₦airaland Forum

Ceremonial dundees like kobojunkie do not understand that the WEST does not give aid to any nation but themselves!

Time immemorial the US haved used her aid for economic expansion; allowing here companies to expand in territories they otherwise would not be able to reach from the US, thereby giving them huge economic market access at very cheap cost! Ever wondered who manufactures and distribute the HIV/AIDS drugs they bring into the country?

The WESTERN aids have been used to distort the economic growth and development of African nations and if the US wants to stop her aids to Nigeria, then it is most welcomed!

Nigeria is not a nation in want, rather we lack the political will to manage our excesses! In the words of Senator David Mark ", they can go to hell with their aids, "

We believe in a man + woman relationship. Its Adam and Eve not Adam & Steve

Like I said, my brother did His BSc &MSc at Herriot-Watt university. Top notch university, brilliant facilities as it is a foremost research center for oil and gas, virtually all major UK oil giants have a stake in their labs. IT wise, MS I learnt has a base there.

As for Edingburgh, brace yourself for high cost of living, i think last ranking it was fourth highest in the UK -need to check again-, more like business city than anything else. good transport link and cheap compared to england but always cold. Got lots of Nigerians in Herriot-Watt Uni! Peter Odilli's daughter is studying Pet chemical there! Famous destination for Nigerians studying petro-chemical engineering.

I know first hand they offer foriegn students scholarship in discounted tuition. You can get lowly jobs in Edingburgh out skirts and then find your way into skilled job once you have learnt the UK way of doing things!

If you have the money 'cos Herriot-Watt is expensive (oh well its a first gen. uni so what do i expect ), then go for Herriot-Watt.

The UK Ministry of Justice has issued a notice on Visas Appeal and I would summurize as follows;
With effect from 19 December 2011
1.Appeals will now attract fees payable before determination.
2. Appeals are now to be forwarded to the Tribunal in the UK at Appellant own expense. UK Embassy will no longer process appeals from the said date.

Note; Full details of any visas category to be exempted and the full guidance of this new policy will be published on the UK Ministry of Justice's website on tne 19th of December 2011.

I will post the update here once I get thier feeds.

source:http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsarticles/2011/december/23-appeal-fees

**moderator please can you make this sticky on the forum till 19/12/2011**

Is it the same coward than ran inside aso rock during the independence celebration that thinks He can stand 7days of mass revolt by CSOs and Nigerians

Abeg, make we hear word!

GIO12:
I will start by saying thank you to those that responded to my initial post.

I have concern considering which of these universities will be best for me doing msc logistic and supply chain mgt considering

1) Reputation of university
2) Satisfaction students can get from the university
3) social life as well as night life.
4) Environment ie coldness, large city, friendliness
5) Part time jobs
6) Fast tracking into CIPS and CILT

The universities are Heriot Watt university, University of Northumbria and Glasgow Caledonian.

Pls you can also highlight any better university for this course. Thanks and hope hearing from you soon as your advise are highly needed.

1.Heriot-Watt, Northumbria
2.Heriot-Watt, Northumbria, Glasgow Cali.
3.Northumbria, Glasgow Cali and Heriot-Watt neck and neck
4.ALL on the north end of UK, so freaky cold! And its forever raining in Scotland.
5.Northumbria, Heriot-Watt, Glasgow Cali.
6. Heriot-Watt!

If anything, I would go for Heriot-watt. My brother finished from there and His experience was very rewarding! Heriot-watt is a first generation university and they offer scholarship in tuition discount to foriegn students.

A beg avoid glasgow! that na city center of excellence for day light robbery. Social life is very dull! Had a brother who did his MSc in glasgow after finishing his BSc in England and he hated it up there - too many OAPs

oyinema:
Thanks to both of you!

We live in a 5 bedroom house and they will be staying with me for 2 weeks and then heading back home. That was most concise thanks alot. I will definitely start on a breakdown of expenses now so I forget nothing.

I am hoping to put in the application at the beginning of February. The nigerian account is topped up from here but I don't do bank transfers cos of the charges. I usually send someone to pay money in if there's anybody going to 9ja. Hope that won't be a problem as I know they usually question bulk payments into an account.

