₦airaland Forum

Boko Haram insurgents have threatened another attack on the military base at Jiddari-Polo, Maiduguri.

The terrorists on Monday attacked farmers in the area, hacking four to death while one was left with severe injuries.

One of the survivors of the Monday attack, Mala Umara, told AFP that the terrorists came in large numbers

“They came in large numbers and killed four and left the other man seriously injured,” the 75-year-old farmer said.

The insurgents were believed to belong to the Abubakar Shekau group.

Umara, added that while sparing him, the insurgents instructed him to tell the Nigerian Army to prepare for another attack.


“They asked me to deliver a message to the soldiers that they should be prepared for an attack soon,” the septuagenarian told AFP.

Another survivor, Abba Muhammad, said, “Five of them encircled me, but I instinctively bolted.”

The attack was also confirmed by a local militia leader, Babakura Kolo.

Made4naijablog:
Lynda who is one of the leading stars in the much talked about LITV reality show, Oyinbo Wives of Lagos, shared the photos online.

After four kids, she still looks amazing.

See more photos

source :

https://www.made4naija.com/2018/10/oyinbo-wives-of-lagos-star-lynda-ebigwei-shows-off-her-bare-butt-in-sexy-swimwear/

Twenty-six-year-old Benjamin had prepared himself and spent five days fasting and praying to secure a student visa at the United States’ embassy.

His widowed mother had spent her savings to pay all the fees leading to the stage and her hopes were hinged on Benjamin scaling through the crucial interview.

Like other students seeking admission to schools in the US, Benjamin’s mother had, according to him, paid about $100 (N36,000) for application fee to the foreign school, $300 (N108,000) for evaluation fee, and $91 (N32,000) for the courier service to bring the admission documents to Nigeria. The United States had also been paid $200 with an additional $20 service charge (N80,300).

the documents arrived and Benjamin’s mother paid N57,600 for the visa application to the embassy. In all, about N350,000 had been expended, including other miscellaneous fees.

Benjamin went for the interview and after some minutes, he was handed a blue paper.

“Dear applicant, thank you for your interest in travelling to the United States. This is to inform you that you have been found ineligible for a non-immigrant visa under Section 214 (b) of the US Immigration and Nationality Act. A denial under Section 214 (b) means that you were not able to demonstrate that your intended activities in the United States would be consistent with the classification of the non-immigrant visa for which you applied.

“Today’s decision cannot be appealed. However, you may reapply at any time. If you decide to reapply, you must submit a new application form and photo, pay the visa application fee again and make a new appointment to be interviewed by a consular officer….,” the letter read in part.

The Ondo State indigene, who wondered what he did wrong, lamented that the rejection was a big blow to his family.

“The consular officer had no reason not to give me the visa. He asked different questions, which I answered sincerely. He just gave me back my passport and said I should try again later. I am supposed to resume school on January 7, 2019. My widowed mother paid the fees for my six-month flight course. We spent about N350,000,” he said.

But Benjamin’s case is not peculiar.

Twenty-eight-year-old Bimpe from Ogun State said she was certain she passed the visa interview after answering four questions.

“I was asked what I was going to do in the US and I said I was going for pilot training. The officer asked if I worked in Nigeria and I said no. He asked who my sponsor was and I said my father.

“He asked me if I could fly and I told him that at the end of the training, I would know how to fly. He asked for my father’ statement of account and after going through it for a few minutes, he returned it and said I should try again later,” Bimpe said.


Another student, Sasha, who claimed to have got admission to St. Joseph University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said she had been denied a visa twice.

The 26-year-old claimed that the denial had affected her resumption in the school where she had already paid some money.

She said, “The first time I went to the embassy in Lagos was in July. The interviewer asked me a series of questions, including the name of my school and the course I was going to study. While explaining, he suddenly cut me short and said, ‘Sorry, you are not qualified for the visa.’ That was all; no specific reason was given. When I asked for the reason for the denial, he just said, ‘Sorry, I am not allowed to tell you; but you can try next time.’ Most of us who applied for visas that day were not given.

“The second time, I went to Abuja. That was on August 27. When I got there, I was asked when my school would resume and I told them August 27 and that I should have come earlier if the embassy was not shut for two weeks. Immediately I said that, the interviewer said, ‘Sorry, you are not qualified for visa again.’ The fault was not mine.”

