The Nigerian Passport

Henley Passport Index 2025

Far beyond the ongoing leadership problems in Nigeria, and not to mention the declining state of the economy, increase in insecurity, endless corruption, among others; there are even more gripping matters that we have not talked about enough- the status of the Nigerian passport in world ranking. According to the Henley Passport index 2025, the Nigerian passport displays a mobility score of 45 Visa-free destinations, 181 visa-required destinations, with an individual ranking of 194 out of 199 countries. This implies that the Nigerian passport is among the lowest ranked international passports in the world, only ranking above five other countries including Syria, Pakistan, Yemen, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The implication of this is that Nigerians especially those travelling internationally with the Nigerian passport, to countries that are not listed under the country’s Visa-free destinations face significant number of difficulties in accessing these countries compared to those travelling with high-ranking international passports. Due to the Nigeria’s poor global ranking, its citizens face visa rejections, delays, extra costs, discriminations, strict security checks for its citizens, among others. Should our dreams continue to be cut short because of the fears, uncertainties and humiliations that come with travelling with the Nigerian passport all because of the poor state of our country?

Alma Asinobi

Alma Asinobi

#Almasinobi is a Travel content creator and Entrepreneur based in Canada. She is also the founder and CEO of Kaijego, a travel company focused on building products to make travel easier and more accessible to Africans in Africa and in diaspora. In a post circulated on her Instagram and X accounts, Alma announced her decision to attempt to break the Guiness World Record for the fastest time to visit all 7 continents. As someone who is well travelled and shares her experiences on the social media, Alma’s purpose for attempting the GWR is not only to provide hope for many Nigerians who have little or no hope in achieving their dream of travelling the world with a low-ranking international passport, but to also see if the quest can bring visibility to the Nigerian passport and provide the platform that serves as a catalyst for change for the poor status of the passport. 

7in60 #AlmaChasingContinents

#designbyallen

The previous GWR record was set to 73hours 1 minute and 5 seconds, by Indian travellers, hence, Alma planned to travel all continents in 70hours. However, whilst she prepared to embark on her uquest, an American traveller broke the record and visited all continents in 64hours. This made Alma revise her plans and set a 60-hour target instead.

The rules for breaking this world record included visiting all continents, getting into the cities and not just the airport, collecting evidence of the visits, documenting every step of the way and working with precise timing with zero room for error. Alma’s quest was initially supposed to commence on March 15th, it was however delayed because there were no available flights from Chile to Antarctica, which was her first destination continent. She eventually commenced on March 20th and made it to Antarctica. After Antarctica, was continent two and three - South America and North America, which she visited under 24hours. The fourth continent she visited was Europe. On her way, her flight got cancelled and she was delayed for over 4hours. She eventually managed to get a last-minute flight to Europe and continued her quest from there, reaching continent five and six, which was Africa and Asia respectively, all under 53hours. With just one continent to go, Alma proceeded to travel to Australia. However, due to embassy delays, she missed her flight and was delayed for a couple of hours more. Finally, she made it to Australia in 71hours and 26minutes, failing to break the Guiness World Record. 

A Ray of Hope

Alma might not have broken the Guiness World Record for the fastest time to travel around the 7continents, she has however achieved a whole lot. The quest has raised awareness among Nigerians on the struggles that come with travelling to countries that require visas. Sharing her experiences through the quest as well as some moves, she made to solve some problems she encountered also provided values for Nigerians on how-to head-on face some of these travelling challenges. It has also encouraged a lot of Nigerians to not be limited and intimidated by the colour of their international passport but rather chase their dreams of travelling the world. Alma, through her bold quest has not only provided hope for both travelling and potential travelling Nigerians, but has also shown that in the face of our poor recognition, we are in this together.

Lastly, Alma’s quest was not just about breaking a record,  it was about striving for a better Nigeria,  both home and abroad, and inspiring Nigerians to dare to demand more. “This journey has taught me more than I set out to learn, I’m taking the sweet with the sour and hoping that one day, hopefully in my lifetime – we see change. From where I’m standing, we’re nowhere close to that day but I know it’s possible” she said. In other words, achieving a respectable status quo might be far from view but it is not impossible.

Do you think Nigeria can achieve a global recognition in 10years? Drop your opinions in the comments section