U.S VISA APPLICATION: WHY NIGERIANS ARE DENIED VISA

Consul General of the US embassy, William Laidlaw, has expressed that contrary to popular opinion, US visa application processes are not as stringent as people think.
Speaking with newsmen, he stated that efforts are being made to improve visa processes better for Nigerians by decentralizing the process.
He also revealed that one of the most common reasons why Nigerians are refused visa, is because of failure to show evidence of social and economic ties.
Laidlaw stated:
To really qualify for a visit to the US, you have to show you have social and economic ties sufficient to meet the immigration terms we have in our laws.

MOSCOW ISSUES TRAVEL WARNING OVER U.S. ‘HUNT’ FOR RUSSIANS

Russia’s foreign ministry has warned its citizens travelling abroad of the risks posed by U.S. law enforcement bodies and special services, which it said were hunting for Russians around the world.
In a statement on Friday it also accused Washington of kidnapping Russians, citing cases such as that of Vladimir Drinkman, who was extradited to the United States from the Netherlands earlier this year.
“By believing that it is allowed to do all it wants, Washington goes as far as kidnapping our citizens,” the foreign ministry said.
Drinkman has pleaded not guilty to accusations that he conspired with at least four other men to install “sniffers” to comb through computer networks of financial companies, payment processors and retailers around the world.
“The threat of detention or arrest on the warrant of law enforcement bodies and special services of the USA in third countries still persists. It is quite real,” the ministry said in the statement, which was peppered with angry passages.

COUPLE LEAVES OVER $847K INHERITANCE TO THE US GOVT

A married couple, immigrants Peter and Joan Petrasek, from Seattle, who had no known relatives left all of their money and assets to "the government of the United States.

Peter Petrasek was born in the 1920s in what was then Czechoslovakia, and would have been 12 when the Nazis invaded.
Details about his early life are scarce, but at some point during World War II he was placed into a youth camp run by the German air force, according to The Seattle Times but applied for immigration status in the US and was granted. His sister and parents all died during the Nazi invasion.

Little has been reported about Joan's origins, other than that she was from Ireland. She married Peter in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1951.

GOVERNORS PLAN BOYCOTT OF HANDOVER PARADE

It is almost certain that some outgoing gover¬nors will not attend the May 29 official handover parade in their respective states. The governors, it was learnt, will be boycot¬ting the significant event for different reasons.
Some of the states where the incoming governors may not have the honour of re¬ceiving the baton from their predecessors include Benue, Plateau, Kaduna and Rivers.
Saturday Sun gathered that it is certain that Governor Gabriel Suswam of the PDP will not be physically present to formally hand over to his successor, Samuel Ortom of the APC. “The governor has hinted that it will be unsafe for him to be at the ceremony because of security report which shows that civil ser¬vants who are being owed for several months and angry youths will storm the parade ground to protest and boo him”, a source close to the incoming governor stated.
It was also gathered that the event, which will be at¬tended by the state deputy governor, Chief Steven La¬wani, will be low key and more or less informal. “This is so because the outgoing government did not give any money for any ceremony and the incoming doesn’t have that kind of resources for any major event. As a result, no formal IV is being sent out to our people”, the source added.
In Rivers, Governor Roti¬mi Amaechi of the APC will find it difficult to physically hand over to his political arch-enemy, Nyesom Wike of the PDP. APC is already at the governorship election petition tribunal to seek nul¬lification of the election that produced Wike on the ground that no election actually held in the state.

FG TO SPEND N2B ON BUHARI’S INAUGURATION, OVER 50 PRESIDENTS EXPECTED – DUKE

About N2 billion will be spent on the inauguration of the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, on May 29 which over 50 presidents and international figures are expected to attend.
The Chairman, Media and Publicity Sub- Committee of the Presidential Inauguration Planning Committee, Edem Duke, made this disclosure on Friday in Abuja.
Meanwhile, the Eagle Square, venue for the inauguration is already wearing new looks with military personnel expected to have a match parade having their training ahead of the May 29 event.
Duke, who is also the Minister of Culture and Tourism, said: “As we speak the 54 countries of the continent of Africa have been invited. Very many of the head of states will be coming.”
“There has been a huge interest, especially, from head of countries in Europe to attend this inauguration and at the last count, I think we must have in excess of about 50 heads of state and delegation expected at this inauguration.”
He said that the week long programme started on Friday with Jumaat prayer at the National Central Mosque, Abuja.

