This announcement was made by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, following the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu on Monday.

The minister said, “Nigeria has been discussing with the UAE over the ban on Nigerians traveling to that country, but today an agreement has been reached on that.

“Now Nigerian passport holders can be issued visa to travel to United Arab Emirates.”

Speaking at a welcome dinner for delegates attending the International Air Transport Association (IATA) 80th Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit in Dubai over the weekend, Keyamo stated that the issues concerning visa denials by the UAE have been resolved.

He added that an official announcement would be made soon, noting that the remaining steps involve fine-tuning the processes for lifting the visa ban.

He said: “The issue of visa has been resolved, just the announcement remains. They want to dot the I’s and cross the T’s. The announcement will be made in a couple of weeks.

“The UAE is considered as a very important partner in Nigeria. Nigerians have a lot of stakes here in the UAE with a lot of investments. What we are doing is to make sure that we make it easy for millions of Nigerians who have put a lot of pressure on us to ensure that we open up this route again. Second, to make the visa application easier. I am sure you can see the way I was received here. That is to tell you how they value Nigeria.

“I was on the same ride with the ruler of Dubai, the Minister and the head of Emirates Group and all the top shots of Emirates. There was no other person given that privilege here. That is to tell you how much they value us and they want Nigeria to see it in that light. They have opened up again to us. They have started to trust us again, and I want to say thank you to them. I will take it from here on.”

Keyamo, who made this known on the Morning Show, an Arise TV programme, said he had received a letter from the Emirates confirming that all issues between it and Nigeria had been resolved.

He said: “Emirates flight resumption is almost happening. I just received a letter from Emirates. The letter is on my phone now. They have gone through all the gamut, and they are ready to come back. They will announce the date because to restart a route, they have to get an aircraft for that route.

“I am announcing to Nigerians for the first time; that I just received a letter from Emirates now. The letter is with me. I have a hard copy thanking you for all the efforts we made. Mr President was the showman here. He was the one who pushed for it.

“He made my job easy because he went there, and had a diplomatic shuttle to resolve all the issues. That was why I said the last announcement was hasty and not fake news. They will announce the date for their next flight. We have received a letter confirming that all the issues have been resolved and prepared to start coming back. It may be before June.”

In October 2022, the UAE banned nationals of about 20 African countries from entering its borders.

Affected countries include Uganda, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Cameroon, Nigeria, Liberia, Burundi, Republic of Guinea, Gambia, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Benin, Ivory Coast, Congo, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Comoros, and the Dominican Republic.

In a notice issued to trade partners, including travel agents, Emirati authorities demanded that all applications be rejected.

“Any applications from the above-mentioned countries will be sent back or cancelled,” said the notice. Since the ban, the UAE and Nigeria have been locked in a diplomatic row over issues involving flight allocations and travel restrictions.

Keyamo disclosed this at the closing ceremony of the 7th African Aviation Summit in Abuja on Thursday, September 14.

While speaking on the visa issues that saw President Tinubu visiting the UAE this week, Keyamo said; “We are working the details out. When two countries agree at the very top level then of course all the government operatives will begin to work out the tiny details. So, we are beginning to work out all the tiny details. I met with Emirate before I left UAE, I met with Etihad before I left UAE and we are working out the details. The time frame, we cannot say the time frame. Kicking off an airline operation again on a route, it is not that you will go and grab one empty plane sitting in a place. There is no idle plane sitting anywhere, they have to reschedule their flights, restart their routes again, and all kinds of things. All kinds of permission will be taken from local authorities and of course, I made the point in speaking with them and I made it clear that they will have to give our airlines reciprocal rights under our BASA. That is the point I insisted on, and they did say that any spot we need, they will give us as much as we give them those spots within Nigeria.”

Speaking on foreign airlines blocked funds, he said; “Mr. President is very concerned about that it is one of the issues we went to discuss in the UAE. I spoke with the minister of finance and the coordinating minister of the economy and he has indicated that within the next few weeks, the Central Bank of Nigeria will be very clear as to the programme within which these issues will be addressed.

They will be paid off, these are not loans, they are trapped funds, they are funds that are there, it is only the issue of liquidity that is our problem. The issues of liquidity are being addressed as I speak right now. It is something that the president is very concerned about, and that issue, I said that we have addressed it in the UAE and very soon, you will hear from the financial sector”.

President Bola Tinubu engaged in discussions with his UAE counterpart, Sheik Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, during their meeting on Monday. As a result of this historic meeting, an announcement was made by Ajuri Ngelale, Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Media and Publicity, stating that the two leaders have “finalized a historic agreement, which has resulted in the immediate cessation of the visa ban placed on Nigerian travelers.”

Additionally, it was revealed that Etihad and Emirates airlines would promptly resume flight operations in Nigeria.

While the UAE’s official statement did not explicitly confirm or deny the reported lifting of the visa ban, it highlighted the commitment of both nations to strengthen their ties and explore opportunities for bilateral collaboration. The statement emphasized the areas of economic growth, development, energy, and climate action as potential areas for cooperation.