Another prospective aviation student of Epic Flight Academy, Florida, Charles, alleged that the consular officer had problems with his mother being the sponsor of his education.

Charles said that was the only point of disagreement which marred his chances when he went for the first interview on September 21.

“I applied again and got a date for Monday, October 22. I was asked questions such as the name of my school and why I was going there to study. I was asked what kind of airplane I would like to fly and I told the interviewer and he smiled. I thought that was a positive reaction and I was hopeful. He asked for proof of the payment of my service fee, which I gave him. Then he said, ‘Sorry, I can’t give you a visa.’

“We paid N350,000 as visa fee, service fee, application fee, evaluation fee, among others, and you are not giving us a visa after going through a lot of stress? I have paid my registration fee. I was supposed to resume on November 5,” he added.

A parent, who identified himself only as Adewunmi, alleged that his 18-year-old daughter, who got admission to study nursing at Grand Valley State University, Michigan, was disqualified because she was not married.

Adewunmi said the N345,000 he spent on the process was wasted.

“She told me that when she said she was not married, the interviewer said she was not qualified to have the visa. I don’t know what is wrong with the embassy and if they don’t want us to apply to schools in the US, they should tell us instead of exploiting us.

“It appears like they are just taking our money. How many people are they giving visas? And how many are they collecting visa fees from in a day? It is like fraud. If they don’t want us to send our children to their schools, they should tell us,” the contractor said.

Another parent, Wole Ogunba, said he believed there was a plot to stop Nigerian students from travelling to the US.

Ogunba, who claimed to have lived in the US from 1996 to 2013 before returning to Nigeria, said his daughter was denied a visa because she asked the interviewer to speak up.

He said, “My daughter went to the embassy for an interview and she was the first person on the line. All she had the opportunity to say was, ‘Sorry, I can’t hear you.’ She said it twice and that was the end of the interview. And it’s not the first time that I will hear that people said, ‘Pardon’ or ‘I can’t hear you,’ and they are denied visas.

“My daughter is not an illiterate. She speaks and understands English. And you cannot tell me that the reason you did not go further with the interview was because you thought she would not be able to understand what she would be taught in class. She gained admission to study nursing and we paid some of the money and still, she did not get an opportunity to go there.

“If this kind of thing happens in America, you get a refund. So, I don’t know why it is in Nigeria that things do not work. People pay service fee; visa fee; transport fare; hotel fees, if you don’t live in Lagos or Abuja; flight ticket to travel; and the DHL to mail in this and that. And within a few minutes, their hopes are dashed.

“But I guess it is because this is Nigeria and nobody is ready to stand up to them. We want answers; if they don’t want anybody to go there to study anymore, they should tell us. And what makes it worse is that they don’t tell you the reason for the denial. They have a small piece of paper that they give you and what they print there is very vague.”

Visit to US embassy

During a three-day visit to the US embassy on Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos, our correspondent observed that the area was a beehive of business activities.

Although our correspondent got to the embassy around 8am, it was learnt most of the visa applicants got to the embassy as early as 4am.

The PUNCH learnt that many of the interviewees, some of whom came from outside Lagos, lodged in hotels to avoid being late.

From 8am till 11am when our correspondent left, less than five of those who went in for interviews came out with smiles on their faces.

The fate of every applicant could be predicted from the colour of the crisp A4 printout they collected from the embassy: blue for rejection, white for acceptance.

“The woman asked me what course I was going to study and I said it. She asked who my sponsor was. Then she said I photocopied my F1 document, but I did not. It was what was sent to me through DHL. She, however, insisted that I photocopied it,” a student who was rejected said.

A man, who wanted to study Computer Science in Virginia International School, Virginia, said it was a bad day for most applicants at the embassy.

He said, “About 100 people had gone before me and they did not give anyone, except a woman who was in her 80s.”

A man, who accompanied a family for the interview, told our correspondent that the embassy sometimes did not ask questions from the applicants.

“If you get here by 4am, you will see a lot of parked cars. People who have appointment by 6am come early. The embassy has more than 10 sessions in a day and they make billions of naira. If 100 people go in, less than 10 persons will be given visas. They are just using us to make money,” he said.

Predictably, the family he accompanied to the embassy came out, looking dejected.

“They did not give us,” both husband and wife chorused.

