Opeyemi Olamilekan

Abuja – The Federal Government of Nigeria has reached an agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to allow Nigerian passport holders to obtain visas for travel to that Arab nation starting today, July 15, 2024, local news outlets in the West African country report Monday, citing minister of information.

Mohammed Idris, the minister of information made this known on Monday when he briefed State House correspondents following the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

The development comes more than two years after the UAE suspended visa issuance to Nigerians after diplomatic rows with Africa’s most populous nation.

It also comes about two months after UAE national carrier Emirates Airlines announced the resumption of flights to Nigeria. The airline said in May that its daily Lagos-Dubai flights would resume from October 1, 2024.

Emirates Airlines suspended its Dubai-Lagos flights in 2022 over its inability to repatriate trapped funds in Nigeria in the heat of the diplomatic row between the two countries.

Nigeria and the UAE have a long history of restriction of flights between both countries based on certain unresolved issues surrounding the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA). Visa restrictions later surfaced as diplomatic fireworks continued between Nigeria and the UAE, which is a top destination for Nigerian migrants and tourists.

In September 2023, President Bola Tinubu met with UAE President, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi, to smoothen the rough edges in the diplomatic relations between the two countries, according to local broadcaster, Channels Television.

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