Really that shldn't be any issue so long as your source of income in the UK is legitimate and the ECO doing his simple arithmatic from your earnings would able to deduce that it is possible you could save so much.

If I may add,avoid paying lump sums few days or a week or two before your intended submission date in February so the ECO does not mistake it as an attempt by you to boost the account.

As for your accommodation, (unlike in france where you would need local permission from council for people to stay over at your place,hence makes things easier for their ECOs) do help the ECO with enough information so He can verify it if he wants to.

pro01:
OH please shut da hell up. Not everyone is daft enough to deify these charlans like you and your fellow slaves do. Man of 'god' my black Bottom.

seems to be wise but yet foolish! Behold the day you stand before him, hope you would be found clothed!

oyinema:
Good evening.

First post after a very long while so please bear with me.

I am about to apply for a visiting visa for my family - father, brother, sister and nephew to attend my wedding in the UK. My sister is married with a son and works so will have payslips and employer letter but has no savings, my younger brother is still in school and will be returning to school (secondary), my father is retired, we (siblings) send him money monthly for his upkeep. He has a few properties and not much income from them.

I am planning to pay for them all - accommodation, transport and upkeep in the UK. I have N3m in my nigerian account which I am planning to use. I live with my husband to be and he will supporting the application with his bank statements. We have a savings account in his name and both pay money into it. There's about £6000 there. Will this be sufficient to cover their application or will they still need to show (especially my sister) savings?

Thanks for your help.

In addition to what justwise have said, I sincerely think you would need to put a very detailed and concised letter to the ECO explaining how ALL thier travel cost will be met by you and your hubby to be.

Your sister not having a savings raises concern but if you make the application a faimly application and include thier documents but put your financial statement and covering letter as the one sponsoring their trip, they 'r most likely to succeed. In your letter to the ECO, do a break down of ALL the cost to be incurred by you in thier trip, e.g say you have arranged for a group ticket for them that will cost Nxxx.00 amount, feeding for Xdays to cost X amount, accommodation will be at your place and include the details of your accommodation (i.e type of house, no. of rooms, etc), when you have finish itemizing the total cost, do the deductions from what you have in your account and spell out what is left for the ECO as this will help him to see that yes you have the financial might to sponsor their trip. Do not forget to include details about you and your partner in the letter, (i.e, where u work, live in the UK, your marriage details and IV).

Make sure that every document to be used for the application by your family is genuine and official with contact details.

Hope this helps from my experience

Reading comments here sounds the phrase:Hypocrites!

In your closeth you 'pretend' to God asking for Him to heal the hearts of our leaders yet when He God goes about doing same, you castigate him.

If only people understood that no matter how many sins a man commits,the day He seeks repentance, that day He becomes co-hiers as every other christian that ever graced this earth. So lets not forget that while we all may think Obj is cruel, you never know what God has done to him just few seconds ago and if he drops dead knowing God, eternal bliss is his.

As for Pastor Chris, I thank God for His life. If only many get to experience a grain worth ofwhat He experiences daily, 'm sure many of the comments in here would have been different!

Finally, it was said in a certain place that Nigerians are despirately wicked at heart and reading comments on NL seems to lend support to such views!

lizzybabe1:
Hello Omo_Tier1, thanks for your useful contributions to this thread. Please do you have any idea of the current wait times for Administrative Review and Appeals? Thanks

Administrative review LEGALLY should take 28days, further which the BHC should notify you of thier decisions or otherwise spell out when they would be able to review your AR.