While our correspondent waited at the gate, a man boasted that he was sure his father would get a visa.

He said, “The US is not giving Nigerians visas. Do you know how many of my friends that have been rejected? But my father is 77 years old and I am sure they will give him. If you are less than 18, they may consider you. But at age 20, 26, 30, 32, you are just wasting your time.”

Some minutes later, his father came out.

He checked the file of the old man and smiled at the white paper.

“I told you they would give him. If you are a young man and you have a virgin passport, you are just joking. They will not grant you a visa,” he told me.

The Chief Executive Officer, Supertech Educonsult, Mr Oluyemi Ayeni, who said his registered company trained those writing foreign English tests, said he had told the US embassy at several forums to declare if they were no longer interested in allowing students to study in the country.

He lamented that many of the students he tried to assist got dejected when they were denied visas after spending a lot on processing fees.

Ayeni said, “There are a lot of universities in the US today; if you speak English, you don’t need to write any English test. Still, the embassy will force you to sit for English tests which are not required by the university; each of them costs about N80,000.

“An average student spends up to N350,000 to the interview stage and the money is not refundable. In the past, if you don’t get a visa, you will not pay the service fee of $220. The American embassy changed the policy about two years ago, saying you must pay for the service fee before you come for interview and the money is not refundable.

“Aside from that, some students have paid deposits to the schools they applied to. Some of the schools collect non-refundable administrative fees. Imagine a student paying $625, service fee, visa fee, evaluation fee, DHL fee, totalling about N400,000 and then he is denied a visa.

“This is exploitation of the highest order. We are tired and the embassy should look into it. Some of those conducting the interviews ask irrelevant questions. What they are doing is exploitation by trickery.”

Ayeni asked the US embassy to emulate the Chinese, Japanese and Malysian embassies, which he claimed, demanded money only after granting visas to applicants.

He alleged that the US embassy made a minimum of N57m per day from visa applicants.

“They have about 10 sessions per day, which starts at 6.30am. For each session, they take a minimum of 100 applicants. The embassy collects N57,600 for visa fee per applicant. If that is multiplied by 100 per session, that is N5,760,000. If you multiply that by 10, that is at least N57.6m per day. With at least 22 working days in a month, that is N1.2bn,” he added.

The founder of Solomon World International Education, Shina Adeniji, whose company secures admission for students into foreign schools, said the US embassy should liaise with schools to stop admission if it had problems issuing visas to Nigerian students.

Adeniji, who had been in the business for about 10 years, said the process of securing admission for students were usually tedious.

He said, “Every other embassy, UK, Canada, Spain, will state why you are being refused a visa, but not the US embassy. They will ask you a couple of questions and just say sorry, you are not qualified.

“Usually, they will ask why you chose the school. At the end of the day, they may refuse you because you did not research and choose other schools. Sometimes, they make the decision based on statistics. If you know you cannot accept students, then discuss with the schools not to grant admission.”

A national crisis?

A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), said the Nigerian government should be blamed for not taking action against the alleged exploitation of Nigerians by foreign embassies.

He said, “There are some embassies in Lagos that make at least N50m in a day. And go see where our people are asked to queue in those embassies. You will be ashamed. No responsible government will allow its people to stand in the rain and sun for hours while attending a visa interview. We are treated like animals; there are no seats in some of the embassies. The interview starts as early as 6.30am and you have to sleep in the place to make the time with all the risks involved or you get a hotel.”

Many reasons have been given for Nigerian students wanting to go to foreign countries to study, with the desire for greener pastures being the foremost.

But the limited admission space in Nigerian universities has also been said to be among the reasons a good number of students seek admission in other countries.

The National Bureau of Statistics said data from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board showed that 11,703,709 applications were received between 2010 and 2016.

That makes an average of 1.6 million applications per year.

However, a report on “JAMB Admitted Candidates by State and Gender within Faculty,” released by the NBS said only 2,674,485 students were admitted across the 36 states and the FCT between 2010 and 2015.

That makes an average of 445,747 admissions per year.

In 2015 alone, only 30 per cent of students who applied were said to have been given admission, which represented the highest from 2010 to 2016.

The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, in March 2018 told journalists that of the 1,840,225 candidates who applied for admission into tertiary institutions for the 2017/2018 academic session, 842,505 candidates made the required cut-off marks.

