Lolu01:
like does my petitioner have to send the documents to me by dhl OR can he scan it to me then i print it out here in nigeria. pretty16. did you take the original AOS for oyur interview?

Scan and print

pretty16:


Email the embassy.

For posterity sake.
Had my interview today, though I had to switch back to F2B, if not I'll only be current by next month on F1. My siblings were all filled for separately.

The interview went thus;
Who petitioned for you? are you married? Have you ever been married? do you have kids? Are you expecting any kids? Are you in a relationship that can lead to. Marriage?, gave me a form to fill, that if I should get married before I leave, the visa is void. Then told me to expect a text message from 5 to 7 days as to the readiness' of my passport.

Good Luck � everyone

Stancima:
I got a message from NVC yesterday that my interview is scheduled in Lagos on 25th April at 6.30am. My priority date is 1st April and am on F2B. Although I was on F1 but triggered the opt out clause around July Last year which brought my application back to F2B.

Did you trigger the opt out while still in USISC, or when it's already at NVC
If you did when it was in USISC, how did you do it? Will appreciate the information

pretty16:


Well if u do, it saves you the stress of not bringing it during your interview. But if your police certificate has passed 1yr after your interview date, then u need to get another. Cos police certificate is valid for 1yr. But it's best y submit a PC to them at the NVC stage.

They have already sent me a mail requesting for it. Just submitted the other documents less than two weeks ago

Wilsub:

No it's not

Okay, thanks a lot

pretty16:


. The matter tire me.

I've gone through this entire thread, and boy; it wasn't easy.
Anyway, I just wanted to ask, must one submit the police clearance certificate during NVC, processing.
I know its a must for interview, just wanted to know if its a must during NVC.

sochima1989:
Good morning great pals..
Please am almost tired of how my skin reacts to bites of mosquito
any other effect.
The bites turns to sore, takes time to heal and usually itches during this period. And it finally leaves odd marks on my skin that hardly clears off even after years.

Please I need help

Use insect repellent. Something like Protec or Odomos. Protec is better cos its a bio-insecticide

omohayek:


Thanks. I've gone back and re-read your modified post. My problem with your first point is that any worthwhile exports will require the importation of the necessary inputs, which means that in the short term inputs may well increase, and that increase may happen even faster than exports do. Countries like South Korea, Japan and Taiwan have next to no native natural resources, not even iron ore, and if their politicians had insisted on keeping imports as low as possible, these countries would never have become export powerhouses.

The Nigerian prejudice against imports - one clearly shared by Buhari - is incredibly damaging to economic growth, and his import-restricting policies are actually opposed by most of the domestic manufacturers on whose behalf the policies are supposedly for, especially the smaller manufacturers without government connections to get around the restrictions. The claim that it is being done to restrain inflation is utterly wrong: as Obikili points out, the feed-through effect of a devaluation isn't 1-to-1, and central banks have other tools at reach for fighting inflation. On the other hand, what happens when domestic manufacturers can't import the materials and tools they need to keep producing? Their goods become scarce on the market, and the prices skyrocket correspondingly - producing the very runaway inflation the anti-importation policy was supposed to combat.

I've never heard the anti-import policy is meant to check inflation, rather it's meant to reduce demands for Forex for some items.
Raw materials and essential imports still get FOREX.

seunmsg:
The naira issue has been the topic of debate for a while now. Should we devalue or not? Can we cope with the effect of a devaluation? What happens if we don’t? And so on. Over the next few days, I and other colleagues-experts in their fields-will give views on a variety of issues regarding the naira devaluation debate.

To kick things off, it is useful to discard some bad ideas which have been tossed around for a while.

Bigger Number = Stronger Currency?

The first myth to debunk is the false idea that if you exchange a bigger number for a smaller number then the currency with a bigger number is weaker than the currency with a smaller number. You typically hear people say: “Wow, one dollar is exchanging for 16 rand. The rand is weak. The dollar is strong.” That kind of thinking is faulty mostly because it doesn’t take into account the purchasing power behind the currency.

For example, if an individual living in the US earns 300 dollars a month, then that is technically identical to an individual in South Africa earning 4800 rands a month, given that 1 US dollar exchanges for 16 rands. So long as that exchange rate holds then the rand is not weak or strong, it’s just the rand.

