₦airaland Forum

For those with visa related issues, few resourceful sites below, endeavour to go through relevant ones for information that might apply to you.

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ - Official British Govt Website for Visa Services (now part of UK Border Agency)

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/ - Catch up with current UK Immigration updates (UK Border Agency as well)

http://www.ait.gov.uk/ - Tribunals Services - Asylum and Immigration Tribunal

http://www.ukvac-ng.com/ - UK Visa Application Centre in Nigeria

http://www.britishhighcommission.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&=1106749659639 - British High Commission in Nigeria

http://travel.state.gov/ - US Bureau of Consular Affairs

http://nigeria.usembassy.gov/ - Website of the Us Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria

Note: Please do not ask me anything on visa issues. I won't be of much help.
I don't know that much but what I need to know I'll sure find out one way or
the other. Take time and do your due diligence, then come back to the knowledgeable
guys in the house with questions that are really worth their time and while.

Weco Systems is one of the top ranking IT companies in Nigeria - well at least some years ago when I did a project with them, not sure about the current ranking now. But they are in the same league with Telnet, Resourcery, DPMS etc.

Hope this helps.

Fortunately or unfortunately (depends on how one looks at it), the MODIFY button is still available on posts to the logged-in post author. Until Siena or Seun or whoever decides to disable or restrict this, posts won't be cast in stone. Posters would still modify their posts - either maliciously (unfortunately) or with good intentions (fortunately).

@big-bumper - grammar no be my language. I be real Yoruba ajepako from yaba. I no know how I take reach this UK self - a place reserved for the posh, polished, high-n-mighty conservos.

what's been goin on here?
all of una don start again?

@admin - I second you on that, high time we had a FIGHTS section where these folks can cyber beat themselves to a state of stupor.

U dey beg am.

Aja to fe sonu ko ni gbo fere ode

dog wey wan lost no go hear the hunter's whistle

One from the archives - for the naysayers

we dey tell you - you no hear
Nkrumah shout tay you no hear - you no know
Nkrumah shout for Africa you no hear - you no know
Nkrumah shout tay you no hear - you no know

we let am die we no hear - you no know
we let am quench we no hear - you no know

Sekou Toure shout hin own we no hear - you no know
we let am die, we no hear - you no know
we let am quench we no hear

Nkrumah shout tay we no hear - you no know
we let am die we no hear - you no know

I say
who no know go know oh o
who no know go know
you go know you go know before you die
you go know you go know before you craze


you go know say na black man go fight for black man
you go know say na black man go die for black man

Nkrumah shout 'togetherness' you no hear

Sekou Toure dey shout hin own you no hear

Nkrumah shout 'togetherness' you no hear

-Fela Anikulapo - "who no know go know"

As the deadline given to British Airways to address the five demands made by the Respect Nigeria Coalition over their extreme 'bad attitude' to some Nigerian passengers on board flight BA075 expired on the 30th of April, the Boycott of British Airways and their services commenced today May 15, 2008 all around the world.
As the RNC had planned, the commencement of the boycott had started a day earlier in some parts of the world and, in Lagos, Nigeria; the boycott was officially kicked off this morning at exactly 11am in the morning.

Princess Tosin Awotesu and Ahaoma Kanu led the delegation of Nigerians that stood up to inform Nigerians to henceforth boycott British Airways.

The day started very well and the trio of Kanu, Awotesu and Cyril Udoh, who was a passenger in the plane and witnessed what happened in there frist hand, got in contact and it was agreed that the protest would start at BA’s HQ located at #5 Oyinkan Abayomi Close in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Kanu had earlier informed the press, both Television and Print media, about the boycott that was about to commence and members of the Nigeria media were on time at the venue waiting for the boycott to kick off.

But while the coordinators were on the way, Kanu received a call from some of the media people on ground that a heavy troop of mobile police men armed to the teeth stormed the premises of the BA office in response to a call from BA officials who obviously wanted to prevent the protest from happening, an action similar to what they did on the 27th of March.

The policemen, numbering about 25, were armed with AK-47 rifles, pistols, tear gas  and had an armoured tank on standby.

The first crew that arrived the scene was Kanu and some members of RNC and on arrival, went straight to meet with the policemen and inform them on what was about to start.

They policemen were very civilized and explained that the protest should be suspended since the police authorities did not approve the protest. But they were informed that according to the Nigerian Constitution, a permit is not needed for a peaceful demonstration which was what the group wanted to hold.

