Over 150,000 Nigerians interviewed in 2023– US Embassy

Published

5 months ago

December 4, 2023

The United States Embassy in Nigeria said it has interviewed over 150,000 Nigerians, including 30,000 students, who applied for visas to their country this year.

The head, Mr. David Greene, made this disclosure on Sunday during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.

He also assured visa applicants of the mission’s commitment to tackling all visa-related hitches.

According to him, issues related to visas would fully become a thing of the past, saying the mission is doing everything within its power to tackle such challenges.

“When it comes to visas specifically, well, of course, it is a simple fact: the demand for visa appointments outnumbers the supply.

“So, those appointments are available, and we are doing everything we can to address that gap. What folks do not know is that this year, we have interviewed more than 150,000 Nigerians.

“This is in addition to 30,000 students. Hundreds of thousands of students have had the opportunity to seek visas from the US.

“We are doing the best we can to get proper ways for all the categories and after having an enormous backlog as a result of COVID-19 and all that.

“We have made great progress though. In March, we instituted a five-year term for visas to the US,” he added.

He urged persons desiring to travel to the US to apply early and ensure that the visa requests are tied to events.

“Folks that are seeking visas should apply early, make sure that the plan is for an event as they can.

“This is because we do acknowledge that there is a backlog, and we will do what we can to make sure people that need a warrant visa to the US can get them,” he said.

Nigeria needs over $2bn to revive Ajaokuta Steel Plant, says Minister

Published

39 mins ago

May 9, 2024

Gift Oyekunmi

Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Abubakar-Audu says funding is the greatest challenge in efforts to revive the moribund Ajaokuta Steel Plant as Nigeria needs an excess of $2 billion to invest in it.

The Minister made this known in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital during his official visit to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and other indigenous steel sector stakeholders in the state.

He noted that the current administration of President Bola Tinubu is working to grow the economy of the country by $1 trillion which involves supporting indigenous key players in the steel sector to industrialise Nigeria.

Abubakar-Audu also maintained that there is an ongoing discussion to have an industrial park at the Ajaokuta Steel Mill to attract key players in the sector. He explained that his Ministry is engaging key industry players across the country with a view to turning around the economy.

Headline

Tinubu resumes work after foreign trip

Published

46 mins ago

May 9, 2024

Ifunaya Emeka

President Bola Tinubu has officially resumed work at the Villa, a day after returning from his trip abroad.

The President walked from his residence to his office accompanied by his security aides, his Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila; the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and other aides.

President Tinubu traveled to the Netherlands on the 23rd of April at the invitation of the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. While in the Netherlands, he also met with the Nigerian-Dutch business community.

He proceeded to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the World Economic Forum (WEF) where he engaged global leaders with the view to winning more investors in Nigeria.

After the meeting in Saudi Arabia, President Tinubu was said to have proceeded to Europe on a private visit.

He returned to the country on Wednesday, after over two weeks of being away.

The governors of Kaduna and Plateau states, Uba Sani and Caleb Mutfwang paid a visit to the President on Thursday.

The reason for their visits could not be ascertained at the time of filing the report.