By Vera Chinonso Aliyu and Ada Obeleagu, YeyeNews.com, November 17, 2021
President Muhammadu Buhari has launched Green White-E Lottery, a visa lottery program targeting EU citizens seeking greener pastures to come, live and work in Nigeria. The president made the decision to establish the program after observing the positive response that followed his invitation to French citizens seeking greener pastures to consider relocating to Nigeria, a source in the presidency disclosed to YeyeNews.com.
The source alleged that the president was inundated by requests from citizens of other EU countries pleading for extension of the same courtesy accorded the French to include them also. “After series of high level intervention and considerations, the president made the decision to officially launch a Nigeria Visa Lottery program specifically for EU citizens. The president did not open the program to other countries for security reasons. President Buhari said Nigeria could not close her eyes to the sufferings of EU citizens occasioned by the COVID 19 pandemic”, the source said.
On why the president decided that it should be now when virtually every country, including Nigeria, is having economic challenges, the source said that “since Nigeria has being spared of the economic devastation brought about by the pandemic – thanks to the economic sagacity of President Buhari – the president wants to extend the helping hands to our fellow humans all over Europe. The Americans were excluded because of their propensity for gun violence. We don’t want the peace we enjoy in the country to be disrupted by any economic refugee”, the source explained.
A top official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who pleaded anonymity as he was not authorized to speak on the issue revealed to YeyeNews.com that the various Nigerian embassies in the EU have been inundated by applications for the visa lottery program. “The visa lottery program initiated by Nigeria has turned out to be a very timely intervention. Thousands of EU citizens have already applied since the president announced it. We assure the governments of the EU nations and their citizens that the selection process will transparent and that everything is in place to ensure that those accepted will be provided with the best living standards and opportunities that are enjoyed by our citizens. There will be no form of discrimination”, the official said.
