The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has described as a national humiliation, the recent US Travel Advisory issued to its citizens in Nigeria to desist from travelling to certain parts of the country.
The United States (US) government had on July 15, advised its citizens to reconsider traveling to Nigeria due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, armed gangs and inconsistent availability of health care services.
It also warned that some places in Nigeria have an increased risk, saying: “Overall, all locations carry significant security risks.
“Do Not Travel to: Borno, Yobe, Kogi, and northern Adamawa states due to terrorism and kidnapping. Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara states due to kidnapping. Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers states (with the exception of Port Harcourt) due to crime, kidnapping, and armed gangs.
“Country Summary: Violent crime is common in the country. This includes armed robbery, assault, carjacking, kidnapping, hostage-taking, roadside banditry, and rape” the advisory stated.
In a statement by the party’s Acting National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said that the US travel advisory, following rising insecurity and failing healthcare infrastructure in the country, is a damning reflection of the Tinubu government’s inability to protect both its citizens and the country’s image abroad. It criticised the absence of Nigerian ambassadors in key global capitals, particularly Washington D.C., describing the diplomatic vacuum as abdication of responsibility.
The party also took a swipe at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accusing it of trivialising the urgent need for ambassadorial appointments under the guise of reforms. According to ADC, Tinubu’s government has reduced diplomacy to a “side hustle,” warning that no country can afford to be voiceless on the world stage.
“African Democratic Congress (ADC) is alarmed—but sadly, not surprised—by the latest travel advisory from the United States Government, which now classifies Nigeria as a Level 3 “Reconsider Travel” destination. For a nation of over 200 million people, this is another public indictment of the Tinubu administration’s failure to govern. The U.S. explicitly mentioned the collapse of Nigeria’s healthcare infrastructure and the inability of our government to guarantee even the most basic emergency services.
“According to the advisory, medical facilities in Nigeria “are generally not equipped to U.S. standards,” and “many medications are unavailable.” Foreigners are being told to consider evacuation insurance before they arrive. We ask: what kind of country are we becoming? One where a visitor must plan for emergency airlift before stepping off the plane?
“What makes this situation even more shameful is that Nigeria currently has no accredited ambassador in Washington D.C.—the very capital from which this damaging advisory was issued. The ADC had raised the alarm on this dangerous diplomatic vacuum just days ago. Following which, we were met with smug indifference and bureaucratic deflection from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who claimed, quite absurdly, that the failure was due to some reforms despite reports from the same Ministry earlier this year that the list of ambassadorial nominees had already been submitted to the President for approval”.
The coalition party stressed that “At a time when our image is under assault and foreign confidence in our systems is plummeting, Nigeria is voiceless at the world’s most important tables thanks to the Tinubu administration. Not even during the civil war did Nigeria not have ambassadors in place for so long”.
The party noted that since the ambassadors were recalled in October 2023, five of the G7 countries have changed their leaders, yet, Nigeria has had no high-level diplomat in place to engage their new administrations to secure our interests in their foreign and investment agendas. “This has not just been a missed opportunity, it has been an outright diplomatic failure” ADC lamented.
The ADC reminded President Bola Tinubu that the process of accrediting ambassadors by receiving countries could be cumbersome and time consuming. “It is therefore difficult to see how this administration intends to remedy this embarrassing situation in the short time it has left. This is what happens when a government treats diplomacy as a side hustle. We are absent where we must be present. We are silent where we should be persuasive. We seem to be leaderless at home and invisible abroad”.
The party called on the government to stop hiding behind excuses and show that they understand what it takes to govern a country like Nigeria by appointing diplomats to the foreign missions.
