The U.S. Mission will prioritise student visa applicants and ensure Nigerian students resuming this Fall get visa interview appointments well in advance of their program start date.
The U.S. Mission Country Consular Coordinator, Susan Tuller, made the announcement on Friday, stating that the Embassy in Abuja and Consulate General in Lagos will make every effort to assist student visa applicants in a timely fashion while keeping personnel and customers safe.
Tuller explained that all student visa appointments must be booked through the U.S. Travel Docs website at www.ustraveldocs.com/ng/.
She warned applicants against the use of third-party services, including touts, and fixers who broker visa appointments.
She explained that agents or third parties often seek to benefit by charging a fee for their services and they may not always provide the correct information, which can harm an applicant’s chances of qualifying for the visa.
She said “Both Nigeria and the United States benefit when Nigerian students study at one of our world-class educational institutions. To prepare for your U.S. educational opportunity, we encourage you to check out EducationUSA Advising Centers at our American Spaces in Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan, and Calabar, or at educationUSA.state.gov”.
Nigeria sends more students to American colleges and universities than any other country in Africa and is the eleventh largest source worldwide of international students to the United States.
In academic year 2019-2020, a record-breaking number of nearly 14,000 Nigerians pursued graduate and undergraduate degrees in the United States.
Nigerians Applying for Student Visa To Get Priority Appointments – U.S Country Consular
Four Tunisian Faculties of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Sign Agreement On Access To Harvard’s Online Learning Platform
The Faculty of Medicine of Tunis at Tunis El Manar University, the Faculty of Medicine of Monastir, the Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, and the Faculty of Medicine of Sousse have signed agreement with Harvard Medical School to offer their students access to Harvard’s online learning platform.
This is according to the Tunisia Office, Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University, which said in a statement that a first batch of 40 undergraduate students will undertake the course in the coming academic year, with 200 students in total undertaking the course in the next five years.
The statement revealed that the access to the HMX courses is made possible by the support from the Harvard College alumnus Hazem Ben-Gacem Tunisia Medical Education Fund.
The five HMX Fundamentals courses include biochemistry, genetics, immunology, pharmacology, and physiology
According to the dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, Mohamed Jouini, implementing HMX online courses will offer an excellent opportunity to Tunisia’s medical students.
He said the first initiative will establish a fruitful and long-lasting relationship between the Faculty of Medicine of Tunis and the Harvard Medical School adding that this project comes as a great addition to a wider strategy of international cooperation for the school.
HMX courses are currently offered to students at HMS and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, as well as through institutional partnerships around the globe.
Mbaka Asks Buhari To Resign Or Face Impeachment
Fr. Ejike Mbaka, one of the spiritual leaders whose support propelled President Muhammadu Buhari’s win in 2015, has turned against him.
Mbaka, the Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry, Enugu, asked Buahri to resign because, according to him, God is angry with the Nigerian leader.
If Buhari fails to resign, he should be impeached, Mbaka said.
Mbaka spoke at the Adoration Ministry in Enugu, in Nigeria’s South Eastern region, where he said that is wrong for Buhari to “maintain grave silence” in the face of the worsening insecurity in Africa’s most populous country.
Nigeria is going through its worst peace-time insecurity challenge, the country brought to its knees by groups of bandits and kidnappers freely roaming the countryside, highways, farmlands, and forests kidnapping people and asking for ransom.
They kidnap students, travellers, farmers, and people sleeping in their homes and ferret them into the forests from where they call relations of victims for ransoms.
“I know people will say, Mbaka did you not pray for Buhari, did Samuel not anoint Saul? What are you talking about? Am I the creator of Buhari? God created him, Nigerians trusted him because he has done well sometimes ago but now how can people just be dying?
“God will ask Nigerians: Nigerians why are you crying? We are crying because our leaders have failed us woefully. If it is in a civilized country, by now, President Buhari will resign. Quote me anywhere and let the whole world hear it. By now, with what is happening, President Buhari should honourably resign,” Mbaka said.
On Tuesday the House of Representatives asked Buhari to declare a state of emergency on security to give bite to government’s attack on the ravaging bandits and terrorists.
The call came on the heels of reports of some military bases being overrun by the terrorists, with equipment being lost to them, and more Nigerians being kidnapped or killed by the bandits.
In Kaduna State, a group of young bandits kidnapped 23 students of privately owned Greenfield University and demanded a ransom of N800 million.
So far, they have killed five of the students as the parents failed to pay the ransom.
