Surge For Greener Pastures Amid Travel Restrictions

By Alabi Williams / Posted 4 August 2025

Countries are raising the bar in their minimum requirements for travels, including visa fees and other processes, apparently to discourage large numbers. Some are tightening their immigration policies for safety and economic reasons. Even developed countries are going through economic challenges and are struggling to sustain the welfare standards for their citizens.

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On the other hand, citizens of poor and distressed economies are eager to migrate to where conditions are relatively better. They desire to experience the better life that is available in well-governed countries. But the numbers could be overwhelming.

In July, the Canadian government raised the minimum financial requirement for immigrants applying through the Express Entry system. The implication is that a single applicant must now show access to CAD $15,263 (about N17 million), up from the previous CAD $14,690.

For a family of two, the new minimum required funds is N21 million. The purpose of the funds is to demonstrate that immigrants can support themselves and families upon arrival.

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), added that applicants must show proof that the funds are available, in official bank statements or bank letters. It added that: “You must prove to us that you can legally access the money here when you arrive. For example, you can’t use equity on real property as proof of settlement funds. You can’t borrow this money from another person.”

As much as that review may not be targeted at any country in particular, Canada is a preferred destination for economic migrants, including Nigerians. In 2024, Nigeria’s net migration was -35,202, meaning that more people left the country than entered. Other undocumented migrants travel across countries to reach their preferred destinations.

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In Nigeria and along the West Coast, travelers who cannot afford visa fees and may not qualify for it, go through significant risks in the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe. In 2024, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported that 7,115 people died or went missing at sea. The desperation to escape economic misery at home is real for millions of Africans.

Same July, the United States announced it had rolled back the up to five-year, non-immigrant multiple entry visas for Nigerians, now replaced with a single-entry, three-month validity visa. This reciprocal visa policy directly targets Nigerians who desire to have the U.S. as their choice place to settle.

The U.S., United Kingdom and Canada are the preferred countries. In June, the Donald Trump government listed 12 countries whose nationals were banned from entering the United States. Seven others are on partial suspension, including Sierra Leone, Togo, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

The U.S. State Department also said it had identified 36 countries of concern that might be recommended for full or partial entry ban if they do not meet establishment benchmarks within 60 days. Among the concerns raised were lack of a competent or cooperative government as well as situation of questionable security. Nigeria has issues with insecurity.

When Trump hosted the presidents of five African countries in the White House, excluding Nigeria, diplomatic circles rumbled in protests. It was considered an anomaly for the U.S. or any country to host a number of African countries without having Nigeria on top of the list. Instead, smaller countries with moderate regional clout – Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal- were invited in what analysts considered to be a diplomatic blow to Nigeria.

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As Trump shops for more countries to ban from entering the U.S., Nigerians who seek to travel to that country are becoming anxious. Trump also added to the list those who plan to go to the U.S. to deliver babies. The implication is that there could be a drop in migration numbers.

At about the same time, the UK announced plans to introduce stricter visa for nationals of Nigeria, Pakistan, among other countries, due to concerns of overstaying and asylum claims. The Home Office, it was reported, had identified nationalities of migrants with a higher propensity to overstay their welcome. Figures from the British High Commission showed that over 225,000 visa applications from Nigeria were processed in the year leading to June 2024, with a significant portion being student applicants.

Whereas Nigerians are rushing to escape the hardship at home, the UK government said it pocketed over $34 million (N40 billion) in visa fees from Nigerians in the same period. It suggests that Nigerians are willing to invest huge amounts to purchase better life in other countries. If one were to add other countries’ earnings from visas and tuitions paid by students, the sum would be mind boggling. The contradiction is even more perplexing.

To conclude the list of countries seeking to impose travel restrictions on Nigerians, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has banned transit visa applications and imposed new limitations on tourist visas. Stakeholders think this is expected to significantly reduce travel from Nigeria to Dubai, a top business and leisure destination for politicians, their families and the business class. Nigerians between ages 18 and 45 are now restricted from applying unless they are accompanied, in addition to presenting a personal bank statement for six months, each with a minimum balance of $10,000.

