News

Nigeria’s Consul-General Seeks Deadline Extension For New Passport

Published

16 years ago

April 11, 2010

Nigeria’s Consul-General in New York, Mr. Ibrahim Auwalu has called for the extention of the deadline on the renewal of the new Nigerian passport as the Machine Readable Passport (MRP) ceases to be a valid travel document with effect from December 31, 2010.
The Nigeria Immigration Service had announced that from January 1, 2011, only holders of the e-passport would be allowed to travel out of Nigeria.
Auwalu said on Saturday in New York that with less than an eight months to the deadline, the Nigeria Mission in New York had only issued 14,848 e-passports, between June 2008 and March 2010.
According to the Consul-General, with an estimated one million Nigerians living in the US, New York is the only centre equipped with the standard acquisition and enrolment machines for the issuance of the new Nigerian passports.
The Consul-General said the mission and immigration staffers in New York were over-stretched, handling thousands of applicants for e-passports.
He said the New York mission was the only Nigerian post issuing the e-passports in the entire western hemisphere, including North America, South America and the Caribbean Islands.
“My recommendation is that the MRP should be allowed to die naturally. Until now, some Nigerian posts and missions outside are still issuing the MRP. In the MRP, it is said that the passport is valued for five years and at the end of this year, you tell me that my passport is no longer valid and I do not know how that will not generate confusion and chaos”, he said.
“The sheer number of applicants we have for e-passport is stretching our resources. People walk in from all over the US, and sometimes from Canada, people fly in for this passport”, Auwalu further stated.
“Every weekend from now till the end of June has been taken up and we have invitations to travel outside New York because we came up with the idea to take the services to the people”, he further explained.
It was learnt that anger, frustration and chaos, are the order of the day at the immigration department in the Nigeria mission in New York as Nigerians struggle each working day to exchange their old passport for the new one.
Inadequate staffers, poor logistics and limited office accommodation are some of the complaints of both applicants and workers.
It would be recalled that in 2007, the NIS introduced the chip-based e-passport to check the growing cases of forgery and identity theft.
At the onset, 22 centres across the country were designated for the issuance of the e-passport but at present, all the 36 states and the FCT have their centres.
In 2008, Nigeria missions in London, New York Johannesburg, New Delhi and Madrid and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) started rolling out e-passports.
The NIS says it has also carried out e-passport intervention programmes in Poland, Greece, Ukraine, Austria, Malawi, Botswana, Ethiopia, Cameroun, Togo, Namibia as well as Zambia, and is set to intervene in Ireland and Australia soon.
In January this year, the NIS said it has issued 1.7 million e-passports between August 2007 and December 2009.

News

198 UNIBEN Students Bag First Class

Published

4 days ago

November 24, 2025

The Tide

A total of 198 students of the University of Benin (UNIBEN ) Edo State, bagged a First Class degree out of 14,083 students to be awarded first degree at the institution’s 51st Convocation and Founder’s Day ceremony.

Vice Chancellor of UNIBEN, Prof. Edoba Omoregie, disclosed this on Monday in Benin at a pre-convocation press briefing.

He said 4,217 students bagged a Second Class Upper, 7, 928 got a Second Class Lower, while 578 bagged a Third Class degree.

He said 15 new approved programmes by the National Universities Commission (NUC) would commence in the 2025/2026 academic session.

According to him, “The wheel of progress is on course and moving steadily in the University of Benin. This administration is poised to deliver on its mandate of effective, practical teaching, sound learning, result-oriented research and impactful community service.

“We must applaud the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for establishing NELFUND, and by so doing significantly reducing the financial stress of students in the process of acquiring tertiary education. We enjoin students and their parents to take full advantage of the federal government’s benevolence in instituting the fund.”

Prof. Omoregie disclosed that Nigeria’s Minister of Regional Development, Engr. Abubakar Momoh, would deliver the Founders’ Day lecture with the topic, “Reforms for a Shared Prosperity”.

