Explainer On Nigeria-UAE Deal!

TEMITOPE AJAYI 

A number of online news platforms have gotten over themselves, engaging in a misdirected fact-checking excercise on whether or not UAE actually lifted the visa ban on Nigerians, following the meeting between Presidents Tinubu and Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Monday in Abu Dhabi.

I think it is wrong headed to indulge in any fact-checking expedition without first having basic knowledge of the subject.

In diplomacy, when two leaders engage and reach a deal on any issue at bilateral level, like our President and UAE President did, the next is for concerned officials of both countries, at ministerial level, to hammer out the details of the agreement for ratification and execution.

That President Tinubu and his counterpart in UAE agreed to lifting of visa ban on Nigerians and resumption of flights between the two countries does not mean Etihad, Emirates and Air Peace Airlines will start boarding passengers the next day.

A diplomatic/bilateral agreement is simply a contract through which two countries exchange promises to perform. One country’s promise will only serve as consideration for the promise of the other – Nigeria and UAE, in this instance.

Attempts to discredit an emphatic diplomatic win by President Tinubu, out of poor understanding/deliberate misapprehension of how diplomacy works, is a disservice to fact-checking journalism.