Claim: The Japanese government plans to create a special visa category for highly skilled, innovative, and talented young Nigerians.
Source: Presidency and media (traditional and social media)
Verdict: False
Researched by Hamza Ibrahim
Multiple news outlets, newspapers and social media platforms in viral publications (here, here, here, here, here) claimed the Japanese government had announced a special visa category for highly skilled, innovative, and talented Nigerians who want to move to Kisarazu to work.
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The claim was further amplified in a now-deleted August 22, 2025 press release by Abiodun Oladunjoye, Director of Information at State House.
“The government of Japan on Thursday named the city of Kisarazu as the hometown for Nigerians willing to live and work in the country as part of its strategic efforts to deepen cultural diplomacy, promote economic growth and enhance workforce productivity,” the statement partly said.
Another notable person to have shared the claim from the State House was the Presidential Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on his Facebook page.
The post has generated millions of engagements across various platforms. On X, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation has gained 974.9k engagements on its post.
Fact-check
An investigation conducted by FactSpace Nigeria revealed that the widely circulated claim of announcing special visas for skilled Nigerians by the Japanese government is not true.
The viral claim was circulated as one of the key takeaways on the final day of the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9).
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu joined other African leaders, international development partners, and stakeholders at the TICAD9, which was held from August 20 to 22, 2025, at the Pacifico Yokohama.
JICA releases statement
A statement released by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) notes that the viral claim “contained inaccuracies and potentially misleading information.”
The statement on JICA’s website maintained:
“In connection with JICA’s recent designation of certain Japanese cities as symbolic ‘JICA Africa Hometown’ for partner countries in Africa — announced at the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) — several media reports and statements by an African government, including coverage from ‘The Tanzania Times’, ‘Premium Times (Nigeria)’, ‘Business insider Africa’, and ‘BBC News Pidgin’, have contained inaccuracies and potentially misleading information.
“However, certain local newspapers and the African government have published reports that may give the false impression that, under the ‘JICA Africa Hometown’ program, Nagai City in Yamagata Prefecture would become part of the country of Tanzania, or reports suggesting the promotion of immigration acceptance or the issuance of special visas for travel between Japan and the respective countries, which are all factually incorrect.
“JICA is currently urging the relevant local media and the African government to promptly correct the inaccuracies contained in their coverage,” the statement said.
Verdict
Therefore, the widely circulated claim that the Japanese government has announced a special visa for Nigerian professionals willing to work in Japan is false.
