Nigerian authorities have deleted an erroneous statement about Japan issuing special visas for Nigerians, a misinterpretation that fueled false claims on social media that Tokyo was opening its doors wide open for African immigrants.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the removal on Aug. 26, following formal discussions with the Nigerian government.
The bogus visa claim was part of a flood of misinformation about a cultural and international friendship project organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
JICA recently designated four Japanese municipalities as symbolic “JICA Africa Hometowns” for African governments.
The announced pairs are: Imabari in Ehime Prefecture with Mozambique; Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture with Nigeria; Sanjo in Niigata Prefecture with Ghana; and Nagai in Yamagata Prefecture with Tanzania.
Mistranslations about the program spread on X and other social media platforms, and the JICA program was wrongly criticized as allowing a “flood of African immigrants” to enter Japan.
Some posts even claimed Japanese territory was being given to the African nations under the program.
The four municipal mayors each released statements saying these rumors were completely untrue.
Hisashi Matsumoto, parliamentary vice minister for foreign affairs, on Aug. 28 reiterated that Japan has no special visa programs or eased immigration policies for the African countries.
He also acknowledged the ministry’s slow response in preventing the spread of the...
Nigerian authorities have deleted an erroneous statement about Japan issuing special visas for Nigerians, a misinterpretation that fueled false claims on social media that Tokyo was opening its do...