“We are crying because we don’t have a shepherd. All those that will fight what I’m saying now will eventually suffer the rot. If you can’t do it, either you resign or you be changed. A good coach cannot watch his team defeated when he has players sitting watching on the bench. Either Buhari resigns by himself or he will be impeached,” Mbaka said.
“This statement is too mysterious and supernatural. I know that people will begin to fight it. The chief security officer consulting on lives in the country will be sitting down not making any comment.
“Gunmen are attacking everybody. Why are you crying Nigerian youths? As I said, overseas has become a dumping ground for our ingenious youths. Young doctors, lawyers, running away from Nigeria? Countries we are better than.
“What is the matter? Nigerians are crying, why? Because there is no security in this country. House of Reps and the Senate should impeach the President if he doesn’t want to resign.
“If the members of these two houses do not want to impeach him and they want to begin to fight Fr Mbaka, something worse than what they ever imagined will happen to the members of the Senate and members of the house of Rep. Disaster is coming!
“Until the government of this country find something useful for our youths, they are going to face disaster, a time is coming when, if you are asked to be a governor, senator, house of a representative member, you will begin to run because I’m trying to tell you that we cannot continue like this.
“The leaders have made the youths suffer, it is time for the civilians to make the leaders suffer. Enough of this rubbish, most of the reasons why you come here for prayers are not prayer projects, these are things government should supply. To feed, pay for house rent, even to import products from abroad, taxation has doubled, the international community cannot come to Nigeria to invest anymore. Are we living or dying?
“God is asking what is the matter, I am telling God now, let him change our leaders for us…“God is angry with our leaders, from Buhari to the last. God’s anger is upon you, you have failed God.”
Digital Switch Over Launches In Lagos, To Beam 60 Choice Channels To Households
The FG launched the second phase of the Digital Switch Over in Lagos on Thursday. The Minister of Information stated that the DSO project would be beaming 60 choice channels to television households with over 1 million Set-Top-Boxes ready.
Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed disclosed this at the launch of the DSO project phase in Lagos State.
What Lai Mohammed said about the Digital Switch Over launch in Lagos
- The DSO provides us with a great platform to key into the Lagos Smart City Project, which seeks to use technology to enhance service delivery in all spheres of life.
- The DSO television platform, branded as FreeTV, offers its viewers about 60 digital channels, including sports, music, movies,
and news. - In addition, a large number of the 1 million jobs to be created by the DSO project in the next three years will come from Lagos. Since FreeTV helps to provide Value Added Services, the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 LCDAs in Lagos State will be supported in the collection of Television & Radio Licenses from residents.
- We have over 1 million Set-Top-Boxes ready. The good news is that the Set-Top-Boxes are locally manufactured, hence more boxes are getting set to be released by the factories located across the country.
The Minister added that FreeTV will be propelled largely by advertising revenue and that the FG is optimistic by December 7th, 2022, it will complete the switch-off of analogue broadcasting on the terrestrial television platform in Nigeria.
In case you missed it
Last week, the Federal Government disclosed that Nigerian consumers will not need a new TV set after the implementation of the digital switch over, except in rare situations.
“With some rare exceptions, any TV can be converted. So to watch TV after the digital switch over, you need to attach a Set-Top-Box to your existing television or alternatively you can still watch TV if you have a built-in TV digital tuner. Note that while purchasing a Set-Top- Box, make sure it is certified and supports the DVB- T2 standard. DVB-T2 is the next development of the Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial standards,” the NBC statement said.
Former First Bank Chairman, Ibukun Awosika, Reacts To Sack Of Board By CBN
The immediate past Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria Ltd, Mrs Ibukun Awosika, has reacted to the sack of the board of directors of the bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over bad loans, corporate governance issues and others.
She insisted that the board acted in the best interest of the bank in its decisions adding that they had great plans and aspirations for where the bank could go in the near future, building on all the work that had already been done in the over 5 years since she became Chairman of the bank
The reaction is contained in a statement issued by Awosika on her Instagram page on Friday, April 30, 2021.
While going through her sojourn on the board of First Bank and its subsidiaries, Awosika said, “I have always acted in honour and integrity with the utmost interest of the institution, all our stakeholders and the Nation.”
The statement from Awosika reads, “In October 2010, I was appointed to join the board of First Bank of Nigeria.
A few months later, I was appointed to chair the board of its startup FBN Life Insurance Limited (a joint venture with Sanlam of South Africa). As its pioneer Chairman, I had the privilege of working with a strong management team led by Val Ojumah.