Appeal duration takes anything from two to six months. And usually by the time the appeal is considered and it is in your favour, the BHC will request for more evidence; claiming tht time has since elasped. So be prepared to resubmit your supporting documents especially financial statements.

embassyman:
Hello fellas, my friend that was rufused that i came her to say he applied for uk visa the third time was refused visa today again and it was stated there that he was refused now because he submitted forged ducoments the first time he submitted applications and since then, anytime he submits an application, that he wil be refused until after 10 years,
2. That all the ducoments he submittd now has been proven legitimate and real, that was why they release his passport for him, that he should wait till after ten years, meaning that he has to wait for another 9 years counting ffrom his first day of submission/refusal as stated in the refusal note,
Please house, is there anything he can do to erase this or is that the final decision, pls help
Omo_tier, just wise and co pls help

LET ME SAY THIS: I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT ALL THOSE WHO USE FAKE DOCUMENTS DESERVE TEN YEARS BAN, however, if your friend was not in the known that the document was fake, and depending on the type of document, He can proceed to the UK High Court to challenge the ban. Difficult and maybe expensive but there are legal precedents where UK judge have upturned such bans expecially if the document could be such that the applicant would be unable to tell if it is fake or genuine.

If your friend knowingly used the fake document, then He should remain in Nigeria.

tcav:
Thank u Omo_tier1,
I hope to put in my application on Tuesday? so how do i get in touch with you now, again this is my email address {oitamah@yahoo.com}please so that you can direct me. And presently i only have a personal account no business account? will that be a problem? because that was among the reason they refuse me visa the first time i applied. every other thing is ready i do not know if the business account will affect it now although the barrister that help me package it before said they are not totally right asking for business account.
Pleaseeeeeeee i need your help this time. pleaseeeeeeee.


TCAV

Do me good, e-mail me a copy of your firt refusal notification. Check u e-mail for me ooops e-mail

Isiri:
@ omo tie.how u dey my oga.just to say Hi and to let u know that i never start d processing due to some things at hand,i will update u when am ready.tnkz a lot sir

It's all good! Yup, I would be happy to assist when you are ready.

tcav:
Pls Omo_tier1 How do i get in touch with you pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Dunno, I got banned by the spam bot for some reason,

I did answer your question and it was blocked by spam bot !
Reading through your previous post, I think you need to get a few things sorted. Firstly, you need to make sure your Tax Clearance is from government Agency and not self assessed.

As for your balance account, the sum of N800K should be enough, however, it all depends on how you spell out your trip in your introduction letter to the ECO. Since your Business and Personal accounts are separate, it would give you a good financial footing to include both statements. However, you will need to explain in your letter to the ECO that your business account is stritictly for your business , hence the funds in your personal account will be used for the trip.

Doing a break down of a visit expenses to the UK, on the average you will require somewhere between N600K to N700K in your account to make the trip. This includes flight ticket -(to and from)-, feeding and accommodation for two weeks, Sight seeing, Shopping amd extras.

When do you intend to put in your application?

edwrad50:
Hello justwise, omotier and worry246, I'll like τ̅☺ know how the UK embassy confirms bank statements. Do they place a call or email and do they contact the bank τ̅☺ check if the account is a valid one or if the balance at a certain period of time was right and matches what one tenders τ̅☺ them? Pls I need info. Thanks

The ECO will ring up the bank if S/He is convinced that the statement is genuine to begin with. If not, He will pass on your account statement to the Documents Verification Units who would conduct more enquiry into your account. Usually, the BHC request you include CONTACT DETAILS for ALL official documents submitted in support of your application, to enable carry out verification should they need to.

Yes, ECO will check if the account is valid when they speak to the Bank's rep who signed of your account statement support letter. Sometimes they would demand to speak with the Branch manager -this happened to someone very close to me- and the manager would assist them with any queries raised. Other times, they may not bother even calling the banks. But for students visas, they sure do!

The nature of verification carried out is beyond what I can disclose here and even if I am in the known I do not think it is wise to reveal such here.

Hope this helps.

kalmebad:
Omo-Tier are you one of them?? can see you seriously advocating for thieving PHCN or what name they prefer to answer?

thank God some people can stand up for the masses, lately we have almost been paying with our blood, God punish satan

If you have been reading my post objectively you will have fathomed that I am neither an apostle of PHCN nor a supporter of their "persona non grata" image. What I rightly said and still hanging unto is that their policy of charging maintenance fees for pre-paid meter was a good policy to have but like all things Nigerian, it was abused and made to work for the selfish interest of the crooks at PHCN.

