The news broke during the week on how the Canadian government denied visa application to certain politically exposed Nigerians
Nigeria's National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, criticised the Canadian embassy for denying visas to Chief of Defence Staff Christopher Musa and other top military officers.
Ribadu's comments came after Musa disclosed at the maiden annual lecture of the National Association of the Institute for Security Studies (AANISS), held in Abuja on Thursday, that he and his team were invited to Canada for an event honoring war veterans, but half of the delegation was denied visas.
Musa described the incident as "disappointing," emphasising that it serves as a reminder for Nigeria to "stand strong as a nation" and not be taken for granted.
“Every disappointment is a blessing. Yesterday, I was meant to be in Canada. There’s an event to honour our veterans, those who were injured during battles, and we were meant to be there.
“We were invited with our team. Half has gone, and half has been denied. It’s very disappointing,” he emphasised.
Ribadu commended Musa for speaking out about the incident, saying, "Thank you for the courage to say Canada denied you visas.
They can go to hell, "
He emphasised that despite the disappointment, Nigeria is "peaceful and strong" and must work hard to overcome such challenges.
Ribadu also praised Musa for providing "purposeful leadership" in the war against insecurity.
While I can understand the pains being expressed by the NSA , his use of words was very undiplomatic, to say the least
Asking a country to " Go to Hell " for its refusal to issue you a visa is uncouth
To start with , every sovereign state, including Nigeria, has the right to refuse any foreign citizen its visa ,irrespective of status
It is within its right to do so
You're also obliged to make enquiries if aggrieved on why your visa application was rejected, which they are not obliged to inform you ( in most circumstances, they provide such information)
Agreed that the Chief of Defence Staff based on his status ordinarily ought to have been issued a visa , where such did not happen, did the office of NSA through the normal diplomatic channels found out why the visas were not issued
Did the NSA and Defence Headquarters make a formal report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Minister for his intervention, and if they did, what was the outcome
Mr Nuhu Ribadu, through his undiplomatic comment, practically threw the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which would have intervened in the matter under the bus
In the past, embassies in Nigeria have denied several categories of Nigerians, including sportsmen, on international competition visas . Did the NSA complain about that
I totally agree with him, though, that this is a wake-up call to Nigeria to get it right
Let's fix our country so that we can reclaim our pride of place in the community of nations
Let's restore our pride and dignity as a people
If we get it right , Nigerians in their thousands won't be trooping to various embassies daily to leave the country
The most dignifying thing to do is for Mr Nuhu Ribadu through the well established channels to apologise to the Canadian Embassy for his unnecessary attacks and seek greater cooperation between our two countries
Nuhu Ribadu is a top government official, his comments may be interpreted as the official position of President Bola Tinubu’s government
If we get our acts right, no country in the world no matter how powerful can " rubbish" us
Two wrongs definitely can not make a right
I am Chris Kehinde Nwandu, a blogger , journalist, and law graduate