The recent U.S. revocation of valid visas it previously issued around the world, has come under condemnation by some diplomats, who stated that the action is not only embarrassing but also a sham way to conduct bilateral relations.
The duo of Ambassador Joe Keshi, National President of the Association of Retired Career Ambassadors of Nigeria, and Prof. David Aworawo, Head of Department, History and International Studies, University of Lagos, described the cancellation as a huge embarrassment to Nigeria and all affected countries.
In July 2025, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria announced a revised reciprocity policy, limiting most non-immigrant visas issued to Nigerian citizens to a three-month validity period. In August 2025, some Nigerian citizens holding U.S. visas, including students, business people, and professionals, reported having their visas revoked by the U.S. Embassy, citing “new information” Aworawo said the cancellation “is neither neat no descent; rather it is a sham way to conduct bilateral relations, for a government to have made a commitment and to come and reverse it,” adding that worst still, is the reversal of the visa structure to just a single entry, even with the possibility of denial of entry into the U.S. after the stress preceding the granting of the visa.
“Look, the fact that you get a visa here, does not guarantee entry into the country, because you could just be denied entry there, say on the basis of your previous social media post, and be sent back.”
According to him, anybody who understands diplomacy would know that this new policy is not the way to go, rather it violates Articles 61, 63 and 69, of the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations, all of which speak to bilateral relations and consular issues.
While the Professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies acknowledged countries’ rights to decide on who they want to enter their countries, there are statements in those Vienna Conventions that give consideration to the rights of people and all that. He added that the current actions of the U. S. do not fit into those provisions, rather a violation of some of these laws.
Aworawo urged the United States to reconsider its action, especially as the leader of the free world. “Talking about morality, even if these things are not enforced, the US’ rating on the international scale, in terms of perception, has gone down, because of all of these actions. It is not good for its image.”
He urged affected people to follow the pattern set by Prof Wole Soyinka, by not going to the Embassy, stating that such protest will draw attention to all these wrongs of the US, “because if the Embassy schedule people and they do not show up, it will send a very strong message to the U.S. Little things like these can rattle the government.”
Ambassador Keshi, on his part, ruled out any punitive motives behind the apparent erratic visa cancellations, because, according to him, Nigeria has not done anything to hurt the interests of the United States.
Keshi said given the manner in which the visas were cancelled, it has been difficult to understand the real motives; hence, one has no other choice but to take the explanation offered by the US Diplomatic Mission in Nigeria. He said that under President Donald Trump, policy reversals and somersaults have been common, even as these actions have affected not just Nigeria but several other countries.
Keshi also dismissed the speculations that Nigeria’s romance with China may have angered the US authorities. “I’ve always said that if America does not want us to borrow from China, then America should put some money on the table so that we borrow from them. But they (America) have never done that all these years. Then remember that China put about $80billion on the table for Africa to borrow. This is more than five years ago, and I’m not even sure that Africa collectively borrowed up to $40 billion. Go and look at how much we (Nigeria) have borrowed from China. $600million here and $200million here and there,” he said.
“I don’t think the United States has anything against Nigeria. So, we really can’t begin to fathom why these actions are being taken, and you can’t begin to accuse yourself when somebody has not accused you of doing something.
“There is practically nothing that we can fathom that is responsible for these actions. President Donald Trump’s regime is just doing so many things that have no explanation. So, you can’t really contest what you do not know. It is very difficult. You can only guess, and you can’t even guess correctly.
We have not really done anything to the US for Trump to sanction us so much beyond the fact that they are probably trying to put some pressure on us for other things that you can’t fathom, but he is doing that to many countries. So, we just have to live through his tenure.
“But the only thing that you can say is that, well, it is on record that Nigerians are one of those who apply a lot for American Visas, and they want to reduce it. Look, I believe this will come to pass. When Trump goes, life will go back to normal by God’s grace.
He said: “On paper, we have not done anything to America. We have not killed an American. We have not officially abused America. We have been very quiet on issues that America is interested in, like the Gaza War. So basically, on a national basis, we have minded our own business. Nigeria has minded its own business. It does not want to put its mouth into what does not affect her directly.
“So, America has its own reasons, and it says it is based on its national interest, and there is nothing we can do except to negotiate with America. We can go to them, talk to them, and remind them that:
He continued: “Look, we are one of your friends in this region. Why are you doing this to us? We have not offended you. We have not done anything wrong except that we refused to take some criminals who are in prison in America. We can tell them that already we have a lot of bandits, and we don’t even know what to do with them. We can’t take up another set of Venezuelan rascals into our own prisons. It will be good to also tell Trump that our prisons are not like your own. Our prisons are congested already. We just have to go and major in a case by telling him that these people you are hurting are students who want to go to America to study and build capacity. Tomorrow you will come and say we don’t have capacity. We don’t have intelligence, and when our young people want to go to the US to acquire capacity and intelligence, you’re stopping them.”