When it appeared that the police were under instructions not to allow the protest hold, the journalists insisted that the issue has been made bigger with the presence of the policemen and wanted to see the end of the matter. The journalists were from Superscreen Television, MBI, Galaxy Television, News Agency of Nigeria, FRCN, Metro FM, National Daily Newspapers, Vanguard, Punch and so on.

They debated with the policemen for some time before the MOPOL commander in Lagos Command, Mr. Patrick Ejebawe, came out from the BA premises to meet with the group.

While explaining that he was aware of the right of Nigerian citizens to express themselves freely, he advised that such activities should be carried out with the police's co-operation.

He wanted to know the number of people that would be taking part in the protest and was informed that many were on the way especially Cyril Udoh, one of the passengers on board the plane. The police chief agreed to allow some members of the group meet with BA management which was a nice suggestion.

While the debate was going on, Kenn Emetulu, a member of the RNC, called from London and spoke to the journalists informing them of why the boycott was necessary.

Awotesu and Cyril arrived almost at the same time and she went on to ask the police who called them to come to the venue and there the information came; BA did. It was at this junction that some SSS agents came and asked that four people can go in for the meeting with BA management.

Awotesu, Kanu, Cyril and Efe, a presenter with Super screen Television  went into the BA premises and were met by Mr. Andrian McLoy, BA country manager, Miss Feran Shonuga, Tunji Semo and Demola Adedoyin, BA’s PR person.

After the introductions, Kanu shared the leaflets round to everybody in the room including the SSS agents and then, Miss Shonuga replied by passing round their own press release; that show of wits commenced the real matter.

The first question asked was why Mr. Ayodeji Omotade should be banned for life from flying BA. The country manager said that he was not banned for life.

At this point, VOR took over in a very polished, impressive and authoritative voice that made the BA officials listen and listen carefully. She informed them that the information was just news as Mr. Omotade has not been informed about the development. She asked a question, since it was the BA office in London that informed him that he was banned for life from flying BA, why are we just hearing from him?

The reply was that the country manager needed to consult some people in UK before it would be announced. But then, why life ban? He then informed that it was a ban for six months but still the question why the ban? Then the supposed “unruly” behavior of the Nigerian passengers was the excuse. It was then that Kanu suggested that since Cyril was on the plane, it would be better he give an account of what happened inside the aircraft.

[b]Cyril stated by saying that he had been reading so many accounts of the incident from several newspapers quoting BA’s press release and called the stories rubbish.

“Nobody assaulted any member of the crew nor subject them to verbal abuse as reported by BA in their explanations,” he said.

He went on to explain that he was sitting five rows away from where the whole thing started and witnessed everything that happened.

“The guy that was being deported was making a muffling sound like someone that was being strangled and we had a case last year of a Nigerian killed in that process. Besides, there was a family with kids near where the guy was and the kids were crying so Ayo stood up and said don’t kill him which to me was not provocative nor assaulting.”

Cyril went on to disclose that before the Nigerian passengers were ordered out, BA officials first gently asked two Caucasians (White people) and  a black man from the plane before drawing the curtain.

He also said that they were kept without food or water for all the hours they spent before been put on another plane that was re-routed through Dubai to Lagos.

“Wee ended up spending 18 hours for a 6 hour flight that we paid more than ₤700 for a ₤500 flight,” he regretted.[/b]
When asked if BA was going to tender an apology to Nigerians and Nigeria, the PR person started by saying that the addressed that issue in their press release.

Awotesu challenged her that, “You cannot piss on me and tell me it’s not raining- how can you tell me you regret something without telling me you are sorry,” No BA official answered directly.

The country manager kept mute and allowed the Nigerian BA officers deal with their own people.

They tried but did not make an impression.

The PR guy started talking loudly, obviously he was doing his job and VOR asked him a quaetion.

“If all of us are talking like you are doing now, will it be enough for you to call in the police and order everybody out of a plane? Mum was the word.
The Country Manager then said that the pilot was the person that took the decision, an answer that led to him been asked if it was the pilot that was supposed to take such decision instead of the management? He said the UK police took the decision.

It became apparent that the blame was being shifted to UK police. Folks in UK, that’s your call.

Then came the question from VOR,

“Who called the troop of armed anti-terrorist policemen outside your premises?”

The BA officials explained that it was for security reasons but could not explain why that number of armed policemen was called to guard their premises.