In reality, the strength or weakness of a currency has little do with what the actual exchange rate is. So although one Ghanaian cedi exchanges for 30 Japanese yen, you cannot say the cedi is stronger than the yen. Similarly, although one Turkish lira exchanges for six Mexican pesos, you cannot say the lira is strong and the peso is weak. That would be wrong.



In reality, the strength or weakness of a currency has little do with what the actual exchange rate is. So although one Ghanaian cedi exchanges for 30 Japanese yen, you cannot say the cedi is stronger than the yen. Similarly, although one Turkish lira exchanges for six Mexican pesos, you cannot say the lira is strong and the peso is weak. That would be wrong.

What then determines a currency that is “weak” or “strong”?

A weak or strong currency is one that is changing, or that everybody expects to change soon. For example, if the naira changes from 150 to the US dollar to 165 to the US dollar, then during the period the change is taking place the naira is relatively weak and the dollar is relatively strong. The same applies if the currency is expected to change soon. If everyone expects the naira to change from 197 per US dollar to 300 per US dollar, then the naira is weak relative to the dollar. The weakness persists as long as the expectations about the change persist. If the change eventually happens, the naira moves to 300 to a dollar, and everyone believes that is the end of it, then the naira is no longer weak. It is just the naira.

Weak Currency = Bad Economy?

The second myth to dispel is the idea that a country whose currency weakens consistently over time cannot grow. This could not be further from the truth.

The poster child of why weakening currencies do not imply slow growth is South Korea. South Korea grew its GDP per capita from about 1100 US dollars in 1960 to about 24,500 in 2014. What happened to its currency over the period? In 1960 one US dollar exchanged for about 63 won. Today one US dollar exchanges for almost 1200 won. In short, over the period where South Korea has “developed”, its currency has also weakened consistently.

…a currency that loses value over time is not the doom it is made out to be.

Similar patterns can be seen for some of the other fastest growing economies over the period, such as Chile, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The majority have grown relatively quickly even with weakening currencies. In fact, many countries try to weaken their currencies to boost growth. One of goals of Abenomics, a fancy name for policies implemented by the Japanese Prime Minister, was a devaluation of the yen to boost growth. China was accused for years of artificially weakening its currency.

There are many other examples from around the world. The Vietnamese dong trades at 22300 per US dollar today from about one dong per US dollar in 1983 and Vietnam still managed to grow at an average of 6.5% per year over the period. The Indonesian rupah trades at 11,800 per US dollar today from about 600 rupahs per US dollar in 1980 and Indonesia also still managed to grow at an average of 7% per year over the period. Bottom line, a currency that loses value over time is not the doom it is made out to be.

Devaluation = Uncontrollable Inflation?

The third myth is the idea that devaluations lead to runaway inflation, an idea that is not technically true. To be clear, devaluations do lead to inflation but not nearly as much as people think.



For example, the South African rand has devalued by about 40% in the last year yet inflation has ticked up by less than one percentage point to 5.2% from 4.4% a year ago. The Russian rubble has devalued by 126% since the middle of 2014 yet inflation has gone from 8% in mid-July of 2014 to about 13% today, although it peaked at around 16%. A significant increase, but nowhere near catastrophic.

…the reality is, devaluations do cause inflation but not that much… Ironically, according to some studies, the black market premium, i.e. the difference between the official exchange rate and the black market exchange rate is a bigger driver of inflation than devaluations.

Finally, we can look at Nigeria where the naira lost about 20% of its value between October 2014 and March 2015. Despite the devaluation, inflation, which was about 8% then, is still below 10%. If you add the fact that the dollar prices of some of our largest imports, fuel and wheat, have fallen to almost record lows then the inflation worry is minute.

So the reality is, devaluations do cause inflation but not that much. Despite a devaluation, the Central Bank still has lots of tools at its disposal to keep inflation in check. Ironically, according to some studies, the black market premium, i.e. the difference between the official exchange rate and the black market exchange rate is a bigger driver of inflation than devaluations.

Does Nigeria Have An Import Problem?

The final myth to bust is the idea that Nigeria has an import problem. You typically hear statements like “How can we be importing everything from toothpicks to fish. It is unsustainable.” Often left out of such statements is the fact that we have a N90tn economy. And you cannot have a N90tn economy that does not import. Is it odd that a N90tn economy would import N100bn worth of building materials or N26bn worth of shoes? No it’s not.

