The United States embassy in Nigeria has lifted the restriction on drop box service or interview waiver for those renewing visas in the country.

The interview waiver was suspended for Nigerian applicants in May 2019.

Applicants must, however, be applying to renew a visa in the same classification as their prior non-immigrant visa.

“Right now, this service is only available to applicants renewing a B1/B2, C1/D, F, M or J, H and L visa. Applicants must satisfy all the following criteria for their visa class. If applying as a group or family, all members must fulfill all criteria to qualify for interview waiver,” the embassy said.

“For B1/B2 or C1/D visa holders: the applicant must possess a full-validity B1/B2 or C1/D visa that expired within the past 24 months or will expire in the next three months.

“The applicant must be a citizen or resident of Nigeria. The applicant must not have been refused a visa since the issuance of the previous visa, or had a visa revoked, or have ever required a waiver.

“The applicant possesses all issued passports covering the entire period since receiving the previous visa and the passport with the most recent visa.

“The applicant has never been arrested or convicted of any crime or offense in the United States, even if the applicant has later received a waiver or pardon.

“The applicant has never worked without authorization or remained beyond their permitted time in the United States. C1/D applicants must possess a letter from the employer outlining the scope, duration, and location of the anticipated work.”

The same criteria also apply to Lagos F or M visa holders and Abuja applicants with F1/F2 visas, while for J visa holders, the embassy said the visa must be for academic purposes.

“The applicant’s DS-2019 must be for an academic program (not summer work travel, au pair, or camp counselor,” it said.

The embassy also instructed applicants to complete their applications using this link.

The following documents are to be mailed to the Abuja embassy via a designated document delivery DHL facility: “A printout of your submission letter (printed from https://ustraveldocs.com/ng/); completed DS-160; an approved I-20; a receipt for your I-901 SEVIS fee; a GTB (MRV) receipt for your visa fee; your passport containing the expired student visa (if that passport is expired, a current valid passport is also required).”

Also required are: “A passport photograph meeting these requirements; proof of continued full-time enrollment (such as transcripts, tuition payment, etc.)”.

The embassy added that only applicants with scheduled appointments can drop off documents at the US Consulate.

The Cable

Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited spent N100 billion on the rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries in 2021.

Details of the expenditure are contained in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) presentation to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting on its funding performance for the year.

According to the state oil firm, the fund was used to revamp the facilities throughout the year. 

Although the specific refineries were not stated, according to the funding report, NNPC said it spent N8.3 billion every month in 2021 to revamp the refineries. 

The facilities under the NNPC’s management include the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Kaduna Refining Production Company (KRPC) and the Warri Refining Production Company (WRPC). 

The refineries have a combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels of oil per day.

Despite having four refineries, Nigeria imports its refined petroleum products. As a result, the country spends the scarce foreign exchange (forex) to ensure no scarcity.

Mele Kyari, group managing director of the NNPC, had said the nation’s refineries were deliberately shut down because their operations were no longer sustainable.

In March 2021, the federal executive council (FEC) approved the sum of $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery. Last week, the federal government said it had processed $98 million and N17.2 billion as partial payments for the ongoing rehabilitation works at the refinery.

The Cable

Three teenage boys have been caught burning the head of a girl, said to be in a relationship with one of them, for money ritual in Oke Aregba area of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Men of the Ogun State Police Command arrested the three teenagers in the early hours of Saturday following the tip-off by one Segun Adewusi, who is the community security guard.

Adewusi was reported to have observed that four boys were burning something suspected to be human head in a local pot.

The security guard immediately alerted the police at Adatan station, who went to the scene and arrested the three boys while the fourth one escaped before the police arrived.

A source, who confirmed the incident  said the slain girl, identified as Rofiat, was a resident of Idi-Ape; and was a girlfriend to one Soliu, who is now in police net.

Soliuwas said to have lured the girl to his room, where he held her down and asked one of his friends to slaughter her with a knife.

