The Nigerian and United Arab Emirates governments have lifted the visa ban on each other’s citizens and agreed to resume flights between the two countries.

The announcement was made on Monday by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and his UAE counterpart, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The visa ban was imposed by the UAE in August 2022 due to concerns about illegal immigration and security threats.

However, the two governments have agreed to put in place measures to address these concerns, including more stringent visa processing and security checks.

According to the media aide to the President, Ajuri Ngelale “Every agreement comes with mutual responsibility. There is no free lunch. What I mean by that is the notion that floodgates will open up and we go back to business as usual. That is not what Nigerians should expect. I want to be very clear about this so that everybody can understand,”

As part of the agreement, Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines will immediately resume flight schedules into and out of Nigeria.

The Nigerian government has said that it will not be required to make any immediate payments to the UAE as part of the agreement.