The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Visa

  • Italy pledges to quicken visa issuance for Nigerians

    The new Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Fulvio Rustico, on Monday, said that the government of his country had decided to ease visa processing and issuance for Nigerians.

    Rustico told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the decision was aimed at promoting stronger relations between both countries.

    “As we all know, Italy’s visa system is in line with other countries’ visas requirements.

    “But, we are seriously working hard at making sure that visa processing and issuance for Nigerians becomes easier and much faster.

    “We have realised that more and more Nigerians want to come into Italy. We do not want to see visas as something that should stop Nigerians from visiting Italy,’’ he said.

    The envoy said that his government would continue to welcome more Nigerians due to both countries’ long-lasting relations.

    According to Rustico, there is already a growing population of Nigerians in Italy, just as there are also many Italian investors and entrepreneurs in Nigeria.

    “We believe that Nigerians are the Italians of Africa, just as Italians are the Nigerians of Europe.

    “That is one reason we will be working within 10 days period to make visas available to more Nigerians,’’ he said.

    The Italian envoy said that he was sent to Nigeria by his government to create favourable opportunities for Nigerians.

    He expressed his government’s commitment to promoting mutual relationship with Nigeria in the years ahead.

  • Why FG granted Visa to World Islamic terror preacher- Minister

    Why FG granted Visa to World Islamic terror preacher- Minister

    The Minister of Interior, Abba Moro has explained  why the Federal Government granted visa to a renowned extremist and Islamic terror Preacher, Dr Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips.

    Philips, who lives in Qatar has been issued a Nigerian Visa to visit and preach in the Country.

    Reports had it that the cleric celebrated his Visa issuance with his followers on his facebook on Sunday morning, saying, “Al hamdu lillaah. I just got a visa for Nigeria and will be going there in a few days, in shaa allaah. So, I hope to see all my Nigerian brothers and sisters. Baarakallaahu feekum”.

    The cleric has already been banned from countries like Australia, Germany, United Kingdom, United States of America, Kenya, amongst others.

    Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the Centenary Interdenominatioinal Church Service in Abuja on Sunday, Moro said that the Islamic terror was given the visa because he met the requirements.

    According to him, every country has its own requirement for the grant visa  and in Nigeria’s situation especially against “the back drop of our security challenges, we also have our requirement for granting of visas.

    “We have our own black list too of people that because of our security situation should not be allowed into country.”

    “And if this preacher that you talk about for instance did not fall within the list of people black listed for their activities that are inimical to internal security. If he is preaching and the content of what he has submitted for the granting of visa that will not undermine the security of the country, then certainly we will grant him the visa. That is the purpose we have achieved here”.

    He further said it was double standards, as “when the Nigerian government signed the anti-gay law and the west was complaining, we stated that Nigeria nation is a sovereign country that should be allowed to determine it’s destiny and practices”.

    Nigeria, he said, will therefore not use” the refusal of visa by Germany, UK as a basis for refusing anybody visa here.”

    “I can assure you that the Nigerian security personnel are equal to the task of detecting whose activities that are inimical to the situation of this country.”

    He went on: “Any moment that his preaching and activities are seen to be inimical to the security of this country I can assure you that we are up to the task of repatriating him as soon as possible.”

    “And his specific activities in this country guides the request that he has made which has also guided the action of the Nigerian immigration service in granting the visa.

    “Apart from the preacher any other person that gains entry to this country whose activities undermine the integrity and security of this country will be properly treated”. He stated.

  • Visa backs financial literacy mobile app

    Visa International, a global payment firm, has announced a mobile application development challenge, meant to stimulate the development of innovative web, mobile applications and games. The platform is also expected to assist in teaching money management skills and supporting the advancement of financial literacy in the country.

    In a statement, the firm said the Financial Literacy Challenge is sponsored by Visa and delivered by the Co-Creation Hub Nigeria, using their unique approach of involving stakeholders in the co-creation of new products and services.

    “The challenge will bring key financial services players like the Central Bank of Nigeria, commercial banks, personal finance Non- Governmental Organisations and other stakeholders together with software developers and designers, to create interesting applications and games. These applications and games will advise Nigerians on how best to manage their money and financial affairs, and also educate them on the tools available to meet their financial needs,” the statement said.

    Country Manager for Visa in West Africa, Ade Ashaye, said these applications and games will advise Nigerians on how best to manage their money and financial affairs, and also educate them on the tools available to meet their financial needs.

    “At Visa, we are dedicated to increasing financial literacy among the unbanked through strategic partnerships and educational programs. This is the motivation behind the Financial Literacy Challenge,” the statement quoted him sayin

    Bosun Tijani, the CEO of Co-Creation Hub Nigeria, said: “Collaborating with Visa on the Financial Literacy Challenge creates room for Nigeria’s technology talent to turn their energy and skills to building apps that will boost the skills and confidence of Nigerians as they make financial decisions. We are pleased to be deploying our Open Living Labs approach to generate and develop truly innovative apps and games that are reflective of the Nigerian experience.”

     

  • Visa chief hails online payment

    Online shopping remains one of the best innovations experienced by shoppers, Country Manager for Visa in West Africa, Ade Ashaye, has said.

