Japan Denies Nigeria Government’s Claim That Special Visas Are Being Issued to Nigerians
The clarification follows remarks by Abiodun Oladunjoye, Director of Information at Nigeria’s State House, who announced last week that Japan would soon issue special visas to “highly skilled, innovative, and talented young Nigerians” under the JICA Africa Hometown initiative.
Tokyo, Aug. 26, 2025 — Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has refuted a statement from Nigeria’s government suggesting that the country would begin issuing special visas to Nigerians to live and work in Kisarazu.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu
The clarification follows remarks by Abiodun Oladunjoye, Director of Information at Nigeria’s State House, who announced last week that Japan would soon issue special visas to “highly skilled, innovative, and talented young Nigerians” under the JICA Africa Hometown initiative. He also claimed that artisans and blue-collar workers from Nigeria would benefit from a “special dispensation visa” as part of the exchange programme.
However, Japan has issued a firm denial. In an official statement, the Foreign Ministry said:
“There are no plans to take measures to promote the acceptance of immigrants or issue special visas for residents of African countries. The series of reports and announcements concerning such measures are not true.”
The government clarified that the hometown designations—which link Japanese cities such as Kisarazu with Nigeria, Nagai with Tanzania, Sanjo with Ghana, and Imabari with Mozambique—are intended solely to foster cultural, educational, and developmental exchanges. These exchanges may include events featuring JICA overseas cooperation volunteers, but they expressly do not involve immigration or work visa provisions.
The JICA Africa Hometown initiative was launched at the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) in Yokohama. Its aim is to strengthen ties between selected Japanese municipalities and African countries through mutual collaboration—not migration.
Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked Nigeria’s government to correct the inaccurate claim that it had agreed to issue special visas—emphasizing that such reports were a misunderstanding or mistranslation.
