Emir of Kano visit to Cyprus blocked by Nigerian Ambassador to Turkey, students reacts

The Nigerian Ambassador to Turkey Amb Ilyasu Audu Paragalda has reportedly blocked His royal Highness The Emir Of Kano Muhammad Sanusi II, (the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria) from visiting North Cyprus due to what he described as diplomatic reason. 

There were jubilation among the Arewa and Nigerian students communities in Cyprus when it was confirmed that the Emir will be coming to Cyprus to grace an event organized by the students of the Near East University but that will no longer be the case following the recent development.  

Following the release of the bad news, Nigerian students in north Cyprus took to social media to air their complaints and their disappointment over the doing of the ambassador.

According to report by Elyaks Blog, a full information on the issue was received from Nigerians studying in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus on Sunday morning.

An academic annual event tagged Career week, which is going to be held in Eastern Mediterranean University in Northern Cyprus from the 12th of March to 15th is been organized, and the Emir of Kano, HRH Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, accepted our invitation to grace the career week event, which is purely for academic reasons, as well as to address international students, including Nigerians. Several weeks and months of planning was made towards this great event, and numerous resources were spent, but unexpectedly, the Ambassador of Nigeria to Turkey, Ilyasu Audu Paragalda, insisted that the Emir should not come to North Cyprus, because North Cyprus is a non-recognized country, with claims that North Cyprus  is not a safe place. Due to obnoxious “diplomatic” reasons, the Emir will not be able to make it as planned. The Emir was coming to North Cyprus for academic reasons, and we cannot seem to find any legal justification or provisions for the cancellation of his visit.

So our questions as Nigerians living in North Cyprus here are:

Why is the Ambassador preventing the Emir from visiting when the ambassador has kids of his own, studying in Cyprus under scholarship that was granted by the university? Also, why is the Nigerian Embassy in Ankara, collecting a very huge amount of money from each an every graduate that graduated from North Cyprus universities just to get a signature on their certificates? Why are they collecting lots of scholarship slots from all the universities here, and sharing those slots within themselves and their staff each and every semester? Why are they charging triple the price of an international passport for renewal when they come to renew passports of Nigerian Students here in Northern Cyprus?

We need the ambassador to answer all these questions on why he is trying to be the barrier between Nigerians and their leaders. Does that mean he is disowning the people he has been sent to represent??