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ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria urged the United States on Tuesday to reconsider its decision to require tighter security for Nigerian air travellers in the wake of the botched bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner.

Its foreign minister, in a meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Africa's most populous nation, called the tougher measures "an unacceptable New Year's gift".

Since Monday, passengers flying from Nigeria to the United States must undergo the same checks as people from Iran, Afghanistan and Cuba.

The procedures follow the Christmas Day bombing attempt on a U.S. airliner blamed on Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who U.S. officials believe was trained by al Qaeda in Yemen.

"Listing Nigeria on the second tier of countries for security measures in the U.S. is an unacceptable New Year's gift," Foreign Affairs Minister Ojo Maduekwe told reporters after meeting with U.S. ambassador Robin Sanders.

"We told her that we want the U.S. government to look at this again."

The U.S. list includes passengers travelling from or through nations listed as "state sponsors of terrorism" -- Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria -- as well as Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen.

Nigeria, which has launched a rebranding campaign to shed its image for corruption, said Abdulmutallab's behaviour should not be a yardstick for judging the country's 140 million residents.