Together with the rest of our team, we built a company that became profitable in twenty-four months and continues to be so.
In early 2013, I was moved from FBN Life Insurance Ltd, to assume the chairmanship of FBN Capital working with a brilliant team led by Kayode Akinkugbe as the Managing Director.
We worked hard to build the institution, bought Kakawa Discount House which I was again asked by the Group to Chair. We eventually merged the companies to create the FBN quest Merchant Bank Group, which I chaired until my appointment as Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria on January 1st 2016.
For over five years, I have worked with a dedicated team of board and management, with the support of Central Bank of Nigeria to rebuild and restructure the institution for its future. This included cleaning up non-performing loans, establishing good operational governance systems and processes, building controls and an effective and robust risk management system.
I am confident we have brought First Bank of Nigeria to a place where it is more than able to deliver utmost value to its stakeholders and the nation at large.
As a board, we acted in what we clearly believed to be in the best interest of the bank and we had great plans and aspirations for where the bank could go in its future, building on all the work that has already been done in the last five plus years.
Without a shadow of doubt, I will unequivocally state that I have always acted in honour and integrity with the utmost interest of the institution, all our stakeholders and the Nation.”
In case you missed it
- It can be recalled that 2 days ago, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, in a televised broadcast, announced the sack of the entire board of directors of FBN Holdings Plc and its subsidiary First Bank of Nigeria Ltd, citing insider abuse, insider credit and breakdown of corporate governance as the reason behind the action.
- The CBN subsequently reinstated the removed Managing Director of the bank, Dr Sola Adeduntan, who was eased out by the board before the end of his tenure and without consultation with the apex bank.
Nigeria Dissolves 31 Of 32 Sports Federations
Only the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) which has a special status as a parastatal under the sports ministry is spared as 31 of 32 sports federations boards were dissolved.
This is in keeping with the Olympic Charter, which stipulates a four-year tenure for all sports federations boards following expiration of the tenure of the National Olympic Sports Federations,
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare has dissolved the boards of 31 Sports Federation and constituted Caretaker Committees.
The Minister, who was represented by the Director of Federation, Elites Athletes Department Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development Dr. Simon Ebhojaiye, stated: “Having run a full Olympic cycle, the Boards of the NSFs inaugurated on 21 June 2017 are hereby dissolved to pave way for fresh elections.
“In order to ensure continuity in the administration of the Federations, Caretaker Committees are hereby put in place to manage the affairs of the Federations until elections are conducted and the new Boards inaugurated.”
Ebhojaiye further said:”Mindful of the Olympic Games in July 2021, the Caretaker Committees will work assiduously towards enhancing team Nigeria participation at the Games.
“The Ministry in partnership with the NOC will release in due course, the time-table for the elections into National Sports Federation Boards.”
He encouraged all Nigerians with passion and interest for Sports to contribute selflessly to the development of Sports in Nigeria by indicating interest in membership of the various National Sports Federations.
The Caretaker Committees for the 31 National Sports Federations will run the affairs of the Federations until the inauguration of the new Boards.
The Aquatic Federation of Nigeria Caretaker committee is headed by Babatunde Fatai William’s, Olumide George – Athletic Federation of Nigeria, Francis Orbih Badminton Federation of Nigeria, Eng. Musa Kida, Basketball Federation of Nigeria, Rtd General Joseph Ayeni, Nigeria Boxing Federation, DIG Sani Sani Mohammed Nigeria Chess Federation, Professor Yahaya Ukwanya Nigeria Cricket Federation, G Masari Cycling Federation of Nigeria, Abubakar Gaya Darts Federation of Nigeria, Alhaji U Nahuche Nigeria Deaf Sports Federation, Abubakar Dangaladima Fives Federation of Nigeria, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlolola Nigeria Golf Federation, Prince Kelvin Erhurnwunse, Gymnastic Federation of Nigeria.
Others are Samuel Ochecho Handball Federation of Nigeria, Senator Andul Ningi, Nigeria Hockey Federation, Brig Gen. Z L Abubakar, Nigeria Judo Federation, Sila Agara, Karate Federation of Nigeria, Yakubu Abubakar Kickboxing Federation of Nigeria, Arc. Adewunmi Adekunle, Nigeria Wushu Kungfu Federation, Rtd Rear Admiral Porbeni Festus, Nigeria Rowing, Canoeing and Yatching Federation, Comrade Iyorchia Grace Nigeria Rugby Federation.
