Nigeria Packing List

The short version

The clothing part of this list is easy. The part that gets people into trouble is paperwork and pharmacy, and the part nobody expects is what Nigerian customs will not let you carry in either direction.

Documents, and they go in hand luggage

• Your passport, with at least six months of validity counted from the date you arrive.
• Your visa, obtained online before travel.
• Your yellow fever vaccination certificate. This is an entry requirement, not a recommendation, and you may be asked for it at the border.
• Confirmation of the Nigeria Health Declaration Form and of the landing and departure card, both completed online beforehand.
• A paper copy and a photograph of all of the above, kept separately from the originals.

The medicine bag

Your antimalarial medication, in its original packaging, with enough for before, during and after the trip. The CDC recommends prescription preventive medicine for everyone traveling to Nigeria. Bring your regular prescriptions in their original boxes too: pharmacies are widely available and will accept a prescription from home, but most medicines that need a prescription there need one here as well, and showing the packaging is the fastest way to be understood.

Then the ordinary kit that earns its place: insect repellent used through the day as well as the evening, a hand sanitizer, oral rehydration salts, plasters and antiseptic for covering any cut before it meets mud or water, and enough of anything you would struggle to replace.

Clothes

Light, loose, natural fabrics for the south, where it is humid for most of the year, and a layer for a genuinely cold night in the north. Long sleeves and long trousers at dusk are an insect measure rather than a modesty one, though they do both jobs. Bring one set of smarter clothes: church, a family event and a business meeting are all more formal here than a visitor expects, and Nigerian dress at any of them will be far better than yours. Shoes you can walk a rough path in, and shoes you can take off easily at a doorway.

What to leave at home

The expensive watch and the visible jewelry. The FCDO is explicit that visiting foreign nationals are targeted for perceived wealth and advises against wearing valuable or sentimental items. Leave them where they are and nothing about the trip is diminished.

What customs will not let you carry

This catches ordinary people with ordinary bags. It is illegal to import beer, mineral water, soft drinks, sparkling wine, fruit, vegetables, cereals, eggs, textile fabrics, jewelry or precious metals into Nigeria. Check the snack bag before you fly.

Going the other way, it is illegal to export African art, and antiques in particular, without written authorization from the Department of Antiquities. A carving bought in good faith at a market is exactly the thing this rule is about. Ask the seller for documentation, and if there is none, buy something that is plainly contemporary.

See visa and entry requirements and the weather guide.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Nigeria entry requirements: a visa obtained before travel, the withdrawal of visa on arrival, six months of passport validity, the yellow fever certificate and the online health declaration. Accessed 14 September 2026.
• US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Travelers’ Health, Nigeria: the vaccines and medicines recommended before travel. Accessed 14 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Nigeria health: yellow fever, schistosomiasis, Zika virus, malaria and dengue, and what medical care costs. Accessed 14 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Nigeria safety and security: terrorism, kidnap described as widespread and able to occur anywhere, street and vehicle crime, curfews and financial scams. Accessed 14 September 2026.