Yes. PHCN is not living upto expectation, but that in no way negates what that policy ought to do or represent.

oh well, it could as well be BREAKING NEWS, naira buys MMA for 27kobo

he he /// dis one don kolo

tcav:
Omo_tier1,
You did not even bother to reply me again what have i done? okay please can you also help package my introduction letter? Or package the whole application?
Am really desperate.

TCAV.

My sincere apology. I did not delibrately ignore your post. I thought 'justwise' was already giving you a helping hand, hence one of the reason I did not reply you. Currently I have a couple of hours to spare, so yea I would be in a position to assist. Do get in touch.

4teelaw:
God bless you Omo_tier1. The story has taken another twist. They just called me from the BDHC, asking questions about my application. After all the plenty talk they said they have decided to give me the visa, but I must show up on the 5th of January, 2012 in person for a compliance check, with evidence that my wedding took place, whether i have gone to the UK or not.
She said she is putting a memo on my visa on the system in that regard. Will this action be detrimental or advantageous to my husband's application. Also, do you think we should put in his application before this 5th of January date or after I report to the BDHC.
I should be getting my passport by tommorrow, should we still carry on as you have adviced and ignore this new development? Please what is your email so that you can help me with the introduction letter

Firstly, I know you did mention that your marriage was coming up I think this weekend or so, can't recall now from your first post. If your marriage will take place before the 5th of January 2012, then you and your husband are a "biggy lucky" and really have nothing to worry about.

In the evidence please, include lots and lots of photos of yourself and your hubby, His family, your family, traditional, Court and/or church (Naija marriage for most people) pictures, marriage certificate (Make sure the date is not post dated, and it should reflect the historical trend i.e. the date you have on your I which you submitted to the BHC). If you have any other legal documents, then have it handy. Video evidence on CD would also do (NOT necessary but it would help)

As for your husband application, get it submitted at least a week and some days before the 5th of January so that His application will be "in tray" by the time you go for the invitation. Make sure the information on your husband's application mirror's the one in your own application. He should state explictly in his additional note that you have also applied for same purpose (He should quote your application reference number and application date). Like I said, His financial statement should be cover all expenses to and from the UK including your trips; tickets, feeding, accommodation, your honeymoon visits, etc. He can also include your own financial statement with a covering note from you to indicate that you are both sharing the expense as a couple (do this if your statement is 'healthy'). With the other documentation earlier mention being made available, He is likely to scale through.

When you do go for the interview, He should go with you. I know they would not allow him go beyond the security clearance but during your invitation, do mention that He is with you at the DBHC and that His application was also submitted but He is yet to hear back from the commission.

N.B: MAKE SURE ALL DOCUMENTS ARE GENUINE, ORIGINAL AND CONTAIN OFFICIAL CONTACT DETAILS OF THE ISSUING AUTHORITY! BHC have enough "fakes" that it is so easy for them to toss aside a documentation to their verification department and that will further make things difficult.

Let me add that do make sure the bank statement you submitted with your application is healthy and not distorted before that 5th invitation date. The ECO may ask for it, so do prepare one a day before and have it handy.

soloqy:
@Omo tier, why are you equating what is obtainable in the UK to what we have (and are experiencing) here?

Here, you pay fully(at initial purchase) for almost everything you use. So whether utilities or not, here youy pay fully for the euipment so the question of rental, does not arise. I paid fully for my prepaid meter. The NERC is acronym fo National Electricity Regulatory Commision so if they say its illegal for PHCN to be charging maintenance fee for the fully purchased pre paid meters, then they know what they are talking about.

There would have been some credence to your arguments if the meters are actualy maintained by PHCN, but they are not so what is the maintenance fee for? I have had my meter for close to two years and in all that while, I have never seen any thing that resembles a PHCN staff coming to maintain or fix my meter. I have been fortunate not to have had issues with my meter because I would have had to bear the full cost of fixing the meter. Please, those who are staying abroad need to be fully conversant with what is happening here and how different the climes are, before arguing stuff and 'putting it to us'. Its something that happens a lot here.

Get it straight, I live in UK and Nigeria and I regulary shuttle between. My business has four pre-paid @ sum of N50,000 each Ok. So I know the pain of what it is to have to pay for services you really never get.

