CNN International correspondent, Larry Madowo, has expressed dismay over Nigeria’s visa fees.

Madowo, who made this known on his LinkedIn account on Monday, disclosed that despite holding a Kenyan passport, which grants visa-free access to numerous African nations such as Uganda, South Africa, and Ghana, Nigeria requires a substantial fee of $215 for a single-entry visa.

He wrote, “Nigeria just charged me $215 for a one-month, single entry visa. Again. I was here three weeks ago – paid the same $215. This is actually my third time in Nigeria this year, so they have made $645 from me in 2024 alone.

“The visa itself costs $25, but Nigeria charges a $20 ‘processing fee’ and $170 for biometrics every time. My fingerprints haven’t changed since I was here three weeks ago. Why am I paying $170 to have them taken and to pose for a picture each time I visit? Isn’t that a standard part of admitting someone into a country?

“How can we achieve a borderless Africa, or the promise of the AfCFTA, if we charge Africans $215 for a single-entry visa?

“In the three weeks since I was last in Lagos, I went to Uganda, South Africa, and Ghana, where I don’t need a visa with a Kenyan passport. In fact, I’ve also been to South Africa three times this year. It cost me $0, like the ancestors intended.

“Nigeria’s visa-on-arrival system is similar to the ‘visa-free’ delusion of Kenya’s Electronic Travel Authorisation – you apply in advance, submit some documents, and wait for it to be approved. It can take up to five business days. If you know ‘someone,’ you can pay them $50 or more to ‘facilitate’ a faster approval.

“I love Nigeria, but the visa situation is showing me shege. It’s too much oo! Why this Shege Pro Max?”

Eleohjo:
To those Nigerian citizens currently attacking the Nigerian government, and especially our immigration authorities, due to Mr. Larry Madowo's post complaining about his $215 alleged Nigerian visa payment, do note the following:

The Nigerian visa can be obtained at $25 on arrival for Kenyan citizens, of which Mr. Madowo is one. The $170 is for the biometric fee.

Also, Nigeria has reciprocal visa policies with Mr. Madowo's home country, Kenya. I have been to Kenya multiple times. For many years, Nigerian citizens enjoyed visa-free or visa-on-arrival privileges at Kenyan airports. This was recently revoked. And you do not expect Nigeria to be pleased about this, especially as more Nigerians visit Kenya than vice versa. If Mr. Madowo wants to take a dig at African nations frustrating a "borderless Africa", he should look closer to home.

Moreover, Larry Madowo, who is a CNN correspondent, and who should have known that he is very likely to visit Nigeria, which is Africa's biggest economy, more than once a year, should have applied for a multiple-entry Nigerian visa, which is available to him for five years at a more affordable cost of just $100, which is far cheaper than the Kenyan visa for Nigerians for the same period, and which would have eliminated the need for multiple biometric charges. He would have just needed to do ONE biometric payment.

Larry Madowo did not do his homework correctly. It is entirely the responsibility of a traveller to research the immigration requirements of the country he intends to visit. He was negligent in his responsibilities and is trying to blame Nigeria. For a journalist on a platform like CNN, he has demonstrated a surprising ignorance of non-proprietary information, which can be publicly sourced with a cursory Google search.

What he is complaining of is not even unique to Nigeria, as those Nigerians who are supporting him, due to their disappointment at the results of the last elections, seem not to be aware.

For example, whenever a Nigerian or Kenyan reapplies for a British visa, they MUST still pay for their biometrics and take them, even if they just had them recently. It is a standard practice. It is precisely the same process in Nigeria for which Mr. Madowo is complaining about.

Therefore, prudent individuals choose to apply for a long-term multiple visa, of which the British five-year multiple entry visa costs £771, which is almost ten times the cost of a five-year Nigerian visa. That £771 does not include the cost of Biometrics.

And I saw supposedly enlightened Nigerians, like Dr. Victor Oladokun, of the African Development Bank, commenting on Mr. Madowo's post as though Nigeria had erred and was not acting in line with international best practices.

Can Larry Madowo try the stunt he pulled with Nigeria against the United Kingdom or the United States?

I am proud of my country. I salute the reforms in our immigration system. And I, for one, will not sit idly while Mr. Madowo undermines Nigeria for an oversight he is entirely responsible for.

I visited Kenya with twenty of my friends and family for my fifteenth birthday, and I was asked to pay a bribe at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the early hours of January 17, 2024. I have documentary and eyewitness evidence and can prove it in court. I am not known as a meticulous record keeper for nothing! However, for the sake of African brotherhood, I kept a lid on this, because "love covers over a multitude of sins."

