Former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Nurudeen Mohammed, has offered a critical assessment of the factors leading to the United States’ decision to impose a partial travel ban on Nigeria.
During a Wednesday, the 17th of December, 2025, appearance on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’, Mohammed argued that a significant vacuum in Nigeria’s diplomatic representation left the nation vulnerable to international sanctions. He pointed out that Nigeria has been without ambassadors for 2 years, adding that her side of the story was never told.
The discussion follows the recent move by US President Donald Trump, who signed a new Proclamation further restricting the entry of foreign nationals into the United States, adding 15 additional countries to the list of those facing partial travel limitations.
According to Mohammed, the lack of an official Nigerian voice in Washington allowed negative narratives to fester. He observed: “The conversation within Nigeria was very toxic, and nobody was speaking on our behalf. All of these, having been left unchecked, collided with the Trump presidency, which isn’t here to joke.”
The former minister highlighted how internal instability and unrefined public discourse have damaged Nigeria’s standing on the global stage. He noted: “It’s a very difficult times for Nigeria, and we have been discussing here, and a lot of people have seen this coming long ago, we have been unfortunate. I would say for a couple of months, running into a year, about the kind of visibility that is given to us around the world, I’ll call it infamous visibility, where Nigeria is being dragged from so many directions, both domestically and international level, and sometimes it is the domestic conversations that are weaponized.”
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Mohammed emphasized that without high-ranking envoys to provide context to Nigeria’s security challenges, the international community only hears the most “unsavory” accounts. He stated: “Unfortunately, at the global levels and The country has been without representation that can never be ignored for more than two years, where these unsavory voices to say were left unchecked. Our side of the story was never heard.”
He further linked the travel restrictions to the way Nigeria handles internal security crises, concluding: “The conversation within Nigeria has been very toxic. Let me be very frank. How we handle issues of terrorism, banditry, whatever we call it. An Army-General was caught alive and shot on live camera,” he said.