Mixed Reactions Trail the Travel Advisory Issued to Nigerians in South Africa.

By Edoseghe Erhahon (Publicity Secretary) Dec, 07 2022 | 19:53:41

The travel advisory issued by the Nigerian Consulate in South Africa has generated several reactions from Nigerians in Nigeria and South Africa.

The statement issued in Johannesburg by the Consulate General of Nigeria, Johannesburg, advised Nigerians who have compelling needs to travel to Nigeria during this festive season to do so even if they have to use an expired passport.

The directive called on Nigerians in South Africa who have applied for passport renewal but may not get their new passports before their travel date to approach the mission for an Emergency Travel Certificate to enable them to travel to Nigeria. Alternatively, they advised Nigerians to travel with their expired passports if they must travel to Nigeria for the festive period "As it is lawful to do so."

This has generated several reactions on social media among Nigerians living in South Africa.

A Facebook user Samson Egbetayo said  "Traveling with an EMERGENCY TRAVEL CERTIFICATE or expired passport is only advisable for those people that have no intention of returning to South Africa.  If you do not belong to this group and you travel home, it will be nearly impossible for you to return to S.A. It’s unfortunate our embassy is issuing such misleading (sic) information."

 While admonishing the Nigerian government to engage the host community in a bid to avoid harassment of Nigerians traveling home, another user Geff Ekene Aniagu also shared "Note that many Nigerian citizens with ETC are detained and some arrested at OR Tambo. The consulate should have common grounds with the immigration department at OR Tambo. If not, this press release remains irrelevant. It exposes some citizens to unnecessary torture and (sic) frustration."

Sharing her experience when she traveled to Nigeria with an Emergency Travel Certificate Olufemi Olajide Ijalana, a Nigerian citizen living in South Africa, said, "I traveled home with TC for my mother's funeral, I was stuck in Nigeria for 4 months before my passport was couriered to me in Nigeria to enable me to come back to SA. Traveling to Naija with TC could be cumbersome." (sic)

Meanwhile, a mother also seized the opportunity to express her frustration and poor service she is currently experiencing with the Nigerian mission in South Africa, according to Temmy Sobola – "Dis is very bad....my daughter's passport has been submitted since August, I emailed them more than 10 times so that she can get admission at school. As a law-abiding citizen, I kept emailing them, but they told me where to get off after many attempts. Pls, use wisdom if you want to travel. God help us all" (sic)

While expressing faith in the Nigerian system and hoping for a better future, Ann Mbah added, "It was never like this before..what went wrong, why does it take so long to release passport these days and why do you keep capturing when you have backlogs of passports not released?. Come 2023 look for the loophole and fix it, you can do better and we know it." (sic)

We at NUSA Gauteng understand the frustration of the many Nigerians in South Africa, especially with documents, and we believe that the Nigerian government is working progressively to ease these burdens that we all bear. We call on all Nigerians to exercise caution during this festive season, be law-abiding, and be true representatives of Nigeria everywhere they find themselves.

What is your experience with the Nigerian Consulate in South Africa? Share them with us in the comment box below.