Nigeria Packing List
- Country Nigeria
- Guide Packing
- Reviewed 28 October 2026
- Sources 2
- Length 1 min read
Credit Mr Trinity001, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Last reviewed 28 October 2026
Two things here need doing well before a bag comes out of the cupboard, and one of them will stop you at the border if you skip it.
The certificate you cannot enter without
Yellow fever vaccination is a condition of entry to Nigeria, not a recommendation. You need the certificate. Infants of eight months or younger and adults of sixty-one or older are exempt.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that travelers going to Nigeria take prescription medicine to prevent malaria. That is a conversation with a doctor, and depending on the medicine it starts days before you fly and continues after you get home.
Schistosomiasis, Zika virus and dengue are also among the health risks in Nigeria.
The health half of the bag
- Your yellow fever certificate. Without it you may not be allowed in.
- Antimalarial tablets, prescribed, and started on the schedule your doctor gives you.
- Insect repellent. Dengue mosquitoes bite in daylight and malaria mosquitoes at night, so this is an all-day measure.
- Prescription medicine in its original packaging. Pharmacies are widely available in cities, and a Nigerian doctor can write a new prescription for a fee.
- Insurance covering medical evacuation. There is no national ambulance service.
- Avoid swimming in fresh water, which is where schistosomiasis is contracted.
And the rest
- Modest clothing. Nigeria is religiously diverse and conservative dress is the safer default in most of it.
- Copies of your documents, kept separately from the originals.
- A power adapter and a means of charging away from mains power.
- Nothing on the prohibited import list. See the visa guide: it includes beer, bottled water and secondhand clothing.