But the thrust of my submission is this: If we are hoping to get world class services when it comes to utilities like electricity, we must be ready to pay for it. Yes PHCN erred in the manner in which they went about charging for services they never render in the first place. But my take is, the idea itself is not at all out of place.

Mark my words, the maintenance charge will be re-introduced by the time the distribution companies newly set-up by FG  are fully functional.

jascon1:
@omo-tier go and drink piss. drink full cup!! the services in the UK na t same here?? u pay less and u get constant power. how i go get meter and i no get light?? small time i go pay for maintenance. still pay for light again. na witch? if na witch we no go take plantain leave flog am die or u just won tell us say u dey UK? abeg,

I know common sense is not common! Get it straight, if we want world class services, we MUST be ready to pay for it. Yes NEPA/PHCN are not living up to standards but much of that can be traced to the VAST majority of Nigerians (Private and public enterprises inclusive) who have refused to pay up their bills, hence could not have the moral gutts to demand for quality delivery of services from PHCN/NEPA.

The issue is not whether you are getting light, the issue is whether service charge should be paid say every two years for the maintenance of pre-paid meters. In the west they do not call them  maintenance fees, rather you pay service charge. You might as well as, what on earth am I paying service charge for when my taxes are used by the government ti put these infrastructure in place? But hey,I am sure their financial modelling must have shown them that not charging such amount would leave them with 3rd world utility services.

Let me make this clear, I am not in support of the monthly maintenance fees they previously billed consumers but I think the idea itself is not bad rather the implementation is where they problem is.

[quote author=A-ZeD link=topic=817702.msg9697415#msg9697415 date=1323090584]1) How about GEJ starts with reducing the cost of governance? Isnt that the logical step for anybody that means well for this country??
2) By the way is removal of fuel subsidy not the same lie that OBJ told when he increased fuel prices??
3) If GEJ truly wants to use the money for infrastural development, cant he use money from the excess crude account if the account and money still exists??
4) Diesel and kerosine are not subsidized and we know how much they cost in the market!!!

You say GEJ wants to rid the country of people that steal legally and i say if you have a headache do you cut off your head? Nigeria is not the only country to implement subsidy. If others can do it right then in one of his trips abroad, he should ask those who implement subsidy to teach him.[/quote]You are well schooled and your head is really at home and blessed! Leave beaf with His myopic and blind follow-follow nonsensical argument.

The truth is, any man that complains that the wife He gives His wife to buy food for the house is getting too high, He must first ask himself, how much children He has given birth to and how much food they do consume!

Beaf:
Can you tell us the difference between the bolded and the subsidy? You are very confused indeed.
You don't even have a basic grasp of the subject matter, yet you are attempting to sell cheap sentiments. Earlier, you were angry that GEJ is gonna stop what you call demurrage in Singapore on our own oil. Who are you fooling with your duplicitous stand?

This is like a damn comedy!

I know you'r intellectually lazy so I will explain what that sentence implies: WE SHOULD NOT BE IMPORTING FUEL INTO NIGERIA WHEN WE HAVE THE RAW MATERIAL HERE TO REFINE THE SAME PRODUCTS WE ARE IMPORTING!

That process and practice of shipping our crude out at below international price and then importing PMS at international market price is as fraudulent as GEJ's election victory

Let me make it clear again to you. My statement on demurrage paid 30days before departure of the oil ladden ship is simply to underscore that the process is crooked and needs investigating and those who have been benefitting from this should be punished severely as that amounts to economic sabourtage of the nation state!

Do you not think it is proper that those who have fleeced the state be ivestigated and punished if found wanting? I know GEJ has no balls to engage in such but that does not mean we all should act like the coward He is , ight?

[quote author=phuck_NL link=topic=817845.msg9696489#msg9696489 date=1323083057]Wrong my friend.
If you paid for the meter, YOU OWN IT.
In the west you have the option of owning or renting, e.g cable or internet modems,
that rental fee is your maintenance fee.
In naija, you are charged the full cost of the meter. If it breaks, YOU WILL HAVE TO BUY ANOTHER ONE, so the service fee is 419[/quote]Bullocks! Since when did cable or internet modems become utilities . Beside, home modems are rental! You never own them anyway,

The argument that we need to remove subsidy to develope much of the needed infrastructure is a fallacy at best! We ahve the money to develop these infrastructure, we just have a deluded President that is bereft of ideas and political will to do the right thing!