Addressing the situation on Tuesday, Ngelale stressed the importance of allowing cabinet officials from both sides to work out the finer details and finalize cross-sectoral agreements. He urged patience in allowing the resolution process to unfold smoothly without undue speculation.

This announcement coincides with the immediate resumption of flight operations to Nigeria by Etihad and Emirates Airlines.

The decision to lift the visa ban and resume flight services follows extensive discussions between Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and his Emirati counterpart, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Monday in Abu Dhabi, have finalised a historic agreement, which has resulted in the immediate cessation of the visa ban placed on Nigerian travellers.

“Furthermore, by this historic agreement, both Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines are to immediately resume flight schedules into and out of Nigeria, without any further delay,” the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed in a statement he signed Monday.

This stance was discussed by the President on Tuesday during a phone conversation with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the United Arab Emirates and concurrent Emir of Abu Dhabi.

To express his condolences on the passing of his mother-in-law, Sheikha Maryam Al Falasi, Buhari had earlier called Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. During their conversation, significant matters of interest to both nations were discussed.

Buhari recommended that his UAE counterpart examine the blanket visa ban imposed on Nigerians wishing to go to the UAE, according to a statement released by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.

The President noted the long history of great relations between the two countries, marked by strong economic ties and frequent conversations on issues of mutual concern, including engagements at the highest political levels.

He stated that recent irritants in bilateral relations brought on by consular concerns relating to the conduct of some Nigerians in the UAE are being resolved and that no country, including Nigeria, will tolerate criminalities and illegal behavior.

In light of this, Buhari declared that the Nigerian government was prepared to impose the required punishment through the proper legal channels on anyone found guilty of committing crimes in the UAE.

He asked that the relevant security and intelligence agencies of the two nations be given the opportunity to tackle the situation and to find long-term solutions to the issues brought on by crimes and other unlawful activities.

According to the statement, Buhari also asked for Emirates Airline’s countrywide operations to resume after they had been halted.

Recall that in 2022, Emirates Airline decided to stop operating in Nigeria due to its difficulty to repatriate its funds that had become stranded there.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has been instructed to increase foreign exchange allocation to the airline, President Buhari added, assuring the leader of the UAE that the issue regarding the Emirates funds is receiving the proper attention along with those of other foreign airlines operating in Nigeria.

The CBN Governor stated this during an interactive session organized by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.

According to him, the CBN released $110 million to the foreign airlines in August and is due to release another $120 million on 31st of October.

It would be recalled that the gulf country has reportedly stopped issuing visas to Nigerians in the past couple of weeks.

Also recall that Emirates is owned by the government of UAE.

The CBN governor said Nigeria has over the years prioritized the foreign airlines in allocation of Fx, adding that instead of bearing with the country, some countries are threatening to ban Nigerians.

“You will be saying either you are cancelling your visa to Nigerians or that you will not fly again because your funds are blocked.

“We used our discretion to allocate $265 million dollars to the foreign airlines, broken down into spot and forward. We did $110 million on the spot and the rest in 60days forward.

“On that day, we allocated to IATA $32 million through UBA. Qatar Airways, $22.8 million through Standard Chartered, Emirates, $19.6 million through Access Bank, British Airway; $5.5million through GTB, Virgin Atlantic, $4.8 million through Zenith and others,” he said.

Reacting to the matter, Boma Goodhead, a lawmaker from Rivers State, said Nigeria has no reason to fret over the visa ban. She stated that the UAE benefits more from Nigeria.

She stated that if the UAE is allowed to stay for one year without tourists from Nigeria, they will change their minds.

Paulos Legesse, Emirates Manager for Nigeria, said the airline is not familiar with the visa ban, however, the country will suspend its operation in Nigeria on October 28 over the inability of the country to retrieve its funds.

The research examined Google Trends data of search terms frequently used by people interested in cryptocurrency.

The terms were combined to give each English-speaking country a ‘total search score’ to discover those curious about cryptocurrency since the market crash in April 2022.

Nigeria, with a total search score of 371, topped the list of nations where ‘cryptocurrency’, ‘invest in crypto’ and ‘buy crypto’ were most searched.

The United Arab Emirates is second with a total search score of 270. UAE’s population searched for the word ‘cryptocurrency’ and the term ‘invest in crypto’.

This was contained in a statement signed on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.

The President said this in a short interaction with the new Ruler of Abu Dhabi and President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, during a condolence visit to the Presidential Palace on Friday.

Expressing his condolences and that of Nigeria on the demise of the late President Sheikh Khalifah, Buhari also congratulated the new President on his election.

The statement is titled ‘Nigeria, UAE to further extend bilateral ties,’ and read in part, “President Buhari expressed the hope that under Sheikh Mohamed the two countries will continue to actively champion a vision of sustainable security, strengthen counterterrorism cooperation, facilitate trade and investment, and promote prosperity and development.

“In the seven years of the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency, the two countries have actively conducted bilateral dialogues leading to several agreements and Memoranda of Understanding that have paved the way for further cooperation, mutual understanding and progress in many aspects of their bilateral relations.”