Suleman Gora Nigeria Scrabble Federation, Maj. General Johnny Hamakim, Nigeria Shooting Federation, Oyerinde Adeboye, Nigeria Squash Federation, Chief Tikon Ishayaku, Nigeria Table Tennis Federation, Mrs. Margaret Binga, Nigeria Taekwondo Federation, Akindoju Olaoye Nigeria Tennis Federation, Usman Musa Traditional Sports Federation of Nigeria, Musa Nimrod, Nigeria Volleyball Federation, Tonobok Okowa, Nigeria Weightlifting Federation.
Edo State Moves To Boost Technical, Vocational Education In Junior Secondary
The Edo State Universal Basic Education Board says the state government plans to boost Technical and Vocational Education and Training with the recruitment of 3,000 teachers under the Edo Supporting Teachers to Achieve Result teacher recruitment programme.
The Chairperson, Edo State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr. Joan Oviawe, said the board had received orders from Governor Godwin Obaseki, to educate students on the requisite skills.
She said, “As you are aware, basic education extends to junior secondary school. We are trying to put in place the necessary tools that will make us roll this out. In line with that, we have the Edo Supporting Teachers to Achieve Result recruitment programme.
“We had over 38,000 applicants. Out of this, 11,000 were shortlisted for a computer-based test. From those that took the test, we will do a further review so that we can select the best 3,000 graduate teachers that will be hired amongst them. By the end of May, we ought to have shortlisted the new teachers.”
Speaking on the curriculum to drive the teaching of technical and vocational education, Oviawe noted that work has already commenced on the curriculum for junior secondary school.
She said the governor has the Board marching orders to educate students and have them acquire the requisite skills.
Skills acquisition is now a strong component of thr basic 7, 8 and 9 education system in Edo State.
Lagos State Trains 2,000 Primary School Teachers Under EKOEXCEL Initiative
The Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB) has completed the final phase of training for 2,000 newly recruited primary school teachers on integration of technological devices for instructional classroom delivery under the EKOEXCEL initiative of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
According to LASUBEB, the training would not only empower and develop the newly recruited teachers and participating head teachers but also bring them up to speed with how knowledge is being impacted across other parts of the world by including technology in the basic education system.
The 2,000 teachers represent the final batch of teachers, who completed their training in a session phased in 3 batches.
All participating teachers promised to implement all they have learnt in the classrooms, noting the training will not only boost their confidence in the classrooms but also ensure their pupils are gainfully engaged in school.
West Bengal Board Cancels Class 11 Exams, Higher Secondary Exams To Hold As Scheduled
The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) has announced the cancellagion of annual examination of class 11 due to an unprecedented situation across the country. All students of class 11 will be promoted to class 12 without exams.
However, Higher Secondary Examination (class 12) 2021 will be held in line with the schedule and in their home centres from 12 noon to 3:15 pm instead of 10 am to 1:15 pm.
The council released a circular stating that the decision has been taken in view of the pandemic.
Official statement by the council stated that as a result of the health crisis in the country and other reasons, the council has decided to cancel the annual examination of class 11.
The head of the Institution has accepted a requested to promote all candidates of Class 11 to Class 12 while topics of the reduced syllabus of Class 12 which are related to the Higher Secondary Examination to be completed within the first quarter of Class 12.
Ship Prepares To Ferry Chemicals Out Of Beirut Port
A ship prepared to ferry dozens of containers of hazardous materials from Lebanon’s capital to Germany on Friday, according to managers of a cleanup project.
German firm Combi Lift was contracted to remove dangerous substances from the port after the explosion of hundreds of tonnes of fertiliser there on August 4 last year killed more than 200 people and ravaged large parts of Beirut.
The last of 59 containers was lifted onto the ship on Friday and Heiko Felderhoff, CEO of Combi Lift, said they would be disposed of in Germany.
Meanwhile, Elias Assouad, head of the Lebanese-German Business Council, says the project had cleared the port of “all toxic, cancerous, flammable and highly reactive chemicals that have been stored for decades.
He said the German firm had been expected “to deal with only 49 containers of hazardous material, but they ended up “handling more than 75, of which 59 will be shipped”.
A chemical expert managing the operation Michael Wentler told Newsmen after finishing the job in February that Beirut only avoided a second chemical inferno by chance.
Wentler had described festering chemical mixtures so corrosive they burned gaping holes right through massive shipping containers. Hydrochloric acid, a corrosive and toxic substance, made up 60 percent of the chemicals Combi Lift came across.
