Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States, Kayode Are, has expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu will visit Washington before his tenure ends, describing the groundwork for a meeting with President Donald Trump as already laid through ongoing diplomatic engagement between the two governments.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, Are said the relationship between Tinubu and Trump was cordial despite the two leaders not having met in person. He was careful not to set a timeline, acknowledging that presidential schedules are ultimately determined by factors beyond any ambassador’s control. What he was willing to say was that an in-person visit remained his personal ambition for the assignment and that the current level of bilateral contact made it achievable.
The more revealing portion of the interview was Are’s account of what Nigeria’s three-year absence of a substantive ambassador in Washington actually cost.
“As we speak, I’m still feeling the impact that for three years we didn’t have an ambassador,” he said. “Many of the staff who came from home, they’ve never had an ambassador or worked with an ambassador. So, it’s a new learning experience for them. There is a clear impact.”
The relationships that ambassadors build and maintain with counterparts, legislators, and officials across the US government had gone unattended. Are said restoring that momentum would take time.
Nigeria recalled its envoys in 2023 and left career diplomats managing the mission until Are’s appointment. That period coincided with significant shifts in US-Africa policy, trade negotiations, and the immigration debates that have increasingly affected Nigerian travellers. Whether a substantive ambassador would have changed outcomes on any of those fronts is impossible to say. That the mission was operating below its institutional capacity during a consequential period, however, is not in dispute.
On the issue of visa restrictions affecting Nigerians, Are acknowledged the scale of the challenge, noting that he received enquiries from Nigerians about visas on a daily basis. He said immigration policies had become a major issue globally as countries adopted measures that reflected their own national interests. While stopping short of promising a quick resolution, he said sustained diplomatic engagement would help Nigeria navigate the evolving policy environment.
“The visa issues won’t disappear even now that there is an ambassador, but we will create the conditions and engagements with our partners such that those things that are not particularly directed at us, we will learn how to deal with them,” he said.
Are also issued a direct warning to Nigerians travelling to the United States, urging strict compliance with visa conditions. He cautioned that overstaying or violating immigration rules could harm individual cases and damage Nigeria’s broader reputation with US authorities. “If you come on a visa for a visit, you cannot expect to stay beyond your visit and expect people to condone you because you are a Nigerian. It won’t happen,” he said.
