the extent of damage caused by the current flooding in various states even though there are observable disruptions to mobility.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, disclosed this to the State House correspondents shortly after this week’s council meeting chaired by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Fashola who was fielding a question on how much damage federal roads may have suffered from the flooding said it is currently under scrutiny and can only be ascertained when the waters receded.
This followed recent flooding in some states where flood waters have submerged major interstate roads and damaged critical pieces of infrastructure such as bridges.
“At this stage, it’s difficult to quantify the damage to the roads, the only thing that is clearly visible at this time, and that’s because the flood is still receding. It is when all of that is gone that we can really see how much damage has been done. The impact is that just like in any situation of extreme weather conditions, travel logistics are hampered, so some of the roads are difficult to traverse.
“It has caused some backlog in logistic movements, we are already seeing some disruptions in the supply chain, like fuel and some other things, but we hope that when the water fully recedes, we will see the full extent of the damage. But we are already planning our Ember-months movement, which we do in the last quarter of the year.
“So that will take into consideration any damage that has been done and we’ll try and remedy as much of it as resources and time allow us so that we prepare for that heavy movement period during the festive period,” Fashola said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, disclosed ongoing talks between Nigeria and Ethiopia over the recent visa-on-arrival ban on Nigeria, to reverse the policy.
Sirika noted that the ban does not impede the business deal between Nigeria and Ethiopian Air over the upcoming Nigeria Air.
The PUNCH reported that the Ethiopian government, last week’s Tuesday, temporarily suspended visas on arrival for Nigerians and nationals of 42 other countries.
Speaking on the issue, the aviation minister said, “I don’t think this is restricted to or applied to Nigeria alone on the decision to do visa on arrival from all the information we got, it affects many countries as well. We have contacted the Nigeria Immigration Service and also the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deal with this. It has nothing to do with the relationship between Nigeria and Ethiopian airlines.
“Well, Nigeria Air is a fully private sector-led initiative. And the Ethiopians they are, even though 100 per cent owned by the government, have been running on their own as if it were a private company. And perhaps even with COVID, I’m not speaking for them. They did wonderfully well, they posted a billion-dollar profit.
“In the past, what concerns us really with them is that there is a policy which is not done by the airline, but by their government, that once you have $3,000 or above and you have not declared it at the point of entry, they seized it from Nigerians. And we pushed that case, struggling with them for two years.”
He said the Ethiopian government has carried out reforms that do not warrant Nigerians to declare their monies upon entry.
“You don’t need to go to customs to declare your money or get your money seized. So you remain within the hotel and board your next flight, even if it is 72 hours ahead. So that has solved that problem.
“This particular one, I think, is an initiative by their own ministry of interior and foreign affairs. They applied it to other countries, but it is not unique to Nigeria. But that said, it came to our notice and we spoke to our own Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Service to deal with it, and the embassy as well. And I’m sure that Nigeria is one of the markets they cherish well, so they must look into the policy,” he explained.