From experience, young economic migrants will suffer more from this restriction, than the political class and the business elite. In July 2024, 190 Nigerians were repatriated from the UAE. In October 2023, 542 were similarly repatriated. Many are itinerant job-seekers. In 2022, the UAE put on hold new visa applications for Nigerians among nationals of 19 other African countries, that lasted for two years.

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In terms of economic migration, Nigerians have joined the league of most travelled nationals across time and zones. Traders and professionals naturally seek better prospects and opportunities in developed and richer countries. The drift began more as casual exercise by academics who needed change in environment and orientation in the mid-80s.

Maybe that wave of emigration was spurred by the authoritarian nature of the military regimes of that era. Yet, even the military knew the cumulative effect brain-drain could have on the country’s intellectual manpower base, that it mounted jingles on national television to discourage the eggheads “Andrews” from checking out. That slogan and the message made sense, but it was not sufficient to stop university teachers from going after greener pastures, where they found fulfilment, not just in financial rewards.

Now, the argument for improved remuneration and better working environment has shifted to the health sector. There is now the new Japa migration wave popularised by doctors and nurses. One cannot begrudge essential service providers who train for years and are willing to serve their fatherland but are poorly remunerated and are not appreciated by the system. In droves, they apply for visas to other countries, where thousands of Nigerian medics are employed and are rated as top performers.

In the past five to seven years, 16,000 doctors are reported to have left the country, in addition to over 42,000 nurses. They are trailed by other professionals and students, who use the opportunity to stay back after studies to work and live better life.

The attraction for Africa’s rent-seeking governments in the Japa syndrome is the financial rewards. Governments are not embarrassed that they’re losing skilled labour to other countries. According to the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), diaspora remittances coming into the country have surpassed $90 billion in the past five years.

Meanwhile, legacy tertiary institutions that once attracted patronage from across the world, like the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, are denied affordable electricity to treat ordinary Nigerians. They have become mere consulting clinics with no capacity to do serious medical investigations and diagnosis. It gets ridiculous when patients are advised to come along with their generating sets to power facilities. Politicians who fall sick go to foreign hospitals for their healthcare.

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Education at home is neglected while children of the political class pay hefty sums to access foreign education. And their parents who are ministers of the Federal Republic are not ashamed to flaunt pictures of their graduating children in the media. The budgets that are formulated to build roads and upgrade hospitals are stolen in inflated contracts.

The government that spends huge sums of borrowed funds to burnish a fake image abroad has forgotten that the diplomatic communities in Lagos and Abuja have first-hand knowledge of their wastefulness. Last week, the U.S. Mission Nigeria in its official X (Twitter) account under the hashtag #TransparencyTuesday, echoed the report that Nigerian leaders are noted for poor prioritisation of public funds.

The post referenced @TheAfricaReport, which reported that governors spend billions on new government buildings while they ask citizens to endure hardship. “While Nigerians are urged to endure economic hardship ‘like labour pains,’ some governors are splurging billions on new government houses;” as well as @BudgIT’s report that “instead of funding schools, clinics, or agriculture, leaders prioritise buildings they barely use.”

The courage of the U.S. Mission in Nigeria is appreciated. Let the U.S. Mission and others in the diplomatic community carry out checks on the activities of African politicians and their families in the UK, U.S. and in other safe havens, where looted funds are hidden in investments.

Many have acquired mansions in choice U.S. and European cities that they don’t occupy, except for occasional holidays. Some are proceeds of inflated road contracts.

Absence of accountability leads to bad governance. Thousands of Africans who flock around embassies in search of visas would have loved to stay at home if the conditions they seek in other countries were provided by their governments.

To check brain-drain and unorganised migration of resources and personnel from African countries, let foreign governments and missions empower anti-corruption bodies and agencies to tackle corruption.

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A lot of stolen wealth that are stashed away in foreign countries could develop African countries and encourage citizens to stay at home.

Note: This article was first published by The Guardian Newspaper.
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