The source said, “The arrested suspects were identified as 17-year-old Wariz Oladeinde from Kugba, 19-year-old Abdulgafar Lukman from Kugba and Mustakeem Balogun from Bode Olude, all in Abeokuta.

“The police have taken the body away to a mortuary.”  

Confirming the incident, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the three boys have been arrested.

Oyeyemi said, “Three young boys whose ages range between 17and 20 years were in the early hours of Saturday 29th of January 2022 arrested by men of Ogun State Police Command for killing a girlfriend of their friend for money making ritual.

“On interrogation, the arrested suspects confessed that what they were burning in the local pot is the head of the girlfriend of their escaped accomplice.

“They confessed further that the girl who was simply identified as Rofiat was lured by her boyfriend simply identified as Soliu to where she was murdered by four of them, after which they cut off her head and packed the remains in a sack, and dumped it in an old building.

“They subsequently led policemen to the building, where the dismembered body was recovered and deposited at general hospital mortuary for autopsy.

“The short cutlass and a knife used in cutting off the deceased head were also recovered.”

The PPRO however said the Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, described the action of the suspects as height of callousness.

He said Bankole has ordered for a massive manhunt for the fleeing boyfriend of the victim by name Soliu.

“The CP also ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to homicide section of the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation with the view to arraign them in court as soon as possible,” he said.

Lauretta Fagbohun, Ogun

Officers of the Ogun State Police Command on Tuesday killed two bandits in a fierce gun battle at Saala Orile forest, where the bandits were attacking some Fulani herders.

This was disclosed by the Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi who confirmed that an Inspector of police, Omolayo Olajide, lost his life during the gun duel.

DSP Oyeyemi told newsmen that, the DPO of Ayetoro police division, CSP Bernard Ediogboyan, led his men and operatives of the Joint Security Intervention Squad (JSIS) to the scene, having received a distress call that the bandits were attacking the Fulani herders, at Isaala Orile forest.

He explained that "on sighting the police, the bandits opened fire on them and the policemen replied fire for fire".

"At the end of the encounter which lasted for about twenty minutes, two among the bandits were shot dead while others escaped with varying degrees of gunshot injuries".

The State Police spokesman said, items recovered include three locally made guns,  sixteen live cartridges, assorted criminal charms, one cutlass, one small phone, and one unregistered Bajaj motorcycle.

Meanwhile, the State Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, who expressed sadness over the death of the police officer while fighting the bandits had directed that the escaped members of the gang be hunted and brought to justice. 

The CP also condoled with the family of the late inspector and assured them that his death will not be in vain.

A traditional ruler in Agodo town near Papalanto in Ewekoro Local Government Area of Ogun State, the Alagodo of Agodo, Ayinde Odetola, and his three friends were on Monday burnt to death.

Our correspondent gathered that the slain traditional ruler and three others were attacked by some hoodlums who are residents of Agodo village around 11am.

A source told our correspondent that the Oba was burnt to ashes with his car he brought into the town.

It was further gathered that the three others were also killed in the same car with the traditional ruler.

Our correspondent further gathered that crisis erupted when the late Oba was installed by the Alake of Egbaland , Michael Gbadebo, in the village believed to be under the authority of Owu  kingdom .

It was further learnt that residents of the village, who are mostly of Owu extraction, rejected his installation, being an Ake person.

An elder sister of the late Oba, Adenike Akintade, lamented the killing, alleging that the same people had killed the younger brother of the late monarch recently.

She said “I had just been discharged from hospital early this morning, only to start mourning the brutal assassination of my brother by 11am.

 “Oba Odetola lost his younger brother to the imbroglio some months ago; the young man was butchered by the so-called hoodlums. Today, Kabiesi is no more, what a world!”

When contacted the Police Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the incident.

Oyeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said the Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole; and the Special Security Adviser to Governor Dapo Abiodun, Olusola Subair, visited the town for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation.

