Freedom advocates urge Nigeria to grant Africans visa-free entry

Participants at the Conference of Freedom Advocates (CFA) 2026 in Abuja

Freedom advocacy groups, including civil society actors, and media practitioners, have urged Nigeria to grant citizens of African Union member states visa-free entry.

They argued that Nigeria’s restrictive visa policy hurts its economy and continental influence, and called for easier travel to boost tourism, investment and trade.

They made the call at the Conference of Freedom Advocates (CFA) 2026 in Abuja on Saturday. Liberalist Centre organised the event in partnership with the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), BudgIT and 3rd Eye TV, with funding from Atlas Network.

Johnson Sanni, chief operating officer of Liberalist Centre, said the conference, themed “ADVANCE”, aimed to promote liberty, innovation and citizen-led leadership.

He stressed the need to protect individual rights, uphold the rule of law and allow citizens to pursue opportunities and shape their destinies.

During a panel session titled “The Case for a Visa-free Nigeria”, apeakers warned that Nigeria’s restrictive visa policy undermines its participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The discussion featured Abdullah Tijani, journalist and executive director of The Liberalist; Chike Donald, executive director of Simplefix Nigeria; and Tolulope Gbenro, president of Grow with D Oracle Empowerment Foundation.

They questioned the use of visas as a source of government revenue. In their view, business travel, conferences and other economic activities could generate greater benefits when people move more freely.

They cited the Henley Passport Index to illustrate the imbalance in international travel access. The July 2026 edition ranked Nigeria’s passport 90th among 199 passports. It also showed that Nigerian passport holders could access 44 destinations without obtaining a visa in advance.

Figures on Nigeria’s visa openness also showed that far fewer nationalities can enter the country without prior visas than the number of destinations Nigerians can access through similar arrangements abroad.

The speakers identified tourism, investment and trade as sectors that could benefit from easier movement across borders. They noted that tourism accounts for only about three per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.

They urged Nigeria to prioritise African countries before extending visa-free or visa-on-arrival access more widely. They advocated reciprocal arrangements among African countries, citing Kenya and Rwanda as examples of countries that had taken steps to ease entry for other Africans.

Nigeria, they argued, had been slow to reciprocate and had tightened entry restrictions for some nationalities, including South Africans.

They also challenged the security argument for strict visa restrictions. According to them, terrorism, banditry and kidnapping stem largely from porous land borders and local recruitment, not visitors arriving through international airports in Lagos and Abuja.

To address security concerns, they recommended modern screening systems, including biometric checks and advance passenger information, at major entry points. They maintained that visa restrictions should not serve as Nigeria’s main security measure.

“Openness begets openness,” they argued, adding that countries that admit more visitors freely are better positioned to secure easier travel access for their own citizens.

Apart from the call for visa-free entry, speakers examined how technology dependence, weaknesses in the justice system and government policies affect freedom and development.

Speaking on artificial intelligence and human freedom in Africa, Dipo Ige, a lawyer and team lead at LawDigits, urged African countries to develop technologies that address local needs. He challenged them to move beyond copying global AI trends and identify problems in health, agriculture and education that technology could solve.

He argued that AI should serve African interests rather than deepen dependence on foreign technologies.

He stressed: “Our constraints should shape our strategy, not stop our ambition.”

On Nigeria’s justice system, Festus Ogun, managing partner at FOLEGAL, questioned whether the courts still serve ordinary citizens.

Speaking on “What to Do with Our Rule of Law”, he argued that the system treats poor and wealthy Nigerians differently.

Mr Ogun questioned whether the judiciary remained the “last hope of the common man” or had become the “lost hope of the common man”. He argued that ordinary citizens struggle to obtain justice, making Nigeria’s system a “judicial system” rather than a justice system.

He identified repeated adjournments, judges’ absence and prolonged proceedings as obstacles that leave litigants frustrated, even when they eventually win their cases. He called for reforms to address systemic problems within the judiciary.

Government accountability and economic freedom also featured in the discussions.

During a session titled “Beyond Good Intentions: Why Freedom Must Shape Nigeria’s Next Generation of Reforms”, moderated by Oluwabukola Adimula, Programmes Associate at African Liberty, participants questioned the numerous taxes and charges imposed on Nigerians, including bank card maintenance fees, and how governments spend the revenue.

Panelists Bayonle Fesobi, Director of Research at Ominira Initiative, and Chike Donald, Executive Director of Simplefix Nigeria, criticised successive governments for recycling policies without addressing previous failures.

They described taxation as “theft” when citizens receive little in return. They also called for stronger monitoring and evaluation of government policies to prevent administrations from abandoning programmes without assessing their outcomes.

At a fireside civic panel titled “What Would You Advance? Changing Perspectives From Citizen Frustration to Sustainable Solutions”, Leonard Ogunweide, founder of Face of Liberty International, moderated the discussion.

Hashimu Adamu, Chairperson of the AU-EU Youth Voices Lab Youth Advisory Board and Executive Lead of Voices & Data for Policy and Development Initiative, Tolulope Gbenro and Khadijat Akewushola, a Public Policy and Governance Specialist at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), urged citizens to hold all three tiers of government accountable.

They encouraged Nigerians to identify community problems, engage relevant public institutions and mobilise others to develop solutions. They also challenged young people to take responsibility for social change rather than postpone their contributions.

At a session titled “The Price and Promise of Freedom in a Changing Africa”, Abinye Briggs, Victor Ndeche, Head of Operations at Glass Institute, and Joy Una, a public affairs and policy professional, examined how economic hardship and weak public institutions restrict individual freedom.

They identified poor infrastructure, unreliable electricity, weak healthcare and low purchasing power as barriers to economic activity and business growth.

Drawing on examples from other countries, they highlighted social support systems such as free public education, childcare assistance, food support and transport benefits. They argued that these measures ease the burden of basic needs and give people greater opportunities to pursue their ambitions.

The speakers also called on governments to improve living conditions, given their control over financial and human resources. They stressed that citizens must participate in governance beyond seeking political office or joining protests.

In interviews with PREMIUM TIMES, participants highlighted lessons from the conference and how they planned to apply them.

Zaka Peter, Chief Executive Officer of Lifted Initiative, said a breakout session on tracking public funds, facilitated by BudgIT at the conference, taught him how to monitor government spending and hold officials accountable for projects they fail to deliver.

The conference also encouraged him to speak up about social issues despite his previous fear of public speaking.

“One of the motivations I got here is that whether you speak or you don’t speak, you are still going to die. So, speak for the next generation,” he said.

He promised to share the knowledge with other young Nigerians through his organisation and social media platforms.

Also, Chenka Sunday, a UNICEF Global Youth Advisor and U-Reporter, said the conference strengthened her understanding of the right to access public information.

“The generality of what I’m taking home is that I can question the government because it is my right,” she said.

She said a breakout session on freedom of information, facilitated by CJID, taught her how to submit information requests. It also provided guidance on the appropriate officials and institutions to approach. The session encouraged her to exercise her right more actively and demand answers from public institutions.