According to comparable data compiled by the World Bank, Nigeria imported only about 12.5% of GDP in 2014. Of the 160 countries for which the World Bank has data available, Nigeria had the lowest imports to GDP ratio. Côte d’Ivoire imported about 38.9% of GDP in 2014, Ghana imported about 48.9%, Mauritius imported about 63%, Belgium about 83.1% and Ireland about 95.4% of GDP.

Of the 160 countries for which the World Bank has data available, Nigeria had the lowest imports to GDP ratio.



So according to the data, we do not have an import problem. Even if you assume that 50% of our imports go unrecorded, that still leaves us at a healthy 25% of GDP, which is still not a problem.

However, we do have an export problem, highlighted by the fact that crude oil accounts for 90% of our recorded exports and crude oil prices are volatile. Recognising this key difference between an import problem and an export problem is very important because it determines that kinds of policies that should be implemented. Import substitution policies and policies that look to limit imports probably won’t work because they do nothing to tackle the real problem, which is an export one.

Nonso Obikili holds a PhD in economics and works as a researcher and consultant. He has published peer-reviewed articles in various international academic journals and blogs frequently on Nigerian economic issues.


http://blogs.premiumtimesng.com/myths-about-devaluations-by-nonso-obikili

The analysis is incomplete. It does not try to give a policy advise, given the peculiarities of the Nigerian economy.
The analysis in a way has the ability to make people think the writer supports devaluation.
My question for the writer is, what impact would devaluation have given our economic structure.
Also, you have not just an export problem when import values exceed export values. That is also an import problem. Cos the ideal is for your exports to pay for you import.
Now it can't.
So you can say it's an import problem, or call it an export problem and still be right. I.e. Import problem can be same at export problem.
Your choice of what to call it only shows the school of thought and policy choice you support.

harmless011:
The problem is buhari does not listen to advice, he believe that every other Nigerian is corrupt except himself.

Sanusi might be wrong, he failed to tell us why it won't work.
His opinion at best is based on business sentiment not logic.

Ama80:
it sounds positive but why is d president hesitant?

The president is hesitant to act because, we don't produce much, and import a lot.
Devaluation may be good if it leads to increase in the value of exports over imports. However given our low level of exportable products and short term productive capacity, it would be disastrous.
Cause such will lead to hyper inflation.
Also, the main reason people give to support devaluation is to reduce the pressure on forex reserves.
The argument is that you will now need more naira to to get dollars.
However, devaluation will not solve this problem, given the excess naira in the economy; nor would it reduce import to a reasonable level.

jopretty:
Congratulations Op. This shows that God is a respecter of no man or degree when it comes to blessing a person. Pls go for your PGD still. God bless!

It's not God, it's the uncle practising nepotism. Should I wish him well?.

grandstar:
are you digging your head in the sand?Are you playing ostrich? The naira is 300 already at the parallel market. It will touch 400 year ending.

The parallel market is market for those who want to import what we can avoid importing. Even if its a thousand, it should not serve as any measure.

Devaluation is the last thing we need. If we devalue, the cost of fuel importation will rise, either subsidy comes back, or pump prices will rise.

The stock market is not the only sector of the economy. And the expectation that devaluation will lead to increase in FDI, is flawed.

Why? The fear among foreign investors is that if they invest today and Nigeria devaluates tomorrow, the real value of their investments will fall.
However, given that the naira and crude oil prices move in same direction; and the crude oil price has not reached bottom. They will expect another devaluation later, and as such put off investments now.
Also, devaluation will lead to inflation, and this will affect the basket of goods a given income can purchase. Consequently, the quoted companies might experience decrease in sales and profits, and also increase in production costs. If the companies are not performing, why would someone invest in them.

#000000

grandstar:


Tranquill is correct.




The reason why the Canadian $ has lost value i because it is a massive commodities exporter like Nigeria. With less forex coming in due to lower prices for its commodities, this has led to its currency losing value despite their economy being much larger than Nigeria.

Buhari has refused to devalue. This is purely insane and the markets as equally gonee nuts. The curse of price controls has taken over.

Nobody is doubting Buharis integrity or his incorruptible nature but his economic policies stink.

Soludo and Sanusi, the latter who is a strong Buharist has comdemned his economic policies.

Emefiele is a mere figurehead. I predicted in a thread I started that the naira would touch 300 by 2019. I was flabbergasted it touched early this year. The naira will touch 400 year ending if things don't change.

