Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, on Tuesday led a Federal Government team to US state of Delaware to campaign against the recent immigrant visa restriction on Nigeria and seek development cooperation.
The delegation also comprised the Chairperson, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, Tolulope Akande-Sadipe.
At separate meetings with top officials of the Delaware state government, the Nigerian delegation denounced the immigrant visa restriction on Nigeria by the administration of President Donald Trump.
Those visited were the governor of the state, John Carney; Mayor of the City of Wilmington, Mike Purzycki; President of the Wilmington City Council, Hanifa Shabazz, and some Delaware lawmakers.
Trump had cited Nigeria’s alleged noncompliance with US information sharing and security protocols at airports as grounds for the policy, which came into effect on February 21.
The policy has suffered condemnation from a section of the US media and politicians, including Joe Neguse, a Colorado Democratic federal lawmaker.
Dabiri-Erewa said Nigeria ought not to be in the list, citing the enormous contributions of its nationals to the development of the US economy, a fact acknowledged by her hosts.
She rallied the support of the governor, the Wilmington mayor and council president, and the lawmakers for the ban to be lifted.
The NIDCOM boss said the information-sharing and security gaps cited by Trump were already being addressed, adding that Nigeria had started capturing the biometrics of passengers arriving in the country at points of entry.
Both officials invited their hosts to the 2020 edition of the Door of Return programme scheduled to hold in Badagry, Lagos from October 21 to 25.