The PPRO stated that the whole town had been deserted at the time of the visit.

He said, “Yes, we are aware. The CP has gone to the place. The villagers had left the village before we got there.

“The CP has directed the Homicide Section to take over the case and investigate the matter.

“Only one person was burnt. We don’t know if he is an Oba or not.”

Punch

Federal government has postponed the planned petrol subsidy removal till further notice due to “high inflation and economic hardship”.

Subsidy or under-recovery is the underpriced sales of premium motor spirit (PMS), better known as petrol.

The government had planned to stop subsidy payments on petroleum products from July this year.

Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget, national planning, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at a meeting with Senate President Ahmad Lawan.

The meeting had Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources; representatives of oil companies, among others, in attendance.

Last week, Lawal had said Buhari did not direct the removal of petrol subsidy, saying their “constituents are raising concerns over the policy”.

National Economic Council (NEC) said it was still considering the recommendations of its ad-hoc committee — which proposed full deregulation and N302 per litre for PMS.

Petrol subsidy payments gulped N1.43 trillion in 2021, shrinking revenue accrued to the federation account to N542 billion — a shortfall from the projected N2.51 trillion. In December 2021, Nigeria spent N270.83 billion to cater for the cost of petroleum shortfall.

The finance minister said the government had to reconsider its decision after the 2022 budget was passed.

Ahmed said petrol subsidy was provided for in the 2022 budget to run from January till June.

She, however, said that after consultations with stakeholders — in view of the high inflation and economic hardship — additional provisions would be made beyond the initial period.

According to her, it has become clear that the timing for the removal of petrol subsidy will be problematic as the country still experiences heightened inflation.

“Provision was made in the 2022 budget for subsidy payment from January till June. That suggested that from July, there would be no subsidy,” Ahmed said.

”The provision was made sequel to the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act, which indicated that all petroleum products would be deregulated.

“Sequel to the passage of the PIA, we went back to amend the fiscal framework to incorporate the subsidy removal.

“However, after the budget was passed, we had consultations with a number of stakeholders, and it became clear that the timing was problematic.

“We discovered that practically, there is still heightened inflation and that the removal of subsidy would further worsen the situation and impose more difficulties on the citizenry.

“Mr President (Muhammadu Buhari), does not want to do that. What we are now doing is to continue with the ongoing discussions and consultations in terms of putting in place a number of measures.

“One of these include the roll-out of the refining capacities of the existing refineries and the new ones, which would reduce the amount of products that would be imported into the country.

“We, therefore, need to return to the National Assembly to now amend the budget and make additional provision for subsidy from July 2022 to whatever period that we agreed was suitable for the commencement of the total removal.”

On his part, Lawan appealed to the leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to shelve their planned industrial action over subsidy removal as it has become unnecessary.

The Cable

by Ibrahim Hassan 

Ever since its invention and commencement as a means of transportation at the close of the 19th century in Britain, the railway transportation mode has surpassed all the other means of transportation in the crystallization of civilization or, the advancement of mankind.  While for instance, the seagoing vessels have it when it comes to bulk haulage across the continents, the rail has incomparable advantages over the other modes in the movement of people and goods on land.

The advantages of rail transportation include flexibility in its routings, relative capacity for bulk haulage and lower costs to its users. 

As a result of the huge number of people and products conveyed by railway, it has engendered the opening up and creation of new markets and heavy industries as well as, the change of hitherto remote and far-flung lands into bubbling urban centres. York in Britain, Minna, Kafanchan and Gusau in Nigeria are illustrations of the transformative impact on cities and commercial centres.