Everybody is saying, devalue! devalue! devalue!. do you not know the consequences. We import everything as such devaluation will lead to uncontrolled inflation.

asuustrike2009:

It will fall. it's a matter of time before we begin to see the effect. As I earlier said, excess supply over demand forces producers to reduce their price. If we have some many persons refining petroleum products in Nigeria, they would want to secure large market shares as we see happening in the telecommunications industry. Giving license one one or two operators will make the price high at the initial stage ,gradually licenses are issued to more operators of which they wouldn't sell at same price with their competitor.

The competition in the telecommunication sector is what is called, non price competition. Even when the competition was about price; the regulators came in and stopped it. They gave one preposterous excuse then the telecom companies should improve their services rather than give price promotions.
Why did you think they stopped some promotions?.
Note this though, perfectly competitive situation in Economics is just a term of reference. Real economists don't believe in its existence.

asuustrike2009:

to add to it,
4. the forces of demand and supply with force the price down at latter date as result of more refinery being built. Excess supply over demand will make the price to fall although it depends on the regulatory commission since it's a monopolistic market

Forces of Demand and Supply are overrated, you don't expect the producer to sell below his production cost. production are done based on perceived demand and at a price. Even if there is no regulatory framework that encourages monopolistic tendencies, there is always a limit to which price can fall.
Realities of the Nigerian market shows that it will never fall down to a competitive price.

captain247:
Fuel subsidy removal is of the advantage when global oil price goes down like its happening now but will be of disadvantage when global oil price goes up.
Say for example, If for now you're buying at #86 per liter with no subsidy and global oil price is $35 by the time global oil price goes up to $60 you'll have to buy at say #120 or more.

Not necessarily true; you forgot the exchange rate component. Oil prices and Naira value move in same direction. if both prices move at same rate of exchange nothing changes.
"note; rate of exchange here means that if at #200-$1-$38 a barrel, an increase of crude to $76 a barrel, and Naira appreciation to #100-$1, is supposed to leave retail price unchanged"




.

TonyeBarcanista:
Every year government pay hundreds of billions to oil marketers to subsidise the pump price of premium motor spirit(petrol/fuel) so that you and I can be buying at a price lower than the open market price. What these marketers does is to fleece you and I by hoarding the product and force us to buy at much higher rate than even the open market price while still collecting billions on subsidy. What the government want to do is very simple; since open market price is estimated at N89-N90 per litre, they will no longer subsidise it(it's affordable). That means marketers will be competing among themselves to woo customers and we will experience less sabotage considering that nobody will want to lose their share in the market.

How will you benefit? Simple...
1. You will most likely never experience a situation of buying fuel at N3-N5 above the open market price.

2. The hundreds of billions giving to marketers annually will be channelled to productive ventures.

3. The issue of fuel hoarding may hardly arise.


Cc: Airforce1

Without anti-monopoly laws, you are dreaming. With the removal of subsidies, the marketers will collude, and sell at a price far above open market price. "you can use diesel as a proxy" what they did is not removal of subsidy, rather given governments template for subsidy payments, and price in filling stations, there
is no need to pay subsidy given that landing cost is lower than retail cost.

berepiki:
You know my story... Was employed in a big private school to work as a maths/Physics/further maths teacher after a successful interview... 70k salary... Was sacked after 3days for refusing to dance to a secular song...

Glory be to God... My story has changed... I now own by an adult school...will be paying my teachers 50k/month...all glory to God...You can apply if you stay around waterlines, Portharcourt... But you must be a born again/a qualified English teacher with a great passion for teaching

Be inspired..an employee/job seeker can be a company/business owner... Believe in God... Have faith...work in line with your faith... In Jesus Name you will succeed..stop looking for jobs... Create one...change the way you think... Think like a business owner

Thank you Jesus...for Jobs don't make me ... I make Jobs... I have the creator in me...


Cheers as you thank God with me

You were sacked for your beliefs, now you are discriminating against people for not having the same belief as you. i.e " born again as precondition". who is fooling who?

omenka:
How many Gitmo inmates has the government of US released on orders from her courts?? As a matter of fact, how many of the inmates have seen the insides of a court room since detention??

Nnamumudi Kalluu will rot in jail like those terrorists in Gitmo and heavens won't fall, just like it didn't in the US.