He added that of the 842,505, only 550,357 were offered admission.

The number of those given admission represents about 30 per cent of those who applied that year, leaving the remaining 70 per cent figure of 1,289,868 without admission.

Many of the students who fail to secure admission every year form a large chunk of the ones besieging the embassies for visas for foreign studies.

The US Consulate Public Affairs Officer, Mr Russell Brooks, confirmed that the number of Nigerian students seeking admission to US schools was high.

During the 2018 US Education College and Career Fair in Lagos, he reportedly said the Nigerian students’ population in the US was the highest from Sub-Saharan Africa

Brooks reportedly told the gathering that of the more than one million international students currently in the US, 35,364 of them were from Sub-Saharan Africa, while Nigeria has over 11,000 students.

An immigration lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, said there was a crisis in the country’s education sector.

Ogunye, while noting that the Federal Government could take up the US embassy if a case of exploitation was established, said the embassy could not, however, be sued.

The legal practitioner said the emergence of Donald Trump as the President of the US and some of his anti-immigrants policies might also work against youths seeking to study in America.

Ogunye said there was no possibility of a refund of money spent at the embassy since the applicants signed to it.

“If it is established that we are now dealing with a systemic problem and that there is a kind of policy that no matter the merit of the individual case, you will not be granted the visa, in other words, application for visa has now become a money spinner or a revenue earner for the American embassy or any other foreign embassy, the Nigerian government has the duty to complain and take it up at the diplomatic level. Let’s look at your records; 6,000 applications and you granted visa to two. Then we can take it up at that level,” he added.

Former diplomats react

A fellow of the Council of Foreign Relations and former US Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, in a telephone chat with our correspondent, said consular officers decided on visas on a case-by-case basis.

Campbell, who left Nigeria in 2007 and no longer works for the US government, said a lot of factors were usually considered during screening.

He said, “There is a long history of, not just Nigerians, but people from all over the world, who go to the US to study and then refuse to return home. The applicant has to prove to the consular officer that he will return when his visa is due.

“One of the common ways of doing that is to show that he has direct and immediate ties to Nigeria that will pull him or her back to Nigeria.

“For a student visa, there are other sets of requirements, including the institution that the student wants to study at. Is it legitimate? Is the student able to demonstrate that he has sufficient funds to cover the cost of his study? Has he been formally admitted to the institution?”

A retired US diplomat and consular officer at US Department of States, Kathryn Berck, while responding to enquiries on the issues on Quora, a question and answer website, said Nigerians were usually given visas.

She said, “In 2017, only 44.95 per cent of Nigerian applicants for US non-immigrant visas were refused. That is less than half. Why were they refused? They could not convince US consular officers that they intended to visit the US only briefly, and then go home again.

“Part of that inability to convince was due to false/forged/counterfeited documents, and lies of what I call kindergarten quality. It’s too bad that many honest Nigerians are stymied by the dishonesty of others,” she wrote in the post, dated April 14, 2018.

The Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Prof. Bukar Bukarambe, said the agency did not handle such issues.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, did not pick his calls and had yet to respond to two text messages sent to his telephone line last Sunday and Monday.

The US embassy did not respond to our correspondent after over two weeks of sending enquiries.

There was also no official acknowledgement of the email sent to the embassy, although an embassy worker said the questions were received.

lalasticlala:
Source: https://punchng.com/offa-robbery-principal-suspect-michael-adikwu-is-dead-kwara-attorney-general/

Mztarstrechy:
Here are photos of two men who knelt down to take pictures with Apostle Suleman in Lausanne,Switzerland.It is unclear if they are his pastors or mere church members.This reportedly happened during his ministration in Switzerland


Source: http://www.trezzyhelm.com/2018/10/two-men-kneel-down-to-take-pictures.html

abc115:
I have not heard a word from Ayodele Fayose ..the Vocal PDP Governor of Ekiti State on Osun 2018 Governorship Election. Is he still in Nigeria? Why are we not hearing his voice regarding the election... Is he working for APC too?

omoISEYIN:
Hello Everyone,

This platform is open for general questions on how to be a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management Of Nigeria.
CIPM is the professional body that certify and regulate the practice of human resource management in Nigeria.
For young aspiring human resource managers, CIPM is the most relevant if not the only institute for HR professionals.