Kanu then asked the questions, Is BA going to apologize to Nigerians or not? They were adamant on the issue of regretting the incident and RNC informed them that the Boycott has just begun and will continue unabated.

BA now asked that they would look into some of the questions raised  and get back to RNC but were told that thousands of emails had been sent to Willie Walsh concerning the matter, VOR made it known that BA had enough time to address the issues but refused to.

When it was clear that BA was not ready to address the demands of RNC, VOR thanked them for their time and the whole group got up to walk out but Mr. Tunji Semo, who was said to be the oldest Nigerian staff of BA pleaded that the meeting should not end like that. He appealed for 5 minutes to talk.

He started by expressing that he is a Nigerian and knows how Nigerians are feeling on the issue but he promised that with BA’s long relationship with Nigeria, it was clear that the issue will be looked into again.

With that said, RNC members then went out to address journalists on the outcome of the meeting. VOR read out a call to Nigerians urging them to boycott BA and their services until they will be humble enough to apologize and compensate the Nigerians they insulted on board their airline. Cyril also shared his experience on camera and answered questions from the press men.

The group then left the BA premises and stopped at Falomo where the distribution and awareness of the Boycott leaflets and posters were shared to Nigerians.

They later went to some parts of VI, Marina and Ikeja to create awareness of the commencement of the BA boycott.

As at the time of this report, the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) a.k.a Radio Nigeria had reported the news in the network news.

Source: http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/ahaoma-kanu/boycott-of-british-airways-commences-in-ni.html

NOTE: Boldened fonts - my emphasis


I must say at times like this I am damn proud of my fellow country men. Forget the naysayers, we deserve more respect than these people are willing to give to us most times. Time we started letting them know what time it is.

I'm wondering - the VOR referenced in this article, is this the same nairaland VOR?

Vicjustice:
BE ASSERTIVE:   CONFIDENCE MATTERS
   You see, a remarkable percentage of visa applicants are being refused the visas based on some ignorant factors due to negligence.
   A lot of people here are always busy giving "advice" only on paper works: such as, which paper to submit and which not to submit, which passport to use or what names should sponsor an applicant.
   However, i wish to use this media to appreciate your efforts. But, i must admit that many of us failed to understand that the majority of visa applicants actually have the right documents, and yet they're being denied visas; and even some of those who were caught with fake or fraudulent documents were compelled to take such dire actions due to experience.
   Apart from my job, i'm a business owner, and i've occasionally conducted interviews on job applicants, those of you who know how it is to conduct an interview will agree with me that it's not just the CVs that counts, the applicant impression matters a lot. even more.
   So, it's not just the documents submitted for visa application that counts: a lot of people have all documents, but they were denied the visas because they failed to convince the visa officers of the aptitude that they'd developed in the intended country: these officers are rather psychologists and they cherish applicants with assertiveness ie, you need to display a bold confidence during your interview.
  [b] Below is a link to a useful video where an Asian dude got his visa approval after a live interview. Take a look at the video and see what i mean:[/b]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8IasdCj_Rw

Much as I hate to point out to you (without attacking your person), but it does seems that you are always in a hurry to rush in a new post of some new links without giving much thoughts to the points you are trying to make.

I'm no immigration expert and really do not care much for immigration matters but you should know the following:

That was no live interview. That was just a demo of an h1-b visa interview by some american visa consultants in chennai. Did you notice they were both (interviewer and interviewee) reading from scripts. Where does the display of confidence come into that.
In most live interviews, the interviewer would be in a vantage position (physically higher) behind a glass kiosk while the interviewee would be at the other end (usually lower) of the counter.
In an american visa interview, you don't always have the luxury of explaining away facts over a lenghty period of time as depicted in this video, most times, a visa decision is preconceived based on documents tendered and the brief interview is just for the interviewer to confirm if a contrasting decision (to the one already taken) should be given.


While not underemphasizing the need to have a right attitude, posture, carriage and confidence during a visa interview (and any interview for that matter), they would be of little help where the documents tendered do not meet the requirements. Also have you considered that the visa issuance process as practised by the UK govt refrains from using a face-to-face interview (unless where absolutely essential) in reaching a visa decision but rather relies on the documents submitted by the applicant?

Which bank is the cheque drawn on?

S-A-D 


I wonder what the naysayers have to say on this.

"Nigerians are killed by Police in their own country everyday so it's no big deal'

'Nigerians can't lay claim to the Human Rights they don't have in their own country"

"He must have been an illegal"

"Worse things have happened to Nigerian in their country so the British Police can't be blamed"

"If he had been screaming 'I can't breathe" or "I go die"  while being held in a death choke, he can't be taken serious - cmon he's a Nigerian, we all know how rowdy they can be".