Mr. Madowo, like a typical African dictator, is only abusing his privileged position in the media industry to bully the Nigerian Immigration Service unnecessarily, and again, I, for one, will not have it!

Reno Omokri

FreeStuffsNG:
“The visa itself costs $25, but Nigeria charges a $20 ‘processing fee’ and $170 for biometrics every time. My fingerprints haven’t changed since I was here three weeks ago. Why am I paying $170 to have them taken and to pose for a picture each time I visit? Isn’t that a standard part of admitting someone into a country?

“I love Nigeria, but the visa situation is showing me shege. It’s too much oo! Why this Shege Pro Max?”

Larry Madowo made some valid points and it's refreshing that we can get this kind of civil and intellectual feedback.
Thank you Larry for sharing this feedback with love.
Unpatriotic elements, criminal cyberbullies and trolls, take note of how you can make your point without committing criminal defamation and cybercrime.

May God bless Nigeria and the African continent. Check my signature for free stuffs!

FreeStuffsNG:
CNN reporter protests Nigeria’s $215 single entry visa fee
9th April 2024

By Hannah Johnson

CNN International correspondent, Larry Madowo, has expressed dismay over Nigeria’s visa fees.

Madowo, who made this known on his LinkedIn account on Monday, disclosed that despite holding a Kenyan passport, which grants visa-free access to numerous African nations such as Uganda, South Africa, and Ghana, Nigeria requires a substantial fee of $215 for a single-entry visa.

He wrote, “Nigeria just charged me $215 for a one-month, single entry visa. Again. I was here three weeks ago – paid the same $215. This is actually my third time in Nigeria this year, so they have made $645 from me in 2024 alone.


“The visa itself costs $25, but Nigeria charges a $20 ‘processing fee’ and $170 for biometrics every time. My fingerprints haven’t changed since I was here three weeks ago. Why am I paying $170 to have them taken and to pose for a picture each time I visit? Isn’t that a standard part of admitting someone into a country?

“How can we achieve a borderless Africa, or the promise of the AfCFTA, if we charge Africans $215 for a single-entry visa?

“In the three weeks since I was last in Lagos, I went to Uganda, South Africa, and Ghana, where I don’t need a visa with a Kenyan passport. In fact, I’ve also been to South Africa three times this year. It cost me $0, like the ancestors intended.

“Nigeria’s visa-on-arrival system is similar to the ‘visa-free’ delusion of Kenya’s Electronic Travel Authorisation – you apply in advance, submit some documents, and wait for it to be approved. It can take up to five business days. If you know ‘someone,’ you can pay them $50 or more to ‘facilitate’ a faster approval.

“I love Nigeria, but the visa situation is showing me shege. It’s too much oo! Why this Shege Pro Max?”

https://punchng.com/cnn-reporter-protests-nigerias-215-single-entry-visa-fee/
Mynd44 nlfpmod

ValCon888:
There's something called Reciprocity. The reporter should first find out how much Nigerians pay for visas to the US.

It will do him good to know the amount is nonrefundable, the rejection rate is extremely high, yet Nigerians pay the same fees every time they apply for a visa to the USA

FreeStuffsNG:
“The visa itself costs $25, but Nigeria charges a $20 ‘processing fee’ and $170 for biometrics every time. My fingerprints haven’t changed since I was here three weeks ago. Why am I paying $170 to have them taken and to pose for a picture each time I visit? Isn’t that a standard part of admitting someone into a country?

“I love Nigeria, but the visa situation is showing me shege. It’s too much oo! Why this Shege Pro Max?”

Larry Madowo made some valid points and it's refreshing that we can get this kind of civil and intellectual feedback.
Thank you Larry for sharing this feedback with love.
Unpatriotic elements, criminal cyberbullies and trolls, take note of how you can make your point without committing criminal defamation and cybercrime.


We need more investors and investments in Lagos and we want Nigeria to be the top destination for Africans and non Africans alike for travel, investment, work, pilgrimage, leisure and permanent relocation to mother Africa by our brothers and sisters who desire to reconnect with their African roots in Ile-Ife Odaaye ( The Source) where creation began.

There's always room for improvement in our processes and the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu does not claim to know it all. Please give your feedback and criticism in a constructive, intelligent and civil way like Madowo just did with facts and figures with no insult and/or criminal cyberbullying. It's always a delight to watch Larry on CNN, absolutely brilliant and courteous professional who makes me proud to be an African each time I watch his news casting, journalistic report presentations and when he conducts interviews on CNN with African artists, techpreneurs, trendsetters etc .

May God bless Nigeria and the African continent. Check my signature for free stuffs!

gaby:
This needs to be investigated and reviewed immediately to conform with Kenya's Visa policy for Nigerians.