CNN Reporter, Larry Madowo abuses his privileged position in the media industry to bully Nigerian – Reno Omokri
Reno Omokri, a former presidential aide to the former president of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Jonathan has responded to the visa extra charges raised by Larry Madowo. The former aide justified the charges imposed by Nigeria immigration and blamed the CNN report for playing a dangerous card over the visa issue.
To those Nigerian citizens currently attacking the Nigerian government, and especially our immigration authorities, due to Mr. Larry Madowo’s post complaining about his $215 alleged Nigerian visa payment, do note the following:
“The Nigerian visa can be obtained at $25 on arrival for Kenyan citizens, of which Mr. Madowo is one. The $170 is for the biometric fee.”
“Also, Nigeria has reciprocal visa policies with Mr. Madowo’s home country, Kenya. I have been to Kenya multiple times. For many years, Nigerian citizens enjoyed visa-free or visa-on-arrival privileges at Kenyan airports. This was recently revoked. And you do not expect Nigeria to be pleased about this, especially as more Nigerians visit Kenya than vice versa. If Mr. Madowo wants to take a dig at African nations frustrating a “borderless Africa”, he should look closer to home.”
“Moreover, Larry Madowo, who is a CNN correspondent, and who should have known that he is very likely to visit Nigeria, which is Africa’s biggest economy, more than once a year, should have applied for a multiple-entry Nigerian visa, which is available to him for five years at a more affordable cost of just $100, which is far cheaper than the Kenyan visa for Nigerians for the same period, and which would have eliminated the need for multiple biometric charges. He would have just needed to do ONE biometric payment.”
Larry Madowo did not do his homework correctly. It is entirely the responsibility of a traveller to research the immigration requirements of the country he intends to visit. He was negligent in his responsibilities and is trying to blame Nigeria. For a journalist on a platform like CNN, he has demonstrated a surprising ignorance of non-proprietary information, which can be publicly sourced with a cursory Google search.
What he is complaining of is not even unique to Nigeria, as those Nigerians who are supporting him, due to their disappointment at the results of the last elections, seem not to be aware.
For example, whenever a Nigerian or Kenyan reapplies for a British visa, they MUST still pay for their biometrics and take them, even if they just had them recently. It is a standard practice. It is precisely the same process in Nigeria for which Mr. Madowo is complaining about.
“Therefore, prudent individuals choose to apply for a long-term multiple visa, of which the British five-year multiple entry visa costs £771, which is almost ten times the five-year Nigerian visa. That £771 does not include the cost of Biometrics.”
And I saw supposedly enlightened Nigerians, like Dr. Victor Oladokun, of the African Development Bank, commenting on Mr. Madowo’s post as though Nigeria had erred and was not acting in line with international best practices.
Can Larry Madowo try the stunt he pulled with Nigeria against the United Kingdom or the United States?
I am proud of my country. I salute the reforms in our immigration system. And I, for one, will not sit idly while Mr. Madowo undermines Nigeria for an oversight he is entirely responsible for.
“I visited Kenya with twenty of my friends and family, and I was asked to pay a bribe at Jomo Kenyatta Airport in the early hours of January 17, 2024. I have documentary and eyewitness evidence and can prove it in court. I am not known as a meticulous record keeper for nothing! However, for the sake of African brotherhood, I kept a lid on this, because “love covers over a multitude of sins.”
Mr. Madowo, like a typical African dictator, is only abusing his privileged position in the media industry to bully the Nigerian Immigration Service unnecessarily, and again, I, for one, will not have it!
Newsmediang reports that CNN International correspondent, Larry Madowo, has expressed dismay over Nigeria’s visa fees.
Madowo, who made this known on his LinkedIn account on Monday, disclosed that despite holding a Kenyan passport, which grants visa-free access to numerous African nations such as Uganda, South Africa, and Ghana, Nigeria requires a substantial fee of $215 for a single-entry visa.
He wrote, “Nigeria just charged me $215 for a one-month, single-entry visa. Again. I was here three weeks ago – paid the same $215. This is actually my third time in Nigeria this year, so they have made $645 from me in 2024 alone.
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