So So S-A-D 

*Shakes head and leave*

pahtahkee:
@ dnative,
You mean we have a porous border as well? Hope it is not dane gun or shakabula our officers are going to use.

LOL

@Siena - You have a point after all, maybe I should have used the 'Report to moderator' button instead. Lessons learnt. No one's perfect.

Haba Siena - I don't suppose you are taking it this strong. I am simply saying the story has no quoted source and in your rules for the travel section, you said a post must have a clear link to the source. If you have taken action in this regards it would have suffice to say action has been taken for anyone that cares to ask. Tell me I'm wrong in pointing this out and I'll accept that.

I know the source can be easily be gotten from google but isn't the whole essence to get posters to include the source of their posts. I didn't make the rules - only pointing them out.

Wow - this thread is growing from strength to strength, just on naija food alone. Nothing like naija food abeg. Give me my original pounded yam from original yam and straight from 'odo'. I don tire eating all the flaky yam-flour pounded yam here for UK. I for don bring my 'odo' from naija, i no know whether british customs go gree and make my neighbours no come say I dey disturb their peace when  I'm pounding my iyan.

And before settling down for my next iyan meal, not forgetting to recite the 'oriki' for a good meal.

Iyan kokoro funfun ona ofun
Iyan to funfun lau
A bu s'owo otun rugbu rugbu
Ota oyinbo ore agbe
Die l'oku ko de gongo imu
O ra feu
A jeje tun je
Bo lo je mo a si mo dun si
Iyan iyan a si mo dun si.
A gba 'bi ire o

What the heck was that - don't ask me. Got carried away. Nothing but the native in me.

@Lucabrasi - but you sef, you be 'olori oko' for naija food o. Bros I hail. I dey think say na me sabi joint pass but you dey try.

pahtahkee:
There is no source/weblink to this story as well. . . . .

I wonder. For all we care, it might as well be a young haitian woman shot by the police while trying to cross the border from owode to benin.



@Siena - one of the rules clearly states:

4) Any travel information that MAY be useful to our members should have clear links to the original source, unless it is your OWN contribution, which must be verifiable.

or does this not apply. 

Nice one uspry1 in pointing this out. Guess I was too lazy to trawl through the forum list to check for this.

I have been on the thread and I must say it is some work to go through these. If I may make a suggestion on the format, I think a child forum should be dedicated to this rather than a single thread. In this way, if all posters can capture a summary of the details of their missed connections as a thread title under this forum, then it would be much easier for anyone to scan through the various titles to see which one would be of interest without having to open each and every thread to see if the missed connections details apply.

However just a suggestion.

This crossed my mind sometime not too long ago. With the number of nigerians abroad registered here on nairaland, i think a missed-connections thread or a whole forum (don't know if this already exists) would be ideal to help people locate anyone they've lost contact with.

For myself, i wish to locate Martins (can't remember the surname now) - Unilag mech engr class of 96. He served in calabar and was living at the naval quarters along mcc road then. Last I heard of him was that he left for Canada around 1998-2000. I sure would love to make contact with him again. Matto - who knows you might be a nairaland user or have friends who are. Do get in touch here.

'Apology',  'Explanation' or by whatever name you chose to call, to me it don't really matter. The highlight to me is that British Airways can be held to account and get them to go on the offensive to try to explain their position.  This is a strong position shift from the we-kick-those-rowdy-nigerians-off-our-planes-and-we-don't-owe-anyone-no-explanation stance they had earlier taken. if not for the adamant nature of the Nigerians that stood up to be counted, it would have been 'just another incident'.

Furthermore if their "The arrest and detention of one of the passengers involved was a police decision and is not something that British Airways can comment on" stance is strictly a police affair, could the same be said about the ban they imposed on him. That has no correlation with the police issue and they are yet to comment on that.


Nigerians, American-Nigerians, British-Nigerians, British of Nigerian parentage, 3rd generation american of nigerian ancestry or whatever class you think you belong to: Respect is a mutual 2-way street, a national don't deserve less respect based on the bad roads, lack of national airline, corrupt police force in his country. Respect is an inalienable right - that is why it is part of the United Nations Human Rights Charter.

Until BA realizes that with Nigerians you don't take their money with the right hand and slap their faces with the left hand, they are always going to be having issues.