Can you please name one person in Gitmo that is in custody after a court ordered release. don't comment on what you don't know. The law is the law, if one person can break it everybody else can. Even an armed robber or rapist can have justification, that doesn't make it right or lawful.

segalex:
I also do not support the idea of using $38 as the benchmark when we know that it's not likely for the oil price to go up, I hope the National Assembly can correct that mistake.
Be that as it may though, I don't think drop in fuel price will have major effects on the budget considering the fact that the bulk of the revenue projection is not from oil unlike what used to obtain in the past.
As regards borrowing, except if we don't want to be realistic, the govt doesn't have any option than to borrow at this stage of our economy, I personally think we should even commend the administration for the wisdom applied cos it's obvious that the borrowed will be used to service capital expenditures and not recurrent expenditure

The elephant in the room is " What kind of government would spend all it's income on recurrent expenditure". Also, we don't need to borrow, as we will have to pay back in subsequent recurrent expenditures. This in turn will crowd out our ability to finance capital costs in the future. They should just cut the cost of governance, eliminate legal and illegal leakages. (legal leakages include paying contractors 35% profit on contracts, importing fuel through proxies when NNPC has the capacity to import all, reduction in estacode, reduction in allowances,etc.

#000000

vladimiros:


[size=13pt]what thype of Economist thinking is that, are you high?

Nigerian population is not as liquid as FDI, secondly our Banks dont give loans to the average Man.. so where would he put money into Stock to outpace an FDI? WHERE??

its make do with what you have abeg, don't bring too much book into this, [/size]

Make do with what you have, in essence maintain that vicious cycle of poverty. Why ask me to take responsibility? if the choice not to think out of the box is entirely yours alone.

vladimiros:
This is what i have been trying to tell some Mumus over here

Buhari's tight rule on Money extraction would make FDI impossible

but they called me a wailer

As an economist I support such policy. The FDI we need is for the real sector. If you leave me I will ban foreign investment in stock's, at they cause volatility to the stock market.

quincybee12:
ill pray and convince him to attend a bible believing church,,,im not saying the church I attend is the best,,,but if he can switch to a bible believing church even if it's not d one I attend,,well get married,,,on d oda hand,,if he refuses,,,well part ways,,i can't marry a catholic

The Catholic church selected some bunch of texts that matches a particular doctrine, and merged them together. voila! You have the bible. Many years later, someone here is claiming that there exists a better interpretation to the one the creators of the book gave.

unmask: jamb doesn't frustrate anybody's effort.....people frustrate their efforts or lack of it

You probably didn't get no result yet from JAMB. If you did you will understand. Through I might understand where you are coming from, do make your points clear.

[quote author=jdilight]

Where would an economics graduate work if jobs were to be given based on certificate we have?[/quote

Everywhere. The sky is your limit, according to Keynes, its an apparatus of the mind and a technique of thinking.
If you decide to be a doctor, you will be the best. A politician, the best, an accountant, the best.

bushdoc9919:

While embezzlement does happen.....the hospitals themselves don't have enough money.

As an example....OAU gets less than 25 million US Dollars per annum as funding.

Massachusetts General Hospital in the US spent 750million dollars for research.

Also, in the US...most city authorities know that the more business they atrract to their city the more money they make...so water supply,power supply, refuse supply etc works(Which means a hopsital in say London UK won't be spending money on generating power) In Nigeria.... you get oil money regardless of what you do or not so...so why attract business to your city.(and by extension why make everything work? Plus,most people ,including govt agencies don't pay their utility bills...so utilities in your average Nigerian city are in a mess.Meaning a hospital has to spend a large chunk of its allocation just to make sure they generate power for vital things to work)

I have not yet taken a side. But, I would appreciate an argument that compares Nigeria with countries of same economic status.

hernars: I was gonna add u up but for a second I thought no beautiful girl would give up her IM details online xo easily...... My conclusion ? U are UGLY

Still regretting wasting words on you.

Buchika: @Pavore9: it's this type of simple and affordable machine I believe is the future of agriculture in Africa.




@ozikam. you re welcome but it ll best to share your ideas and advice here for all to learn from.

@Buchika, I sent you a PM, kindly reply, so we can talk

emahnwel:

Funny enough. But its so pathetic. It's well!!

GE has failed to update my application status, it's very unlike them. They've apparently gotten lazy. I have received the initial application under consideration mail for over 6 weeks now, and have been waiting patiently for the regret mail which usually takes less than two weeks. It's very unprofessional of them I must complain.