Japan Cancels ‘Africa Hometown’ Initiative After Nigeria’s ‘Special Visas’ Claim

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has cancelled its “Africa Hometown” initiative, saying the programme created unnecessary confusion and was widely misunderstood.

The announcement, made in a statement on Thursday, followed weeks of speculation that the initiative would allow Nigerians to obtain special visas to live and work in Kisarazu, a Japanese city identified as a “hometown” for Nigeria and other African countries under the scheme.

That claim surfaced on August 26 after the Director of Information at the State House, Abiodun Oladunjoye, issued a statement suggesting Japan would introduce a “special visa category” for highly skilled, innovative, and talented young Nigerians who want to move to Kisarazu to live and work.

Reacting to the claim, the Japanese government denied the report, stressing that the initiative led to misunderstandings and confusion within the country, placing an excessive burden on the four municipalities.

JICA explained that the problem stemmed from how the word “hometown” was used and from the idea of “designating” Japanese municipalities in this way, which, it said, created confusion inside Japan and placed unnecessary pressure on the four participating cities.

The statement read, “Originally, under this initiative, it was envisioned that exchange programs would be coordinated and implemented among the Japanese local governments, relevant African countries, and JICA. The specific details were to be determined later.

“However, JICA believes that the very nature of this initiative—namely, the term “hometown” and the fact that JICA would ‘designate’ Japanese local Governments as “hometowns”—led to misunderstandings and confusion within Japan, placing an excessive burden on the four municipalities. JICA sincerely apologizes to the municipalities involved for causing such situation.

“JICA takes this situation seriously. After consulting with all parties involved, JICA has decided to withdraw the “JICA Africa Hometown” initiative.”

Launched in August during the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development, the initiative was meant to promote cultural and educational exchanges between four Japanese municipalities and four African countries.

JICA emphasised that it never promoted immigration under the programme and has no intention of introducing such policies in the future.

The controversy deepened after Nigeria’s Chargé d’Affaires in Japan, Florence Akinyemi Adeseke, alongside Kisarazu’s mayor, Yoshikuni Watanabe, took part in a ceremony where a certificate naming the city the “hometown” of Nigerians was presented.

The gesture fuelled widespread reports of migration opportunities that were later dismissed by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

KanyiDaily recalls that in August, presidential aides Bayo Onanuga and Temitope Ajayi paid a visit to Kisarazu, the Japanese city falsely designated as Nigeria’s hometown in Japan.