Many modern cities in Britain, other countries in Europe, the USA and China owed their transformation largely to the impact of railway. The revolution experienced in railway transportation mode did not as such, trigger the industrial revolutions in Britain and the rest of Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, the emergence of rail transportation was however, a great impetus to the rapid expansion of industries, the centralization and integration of peoples and economies resulting in today’s outstanding global beacons of modern societies. To increase the harvest of its multiple benefits, most industrialized countries of the world have continued to commit huge portions of their revenues into the expansion and modernization of their railway systems. For example, in spite of the fact that it is one of the leading countries in the use of railways as a means of transportation, Britain recently announced the allocation of a whopping fifty-billion-pound sterling for research and expansion of its rail system.

The Nigerian rail system was initiated by the British colonial government essentially and solely for the purpose of evacuating agricultural produce and other raw materials from the hinterland to the seaports for onward shipment to the metropolis. Unfortunately, successive post-colonial administrations in the country amazingly failed to reinvent the nation’s railway by expanding and reshaping the infrastructure to enhance economic development and social integration. Most of the initiatives and actions taken were haphazardly conceived, ill designed and poorly executed, inevitably leading to the moribund state of the rail transportation mode through the years. 

Happily, the narrative has since began to positively change with the advent of President Muhammadu Buhari.

In line with his All Progressives Congress, APC, manifesto, President Muhammadu Buhari has vicariously pursued the agenda to holistically transform the country’s transportation infrastructure. To drive home the vision into actuality, the President went for one of the nation’s most tested, experienced and successful political actors in the person of Chief Rotimi Amaechi. The erstwhile two term Speaker and two term Governor of Rivers state, has hugely and spectacularly delivered on the assignment.

Within a spate of six years, remarkable and unprecedented milestones have been recorded in the nation’s rail transportation system, so much more than all the feats performed by past administrations in the preceding five decades.

On assumption of office of the Minister of Transportation, Chief Rotimi Amaechi went to work by first, identifying the rail transportation infrastructure as deserving priority attention among other sectors under the ministry and, accordingly focused his attention and energy in that direction. After appraising the state of the sector, he went on to draw up a blueprint and an action plan aimed at it’s revival which include the completion of ongoing and abandoned projects.

In that regard, the 168-kilometer Abuja-Kaduna rail track was completed and put to use just as, the 157-kilometer Lagos-Ibadan stretch was started, completed in record time by the administration and has already been put to use. Similarly, while the Warri – Ajaokuta rail line of 327 kilometers, abandoned for more than three decades, has been completed and put to use, the 44.7-kilometer Abuja metro line, initiated by the Jonathan government has since become a reality. The Itakpe-Baro-Abuja railway is very much on the way to joining the number of rail projects completed under the supervision of Rotimi Amaechi.

On a longer term, the Amaechi blueprint for the revolutionary transformation of the Nigerian Railway, include the East-West coastal rail line that will link Lagos to Calabar through Warri and another one from Lagos to the South-East commercial city of Onitsha. Contract for the Port Harcourt/ Maiduguri line has just been signed. There is also the Trans-African railway that connects the Lagos-Kano track through Katsina to Maradi, in Niger Republic with eventual plans to take it across the Sahara to seaports in the Mediterranean countries of North Africa.

Admittedly, a number of these projects will not be completed with President Buhari in office as President and Chief Rotimi Amaechi as Minister of Transportation. However, with much that has been accomplished, in the preceding six years and in the remaining days of this administration, a bold and formidable foundation stone has been laid for the take-off of the Nigerian railway revolution. 

No government that comes after this administration can neglect to build on the foundations laid by President Muhammadu Buhari through his arrowhead, Rotimi Amaechi, the ebullient, patriotic and visionary Ikwere wonderkid from Rivers State. 

Take it or leave it, our quest for  industrial take-off, peace and stability will continue to elude our country unless and until we experience a railway revolution now apparently, at the stage of incubation.

Ibrahim Hassan is a Freelance writer based in Kaduna

The Ogun State government has called for the review of the terms and conditions for accessing counterpart funded projects by international donor agencies by States, contending the current arrangement is no longer in tune with current economic realities in the country. 