The UNIBEN VC said Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs and Former Vice Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, Professor Eghosa Osaghae, would deliver the Convocation Lecture on the theme, “Making Our Universities Great”.

News

Bayelsa Education Fund, British Council trains tra 1,000 teachers

Published

4 days ago

November 24, 2025

The Tide

The last batch of 400 public school teachers in Bayelsa State on Monday commenced training under the sponsorship of Bayelsa Education Development Trust Fund (EDTF) and the British Council.

This batch will bring to 1000 the number of public school teachers in the state who have benefited in the partnership arrangement.School supplies

The EDTF, British Council and Teachers Training, Registration and Certification Board collaborated in the capacity development programme.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the five day capacity building program, Commissioner for Education Dr Gentle Emelah reiterated the commitment of the Bayelsa government to training and capacity of teachers in the state.

He noted that the improved teaching methodology in the state was responsible for the state producing the best student in the 2025 West African School Certificate Examinations.

Prof Ebimiowei, Executive Secretary at EDTF, noted that the collaboration is aimed at improving learning outcomes for pupils and students of public primary and secondary schools in Bayelsa.

“You will agree with me that until the cutlass is sharpened, it will have no impact on the hands of the farmer and so it is with our teachers., you need to be sharpened very well to give good delivery in your various classes and schools.

“Let me at this juncture appreciate the British Council for accepting to train 1,000 teachers, 50 education managers and 60 trainers for Bayelsa,” he said.

On his part, Chairman of the EDTF board, High Chief Fidelis Agbiki expressed appreciation to the Commissioner for Education Dr Gentle Emelah for his supportive role to the fund.

Agbiki urged the beneficiaries to justify the enormous resources invested by the government of Bayelsa by being dedicated within the five days the exercise would last.

He said; “This board will not operate on business as usual but on business unusual as we will push the frontiers outside the box to ensure that we get value for money,” Agbiki said.

Chairman of Development Partners Committee of the EDTF applauded the commitment of the partners for the successful completion of the programme, urging them to sustain the tempo

Speaking on the programme, Mr Fwanshishak Daniel, Head, English and Schools, British Council noted that the Bayelsa government had shown exemplary commitment to educational development.

He explained that the commitment has enabled the British Council and Bayelsa government to achieve within one year greater milestones that took other states three years to achieve.

He explained that the resources of the British Council have been made available to Bayelsa with the training of 60 resource persons from the state who will in turn train other teachers to improve education.

According to Daniel, the training will lay emphasis on new teaching methods, use of digital tools for self development and access to school amongst others.

Dr Peremoboere Ogola, Acting Chairman of TTRC, which facilitated training, thanked the EDTF for supporting training of teachers in Bayelsa with world class resources of the British Council.

She noted that another batch of newly recruited teachers are currently undergoing training at State government owned University of Africa, Toru Orua, Sagbama LGA in Bayelsa

News

RSG INAUGURATES ARMED FORCES REMEMBRANCE DAY COMMITTEE

Published

4 days ago

November 24, 2025

The Tide

The Rivers State Government has inaugurated a Central Planning Committee to organize the celebration of the 2026 Armed Forces Remembrance Day (AFRD) in the State.

The committee was formally inaugurated by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Benibo Anabraba in Port Harcourt, last Thursday.

Dr Anabraba who also serves as Chairman of the Committee

highlighted the State Government’s deep appreciation for the sacrifices of Nigeria’s fallen heroes who laid down their lives for the nation’s peace and unity.

“These heroes have given their lives for the security and peace of our nation and deserve to be celebrated. The Armed Forces Remembrance Day is an opportunity to show our gratitude for their sacrifice,” he said.

Dr. Anabraba further extended recognition to all Security Agencies in the State, emphasizing the importance of the event in appreciating their contributions to national security and sovereignty.

The annual Armed Forces Remembrance Day, observed on January 15 across the country is dedicated to remember Nigeria’s departed soldiers and honouring the nation’s veterans.