    In a statement, he said instead of trawling the malls for gifts in the hectic pre-Christmas shopping season, one can leisurely browse through the best deals from the comfort of his own home or office and make purchases.

    He said card users can compare prices across sites and get the best deal for that perfect gift. “In fact, in a Visa survey, 70 per cent of people said they shop online because it allows them to find and compare items easily. A lot of online shopping sites will also offer free shipping or home delivery to try and get the edge over their competitors, so take advantage,” he said.

    Ashaye however said that to be safe online, one has to look for secure websites that have an address that starts with http”s” for ‘secure’.

    “You can also look for a padlock icon in the browser that means your payment information is protected. Some websites will also provide further protection with identity authentication services such as Verified by Visa which requires you to enter a password before you can make a purchase. All you need to do is register your Visa card with your card-issuing bank or during the checkout process at a participating website, and then you’re good to go,” he said.

    According to him, people travelling a distance to visit family and friends over the festive period should reserve their flight or bus ticket online with debit card or via mobile money payment option and collect your ticket just before departing.

    “This not only means you have a reserved seat at a time that suits you and can enjoy a more comfortable journey, but it also means you can grab the best early-bird deals and stick to the all-important budget. As you are monitoring your account to make sure you are sticking to your budget, you should also watch out for any unauthorised transactions and report such to your bank immediately to stay protected,” he said.

     

  • Visa inaugurates African Integration Index

    Visa in Nigeria has launched its Africa Integration Index that measures the degree of economic integration within key trade corridors of sub-Saharan Africa, namely West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa.

    The report, produced by the African Development Bank, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum, said closer regional integration would be crucial in addressing underlying weaknesses in Africa’s long-term competitiveness and ensuring that the continent delivers on its massive growth promise.

    Country Manager for Visa in West Africa, Ade Ashaye, said during the launch in Lagos that there is growing evidence that supports the argument those cross-border interactions, or openness, drives economic growth and socio-economic advancement.

    “Our objective is to construct an index for a number of selected sub-Saharan African countries to measure their global and regional integration based on recent data. We want to better understand Africa to help unleash the enormous growth potential in electronic payments on the continent, now the heart of the developing world,” he said.

     

     

    He added that the Visa Africa Integration Index is particularly relevant given the release of the Africa Competitiveness Report 2013 earlier this year.

    The study offers a detailed analysis of key country clusters in sub-Saharan Africa, revealing strengths and areas of growth potential. They are West Africa which include Nigeria and Ghana; East Africa- Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania and Southern Africa namely, South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

    Nigeria, the second largest economy in Africa, had an integration score of 40.6 at the end of 2012 on the Visa Africa Integration Index, improving from 37.7 at the start of 2011. The gain reflects greater regional integration; though Nigeria’s global integration has remained static over the same period.

    Ashaye said the 11 constituent countries are highly representative of the region, with a combined population of 437 million people, or 55 percent of the total population at the end of 2012. The study was carried out in conjunction with Professor Adrian Saville, Visiting Professor of Economics at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) in Johannesburg.

    Professor Saville said that Africa is still the least integrated region in the world, but there are signs of change. “While improving off a modest base, the countries that make up the Index have undergone positive structural transformation over the past decade. “The Index offers both recent and robust evidence of this: all 11 countries show improvements in economic integration over the period measured, namely the four half-year periods that make up 2011 and 2012,” he said.

  • Canada imposes new immigration rules

    Prospective visitors to Canada from several countries, including Nigeria, will be required to provide fingerprints and a digital photograph when they apply for a visitor visa, study or work permit.

    In a release made available to The Nation, this new requirement which took effect from last Wednesday, according to Immigration officials in Abuja, will not only help protect the safety and security of Canadians while helping facilitate legitimate travel, it will also protect prospective visitors by making it more difficult for others to forge, steal or use an applicant’s identity to gain access to Canada.

    The new requirement will put Canada in line with other countries which are already collecting this information from visitors, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, countries in the European Union Schengen Zone, and Japan.

    In the long run, the use of this information will make entry to Canada easier by providing a reliable tool to readily confirm a person’s identity.

    Applicants will need to go in person to a visa application centre (VAC) to submit their application and give their fingerprints and have their photograph taken. There is a new fee of $85 CAD for the collection of fingerprints and the photograph, which includes application services at the VAC. Family members who apply together for a visitor visa will pay a maximum fee of $170 CAD.

    However, applicants under the age of 14 or over the age of 79 will not have to give this information. Diplomats and government officials travelling on official business are also exempt.

    Visitors upon arrival in Canada at a port of entry will have to submit themselves to a Canadian border services officer, who is expected to use all available sources of information to confirm that person’s identity, the release further stated.

     

  • Police arraign couple for visa scam in Edo

    A couple, Abdulazeez Umar, 50 and Hajiya Fatima Umar, 48, were on Wednesday arraigned at an Auchi Chief Magistrates’ Court for an alleged visa scam.

    The couple, facing a 13-count charge, allegedly collected N1 million from a woman, Princess Zainab Alamah, to get a Saudi Arabian visa for her.