The State Commissioner for Finance and Chief Economic Adviser, Mr. Dapo Okubadejo, made the call during a meeting with a team from the International Economic Relations Department (IERD), Federal Ministry of Finance, led by its Director, Hajia Aisha Omar, in his office in Abeokuta.

He argued that mandating participating States to provide a certain percentage of the counterpart fund as requirement for accessing loans or grants, as a demonstration of their commitment was no longer realistic.

He added that most States were contending with numerous financial challenges, suggesting that donor agencies should collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Finance, to evaluate capacity of States seeking such loans or grants before approvals are granted.

Okubadejo also enjoined development partners to deemphasize the use of level and rate of disbursement, instead of the impact rate of loans to partnering States as a yardstick for measuring their performance. 

“Using counterpart funding as a way to determine commitment is no longer popular because resources are scarce.  Most States are grappling with wage increase, COVID-19 pandemic, slowdown in economic activities and decrease in Internally Generated Revenue. All of these have put pressure on the funding capacity of State governments. We would love to do these projects, but because counterpart funding is put as a requirement, a lot of States will be slow in kick starting the projects. 

“But if you put in place necessary governance requirements to ensure compliance and implementation, and evaluate the governments capacity to deliver on the projects, I think we would achieve a lot more”, Okubadejo said.

The Chief Economic Adviser further decried the situation where States were mandated to spend certain amount of grants and loans on hiring consultants, maintaining that Ogun State, due to its huge investment in human capital development by the current administration, has a large pool of in-house experts who have been assisting it with its development plan strategies, thereby making such condition uneconomical and unattractive. 

“A situation where you say out of about 250 million dollars, 50 million dollars was meant to be for technical assistance and hiring consultants is not tidy enough. For us in Ogun State, because of our heavy investment in human capital development, we have a lot of public office holders with good professional requisite skills, experience and capacity to do these things we are expected to hire Consultants for.

“This is so because a lot of the reforms that were envisaged by these projects are in our own economic development plan and strategy. For instance, we set up the Ogun State Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency, it was envisaged in the project, but we set it up without using consultants. We also passed the Private –Public Partnership law and set up an office for it by ourselves. For the procurement portal, we were advised to hire a consultant for about 350 to 400 thousand dollars, but because of our capacity in the State, we developed the portal by ourselves internally and we submitted it to them to verify and validate, they said fantastic, and it was approved. That’s how we created the e-procurement portal we are using now. And with this, we saved almost four hundred to five hundred thousand dollars for the State”, Okubadejo pointed out.

Responding, the team leader, Hajia Omar, corroborated the Commissioner, saying her agency was working on the mandate of the Federal Executive Council for a downward review of amounts allocated for consultancy services, and focus on infrastructural development and capacity building for sustainability of the programme.

“The directive of the Federal Executive Council is that allocations under Consultancy should be brought down to the minimal except when highly required, and that we should focus on infrastructure, in-house building for sustainability of the projects, because projects will still be there years after the intervention of the development partners.

“There is really no value most time when you talk about hiring Consultants because most times we have in-house experts, except for some new fields that have not been developed within the civil service”

“You were also right that much emphasis is being placed on level and rate of disbursement instead of the impact of projects, and I think that is one discussion we have been having seriously with our development partners, For us, from us from Finance side, we want to see what you have spend and what you have on ground, is there value for money? That is our own focus and I think it is now our duty and responsibility to draw the attention of development partners and ensure emphasis should be on impact, not on disbursement”, she submitted.

Federal government has approved a prior review of the thresholds service-wide application for procurements in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

Ministerial tenders board can now award a contract of N30 million and above — but less than N1.5 billion — for works.

This represents a 200 percent increase from the initial approval of N10 million and above — but less than N500 million.

The board can also award N20 million and above (but less than N300 million) for goods, while the threshold for services is N20 million and above (but less than N300 million).

