Social media
The federal government says it will reciprocate the United States’ new visa policy which requires Nigerian visa applicants to provide details of their social media accounts from the past five years.
On Monday, the US mission in Nigeria said applicants must disclose usernames or handles across all platforms used within the period.
The mission warned that omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas.
Reacting to the development, Kimiebi Ebienfa, spokesperson of the ministry of foreign affairs, told TheCable that the federal government will reciprocate.
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He added that the ministry was informed ahead of the announcement.
Speaking with The Punch, Ebienfa reiterated that regarding such matters, the best that can be done is reciprocal action, with Nigeria adopting the same measures for visa applicants from the US.
“I think that’s what the government might do because anything visa is reciprocal. What you are mandating our nationals to do, we will also mandate your citizens applying for our visa to do,” he said.
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Ebienfa said the federal government would convene an inter-agency meeting that will involve the ministry of foreign affairs, the ministry of interior, and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), to agree on the best way to respond to the new visa requirements.
“So, the stakeholders that are involved will have a meeting and agree on our best way to respond to it holistically,” he said.
International student applicants were previously instructed by the US in June to make their social media accounts public for vetting.
The previous month, the President Donald Trump administration suspended student visa appointment scheduling as part of plans to tighten restrictions on applicants considered hostile to the country.
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In July, persons applying for F, M, and J non-immigrant visas were directed to adjust their social media privacy settings to ‘public’ to allow US authorities unrestricted access during background checks.