    Some of the charges against them are conspiracy, felony, obtaining money under pretense, stealing and fraud.

    The couple pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    The prosecutor, Cpl. Andrew Edmond, told the court that the accused persons allegedly collected the money from one Princess Zainab Alamah between June and October 2011.

    “My lord, this couple collected the money at different times to assist Alamah to procure document for her to attend the 2011 Muslim pilgrimage.

    “The  accused persons fraudulently and unlawfully converted the money to their personal use, without processing the visa as promised,’’ he said.

    The prosecutor said the offence contravened the Criminal Code of the defunct Bendel State 1976, as applicable in Edo.

    The Magistrate, Mrs I.A. Osayande, granted the accused persons bail, each for  N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.

    The case was adjourned to Oct. 16 for further hearing. (NAN)

  • Much ado about visa bond

    SIR: Few weeks ago, the UK authorities announced a new visa policy which makes it mandatory for new visitors to the country to pay a sum of £3,000 visa bond in addition to other customary visa processing fees. As usual, many Nigerians went wild with anger with the dominant elites invading newspaper pages to condemn the measure and accuse Britain of neo-racist inclination.

    Quite unfortunately, rather than re-think the decision following this widespread outrage, authorities in the UK have only gone ahead to confirm their stance by fixing November this year for the commencement of the new policy. Admittedly, while the move may appear to have dealt a fatal blow to ongoing efforts by the Commonwealth of Nations to promote free movement among member states, it is nevertheless pertinent to note that the British government has come out to insist that the policy is a pilot scheme and is predominantly person-specific. It is targeted at high-risk immigrants with phase one covering selected countries in Asia and Africa noted for their high immigrant burden in the UK.

    Indeed, having made these clarifications, it becomes needles to saddle the government with further explanations again on the real reasons behind the new visa regime until it becomes fully operational during which opportunity will be presented to do a clear-headed assessment of implementation process and identify possible area(s) of diplomatic mischief.

    As a matter of fact, if Nigeria is admissible to all forms of dangerous ‘immigrants’ turned sectarian terrorists, we cannot expect other countries to be similarly lax in the area of imaginative response to national security challenges. Britain has maintained that her doors remain open to the best and brightest minds irrespective of climes. The simple statement inherent in the new policy is that the country will no longer welcome clueless artisans, glorified ragamuffins and itinerant killers masquerading as asylum seekers and re-defining her society along the path of violent cultural and religious intolerance.

    Happy enough, Britain has also made provisions to reimburse visitors who do not violate the visa terms. Therefore, instead of the present energy-sapping broadside, why not, on our own part, begin to look at more innovative ways to secure our various homelands in Nigeria just as Britain has done and may yet do more.

     

    • Dr Omotajo O.R.

    Oke’Badan Estate, Ibadan.

     

  • Insecurity: U.S ‘puts on hold’ proposed Kano consulate

    The United States Embassy in Nigeria has put on hold the planned opening of Kano consular office, citing insecurity in the northern part of the country.

    Presently there are two U.S consulates in Nigeria, and that is in Lagos and Abuja.

    The decision to put on hold the idea was confirmed on Wednesday by the U.S Information Officer in Abuja, Rhonda Ferguson-Augustus, during a press briefing by the Chief Consular Carol Cox on student visas.

    She noted that uncertainty in the north was responsible for shelving the idea, adding that America want to be sure of the safety of the people that would be going there.

    She said, “We want to be sure that security is there.”

    On student visa, Cox said the Abuja consulate recorded about 45 per cent increase in application over the past year, same as Lagos.

    Cox, however, warned applicants to be wary of agents and fraudsters who mill around the consulates.

    She advised interested applicants to be truthful in the information and documents provided.

    The information officer also strongly warned against the use of forged documents.

     

  • Visa backs financial literacy mobile app

    Global payments technology company, Visa, has announced a mobile application development challenge, meant to stimulate the development of innovative web, mobile applications and games.

    It will also assist in teaching money management skills and supporting the advancement of financial literacy in Nigeria.

    “The challenge will bring key financial services players like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), commercial banks, personal finance non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders together with software developers and designers, to create interesting applications and games. These applications and games will advise Nigerians on how best to manage their money and financial affairs, and also educate them on the tools available to meet their financial needs,” the statement said.

    Ade Ashaye, Country Manager for Visa in West Africa, said these applications and games will advise Nigerians on how best to manage their money and financial affairs, and also educate them on the tools available to meet their financial needs.

    “At Visa, we are dedicated to increasing financial literacy among the unbanked through strategic partnerships and educational programs. This is the motivation behind the Financial Literacy Challenge,” the statement added.

    The Chief Executive Officer, Co-Creation Hub Nigeria, Bosun Tijani, said: “Collaborating with Visa on the Financial Literacy Challenge creates room for Nigeria’s technology talent to turn their energy and skills to building apps that will boost the skills and confidence of Nigerians as they make financial decisions. We are pleased to be deploying our Open Living Labs approach to generate and develop truly innovative apps and games that are reflective of the Nigerian experience.”