Currently HR professionals are one of the most sought after people in the corporate world, aside the fact that you become a key person
in your organisation personally, I think there is a kinda preside and reputations that comes with your job title.......

So lets keep the ball rolling for questions on CIPM registration....

kkkp:
graduate assistant around 120k , masters with experience is 140k, lecturer 11 around 150-180 , lecturer 1 around 180k to 250k , PhD 250k above, professor 400k- 600k some even collect up to 700k.

Gossiplover:
Kayode Fayemi, governor-elect of Ekiti state, on Thursday led some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the residence of Iyiola Omisore, Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate in Osun state governorship election.

His visit comes 24 hours after that of Senate President Bukola Saraki.

The PDP and APC are wooing Omisore ahead of the governorship rerun scheduled for Thursday.

The rerun will hold in seven polling units across four local government areas — Orolu, Ife north, Ife south and Osogbo.

Ife is the stronghold of Omisore.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Saturday’s election inconclusive.

Ademola Adeleke of the PDP had polled 254,699, while his closest challenger, Isiaka Oyetola of the APC had 254,345 votes.

With 128,049 votes, Omisore placed a distant third.

Although all the 48 political parties will partake in the exercise, the contest is between Adeleke and Oyetola.

While receiving Saraki on Monday, Omisore listed the conditions under which he would work for any of the two leading parties.

“I have given my programmes to both the APC and the PDP. My programme is like this; payment of salaries and pensions. Good governance is what is important to me,” he had told reporters after the meeting.

“Anyone between the two that will do that will get my support. I am passionate about Osun State and my interest is the welfare of the people of this state. I have told those sent to me. At the appropriate time, we will tell you where we are going.”

https://www.thecable.ng/just-in-fayemi-leads-apc-chieftains-to-omisores-residence

Jasen1:
Good day all

Please I really need a good advise insults are welcome also

Please pardon any error in the post


It happened like this

She's a girl I met in 2012 via 2go, we became friends we talk, chat, and call each other, we've been just social media friends we never met each other physically till 2016 when we met in PH for the first time, it WI didn't stay together for more than 10minutes she left, we were still talking


Fast forward to this year I relocated to Abuja and she lives here also. We decided to date each other, she was staying with her sister here while I just rented an apartment, she visited me and passed the night in my house (yes we had sex) so from that day, she started complaining about her sister giving her troubles, always punishing her, she always quarrel with her, soany complain, she said she want to get an apartment, I said OK I will help her get one but first she needs to start working at least when I get the apartment for her she can be able to pay her bills she said OK, 2weeka after she told her that her sister had issues with her husband and she's packing out of the house that her sister is relocating to ph and her sister asked her to leave the house or stay with her husband

She said she can't stay with her sister husband, I then told her to come to my place and stay, she agreed.

Now my problem is this, since she been here she sleep wake up eat morning afternoon and evening, she's not bothered about working anymore like she became so lazy to go out and look for work, I spend lots of money every week making sure we've enough to eat at home. But I'm really getting tired of everything


I don't know how to ask her to leave and again she don't have anywhere to go to, excepts her village or her sister place in Lagos, she has lots of friends here in Abuja but they're not good friends to her, I stopped her from associating with them, but this time if she want to go back to them, I don't mind, I really need space


Please note she's my girlfriend, we are both in our early 20's


I want the best way to ask her to leave that won't cause problem

Tobium1:
Why would you go to a place uninvited? Save yourself the stress and embarrassment.

Deejay777:
Pls m a 200l student of d Federal University of Oye Ekiti, studying plant science and biotechnology ( d most prestigious course ever), pls I need ur help on where I could possibly do my siwes, I stay in Ado Ekiti and I'm 'layman' in d aspect of where I can do siwes. Pls I really nid ur epp

ozoneymcm:
Matt 12:47-50. Mary can't hear your prayers coz the dead can't hear the living

Peteragan:
Mr Man what i will advise you first is to educate her on the Catholic Faith coz most of the comment here obviously show a shallow knowledge about what the Catholic faith entails and if she will not listen to you then i will advise that you look elsewhere.Also she has little knowledge about the faith from your post and you should not jeopardize your happiness for that flimsy reason.You can also still marry her and allow her to practice her faith if you want to navigate through.Honestly my advise is for you to let her go if she insist on not accepting your proposal because you are a Catholic.My humble opinion.