Nigeria had no warning on potential U.S. travel ban - minister

By Karin Strohecker

LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Nigeria had no warning from

Washington that it could be added to the list of countries

subject to a U.S. travel ban, information minister Lai Mohammed

said on Monday, adding such a move would be "hasty" and send the

wrong signal to investors.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would add

more countries to his travel ban list. While he gave no details,

a source familiar with the proposal said the tentative list

included seven nations - Nigeria, Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan,

Myanmar, Sudan and Tanzania. An announcement was imminent, said Mohammed, adding that

while Abuja had reached out to the U.S. administration since

learning about the plan, his government did not get any warning

and had not been told any possible reason.

"We are doing everything we can," Mohammed told Reuters in

an interview. "A travel ban is going to send the wrong signal to

investors, it is going to stifle the good of the country and

vulnerable people who need medication and schools will be the

most affected."

Nigeria, Africa's largest economy and most populous country,

is a U.S. anti-terrorism partner and has a large diaspora

residing in the United States.

It is not clear what sort of restrictions Nigeria might face

if added to the list and the U.S. administration has so far not

commented. Under the current version of the U.S. travel ban on

foreign countries, citizens of Iran, Libya, North Korea,

Somalia, Syria and Yemen, and some Venezuelan officials and

their relatives are blocked from obtaining a large range of U.S.

immigrant and non-immigrant visas.

"Nigeria has done very well in the area of fighting

terrorism," Mohammed said, adding that Washington help drive

militant groups such as Islamic State out of Nigeria.

DEAF EARS

Asked about Nigeria's move to close its land borders last

August with neighbours such as Benin and Niger to fight

smuggling, Mohammed said the move had been a success and boosted

food production inside the country.

"Every attempt in the last 16 years to persuade our

neighbours, especially Niger, to adhere to the ECOWAS protocol

of transit has fallen on deaf ears," he said, referring to the

trade protocol governing the exchange of goods between the

Economic Community of West African States to which Nigeria

belongs. "No country can allow that it can become a dumping

ground for goods from elsewhere."

In 2015, the central bank banned the use of its foreign

exchange to pay for rice imports and has backed loans of at

least 40 billion naira ($131 million) to help smallholders boost

output, before moving to a full border closure last summer.

Mohammed said his government was happy with how the move had

spurred local production. Yet the border closure also worsened

price pressures, with inflation at 11.98% in December, rising

for the fourth straight month and well outside the central

bank's band of 6%-9%.

"We see this only as temporary," he said, adding he expected

inflation to fall into the single digits by 2023.

Nigeria ranks among top nations overstaying U.S. visas https://tmsnrt.rs/2RUzOaV

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