GEJ should take a cue from Lagos, Edo, Akaw-Ibom, and Rivers! These are states, yes! But their financing models for project implementation can be emulated by the FG for massive infrastructral development nationwide and societal wellbeing.

With GEJ in office, remaining highly compromised the way He is ,even if you give him N10trillion, remove ALL the subsidies there is in Nigeria, the country will still remain the way it is!

Beaf:
Ok, so GEJ wants to stop NNPC paying demurrage on ships in Singapore. Why should that be painful to you if you are not confused?
And why should GEJ explain to Nigerians why that practice is in place, did he start it? No, but he's gonna put an end to that corrupt loophole, so why the crocodile tears, bruv? Who you fooling?

Sometimes you come across like someone who never saw the four walls of an institution of learning! The reality is, the practice and process of getting oil into Nigeria at international market price is what needs to be abolished and we have not seen any committed plan from the FG at getting this practice to come to an end.

If you think by removing subsidy, the above mentioned corruption loopholes will be blocked, then you must be deluded for real! Look at what is happening with other petroluem products the FG has technically removed subsidies from, has the prices go down? Has there being continuous availability of those products? The obvious answer is NO!

With the present state of the Nigeria Economy, one would expect that "Efficiently managed" subsidies will be the way to go until such a time that self substainability is achieved, then you can think about removing subsidies.

GEJ should get down to the business of building more refinaries, getting the products 90% refined in Nigeria, thereafter think about subsidy removal!

I thought Jonathan gave an Executive order for NNPC to get the refinaries working in 12months or so? What has happened since that order?

Beaf:
Learn to write without rambling, sir. The only line in that long diatribe that is of any use is the first one.

. . .And that first line leaves me really perplexed about your state of knowledge of the subject matter. Since you believe there is no subsidy, why are you concerned about its removal? Dude, that stark contradiction of positions proves that you have zero clue about what the subsidy is. I wish you goodluck with your "revolution," its gonna be bloody comical. Imagine a revolution led by the ignorant and confused!

Surely it behoves on you to understand that what He said is a misnomer in that subsidy from day one is a fraud! Why has GEJ refused to explain clearly to Nigerians why NNPC  would be paying insurance/demurrage on a ship ladden with oil 30days before it has actually left her shores in singapore?

The current economic state in Nigeria does not warrant removal of subsidy! Fix the refinaries and get them working in the next 3years, then remove subsidy afterwards knowing that much of the petroleum products are sourced in house, hence major and independent marketers would end up not paying International market rates, rather rates set by the FG inline with the projected economic state. These stuff is not rocket science to figure out and getting to implement them. It only because GEJ is highly compromised  and lacks the political will to do what is right. He cares so much about His political survival!

***An aside issue****  You saw the list of those being paid the so called subsidies, and it is obvious those companies belong to those who "installed" GEJ in office, hence the reason He refused to name the cabals.

^^ you need to understand that when components/equipments are designed and assembled, they have what you call "useful life". Some 5years, 10years others 15years, 20years or 25years so to speak. To get the equipment to last that long, you need to service regularly.

Pre-paid meters are not fully digital components. They are a combo anodigital component which will require continuous maintenance to keep them functioning at 90C99R. As it is done in other parts of the world, the consumer pays for this maintenance in the form of service charge. This is outside of your billing.

There is nothing wrong in paying this fee, if only they actually do render the service. Those of us who live in the UK do pay this maintenance fee in form of service charge, the only difference is that the charges are not exhorbitant and without it, you still get your normal service, but you may get in trouble with the councils when the time comes.

Let me correct the wrong impression that the Pre-paid when bought belongs to the owner. By Nigeria law, you are actually "RENTING" those meters and they are not yours. They belong to the FG of Nigeria.