KANO: MUSLIMS SET COURT ABLAZE OVER 'INSULT' TO MUHAMMAD

Hundreds of rioting Muslims set a Shariah court ablaze Friday in Nigeria's northern Kano city, protesting its decision to free a cleric accused of insulting the prophet Mohammed.
An AP reporter watched protesters throw blazing, fuel-filled tires into the building then start marching through streets to demand punishment for Malam Abdul Nyass.
Police monitored the crowd, which turned peaceful after the fire.
Nyass is accused of saying that the long-dead leader of the Tijanniyah sect is more powerful than the revered prophet Muhammad. Kano's mainly Muslim population adheres in almost equal numbers to the Sunni and Tijanniyah sects of Islam.

NDLEA OFFICIALS STORM BURUJI KASHAMU’S RESIDENCE

There are reports that officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have surrounded the residence of Ogun State Senator-elect, Buruji Kashamu.
The drug law enforcement agency is said to be set to extradite the Ogun State born politician to the United States of America to answer drug related accusations proffered against him, according to Channels TV.

'OBASANJO, BUHARI’S EMERGENCE, POINTER TO MILITARY DOMINANCE OF NATIONAL POLITICS'

The Catholic Arch Bishop of the Sokoto Diocese, Rev Father Hassan Kukah, has voiced his concern for a long term military dominance of Nigeria's politics, which had been accentuated by the emergence of two retired Generals, Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari as the President of the country.
Kukah made this observation yesterday at the formal presentation and official launch of the biography on Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, titled: "Destiny Calling My Name".
As a result, he advised retired military personnel, especially the imposing generals to lessen their interference in the political space of the country.

According to the clergy, the military had taken away several years of the nation’s democracy, having already two retired generals as Presidents in "the persons of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo (was once a President) and now Muhammadu Buhari, who is the President-elect", and urged them allow civilians to grow the country’s democracy.
He said: "We really and truly thank God that we are making progress in our democratic dispensation. Great things has happened and continue to happen to Nigeria.
"You know that the military has already taken away most of our years in this democracy, and as you have seen, they are still not yet through with us.

WHY WE SOLD OUR SON, NOLLYWOOD ACTOR, WIFE CONFESS

A Nollywood actor and his wife have sensationally told the po¬lice why they decided to sell their two-year-old son, Samuel Chukwuneye for N350, 000 to a Port Harcourt based woman simply identified as Ogechi. The couple, though not legal¬ly married, had been living together. They were identified as Kanayo Awurum, 29, and Ugochi Kelechi, 28, both of who are from Ikeduru Local Government Area in Imo State.
Trouble started when Ugochi, who is pregnant with their second child, suspected that her live-in lover, who she claimed gave out their son temporarily to Ogechi, was planning to abandon her in Lagos. She alert¬ed and confessed to the police about what they did before relocating to Lagos. Kanayo was arrested and handed over to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos police command, Ikeja for further investigation.
According to a police source, Kanayo, who is an upcoming Nollywood actor im¬pregnated Ugochi more than two years ago and ran away. He returned sometime in October 2014 and apologized to her with a promise to marry her. Ugochi accepted him back and got pregnant again. When his re¬sources dwindled, he convinced Ugochi to relocate with him to Lagos State as soon as they were able to raise money.

THE BUHARI YOU DIDN'T KNOW • “Nobody in Daura got an oil bloc”

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari, victorious at the polls, opened up to Weekly Trust in an all-access interview, wherein he relaxed, revealing previously unknown sides to his personality against the backdrop of his Daura home. Excerpts:
Weekly Trust: It’s about a week to the inauguration and we believe you are terribly busy, but you still had to come back home. What does Daura mean to you? 
Muhammadu Buhari: This is where I was born and raised. I have nieces, nephews, cousins, first and second generation and I have schoolmates here. I believe after the inauguration there will be a lot of work and maybe for several or many weeks, I may not be able to come here even if I wanted to. I have my farm, orchard and animals that are very dear to me, that I would like to say goodbye to.
WT: You are talking of weeks, which suggests that every few weeks you will want to come home and reconnect with your roots?
Buhari: Especially when Ramadan is a few weeks away, yes. Normally, while I was busy in Kaduna, I always visited Daura on the first week of Ramadan. I don’t spend Eid-el Fitr here but always come at the beginning and the end of Ramadan. I don’t think being the president would stop me from doing that.