Before now, it could only approve contracts from N5 million and above (but less than N100 million) for goods and consultant fees.

Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation, sent a circular to that effect on Wednesday.

According to the circular, Mustapha said the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) would be more disposed to post review, procurement audit, surveillance and monitoring activities to check against abuse procurement processes and enforce appropriate sanctions.

The review states that only BPP can provide a certificate of “no objection” for procurement of goods worth N300 million and above, works from N1.5 billion and above and consultant fees above N300 million in MDAs.

Certificate of no objection is approval showing that a procuring entity conforms with the procurement laws.

“In order to ensure sustained and realistic procurement outcomes in the face of current economic realities and to enhance budget implementation and ease of doing business, the Federal Government has approved the revision of the subsisting Prior Review and Monetary Thresholds for Service-Wide Application for procurement of Goods, Works and Services,” the circular reads.

“With the revision of the procurement thresholds, the bureau shall be more disposed to post review, procurement audit, surveillance and monitoring activities to check against abuse or breach of to enforce appropriate sanctions where necessary in line with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act.”

The circular added that the approved procurement thresholds supersede all subsisting thresholds with the exception of the special thresholds for expenditures related to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC), which is in US Dollar and is self-adjusting to reflect the prevailing Naira equivalent values.

Mustapha said the implementation of the circular is with immediate effect.

According to section 22 of the Public Procurement Act, the Tenders Board, headed by an accounting officer (permanent secretary or executive officer), is responsible for the procurements of goods, works and services within the threshold set in the regulations.

For parastatal tenders board, the government also reviewed the contract thresholds to N10 milion and above (less than N100 million) for goods, N30 million upwards (less than N1.5 billion) for works, and N20 million above for services.

It added that accounting officers (permanent secretaries) can only approve less than N20 million contracts for goods, N30 million and below for works and N10 million and below for services.

For the director-general and chief executive officer (CEO) of MDAs, the contract threshold was reviewed upward from N2.5 million to N10 million for goods.

For works and services, it increased the threshold from N5 million and N2.5 million to N20 million and N10 million, respectively.

The Cable

The Omicron-fuelled wave of Covid-19 infections has led wealthy countries to intensify their recruitment of nurses from poorer parts of the world, worsening dire staffing shortages in overstretched workforces there, the International Council of Nurses said.

Sickness, burnout and staff departures amid surging Omicron cases have driven absentee rates to levels not yet seen during the two-year pandemic, said Howard Catton, CEO of the Geneva-based group that represents 27 million nurses and 130 national organisations.

To plug the gap, Western countries have responded by hiring army personnel as well as volunteers and retirees but many have also stepped up international recruitment as part of a trend that is worsening health inequity, he continued.

"We have absolutely seen an increase in international recruitment to places like the UK, Germany, Canada and the United States," Catton said in a Reuters interview based on a report he co-authored on Covid-19 and the global nursing force.

"I really fear this 'quick fix solution' – it's a bit similar to what we've been seeing with PPE (personal protective equipment) and vaccines where rich countries have used their economic might to buy and to hoard - if they do that with the nursing workforce it will just make the inequity even worse."

Even before the pandemic there was a global shortage of 6 million nurses, with nearly 90% of those shortages in low and lower-middle-income countries, according to ICN data.

Some of the recent recruits to rich countries have come from sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, and parts of the Caribbean, Catton said, saying that nurses were often motivated by higher salaries and better terms than at home.

The ICN report said this process was also being facilitated by giving nurses preferred immigration status.

"The bottom line is that some people would look at this and say this is rich countries offloading the costs of educating new nurses and health workers," he said.

Even wealthy countries will struggle to cope with the "mountains of backlog of unmet care" when the pandemic winds down, Catton warned, calling for more investment and a ten-year plan to strengthen the workforce.

"We need a coordinated, collaborative, concerted global effort which is underpinned by serious investment, not just warm words and platitudes and applause," he said.

Reuters