Nigeria is a good country with good external relationship which has often been taking for granted due to excesses of past government and bad administration. The news peddling about President Buhari on the move to cut down foreign mission should not just end there but a little bit of auditing of consular offices services should be checked as well. Companies owned by foreigners and composition of its directors should also not be left out in order to put things back to shape.
At the U. S Consular Office in Lagos early in the morning, people had converge as early as 6:30am depending on the interview date that has been given on the U. S Consular website for intending travellers. As early as possible, necessary checks are carried out to avoid people bringing in” juju” as well as other harmful materials. The American and British are very wary of that considering the fetish nature of Africans. The necessary checks are conducted by Nigerians but they sincerely do it arrogantly maybe because they are one. I wonder when the Nigerian bond will be seen when we see each other. While this is been done, at exactly 7:30 upward, speed boats are seen in their multiple arrival with whites alighting for the business of the day, the Interview. I wonder how many Nigeria live their lives the way they did devoid of daily traffic faced in Lagos particularly on your way to meet up with the 6:30 to 10pm interview schedule. I wonder the government that earmarked the site for consular offices; I think it’s a good mix of where they are actually coming from.
Road to the interview venue will see you through another round of checks when Nigerians are not animal. You cannot detach some particular behaviours from Nigerians that shows why they are indeed Africans as some particular behaviour cannot be entirely get rid of. Even in a family, there has to be an odd one out minimum. The interview room requires you going for checking and necessary thumb printing which is done as well as data verification still conducted by some blacks-either they are Nigerians or American, I don’t know but the main interview is strictly conducted by whites composed of all men and just one woman. There you don’t take pictures with your android phones or Blackberry because you might have been rid of it at the first entrance.
Here you meet with question revolving around Psychology of the date you filled and the few questions to verify your claim. Your success of being given a visa to visit the so-called America is either determined on how favoured you are but bet me, for conferences, Old Men and women visit, family vacation and so on will definitely get a yes. More students who are going to study or intending non-immigrant going for vacation or husband going without wife of wife going without husband stand 50/50 chances.
My interest more here is an average of 500 people are interviewed daily between Mondays to Wednesday of any given week and must have paid the Thirty Two thousand naira averagely totally 15.6 million in a day just for interview and over 350 are rejected on various accounts according to them. The amount times number of days interview are conducted in a year is not just a small amount and past Government are so desperate to die on oil when we have other ways of generating revenues. I even wonder how much Lagos State Government receives as tax and how much do ministry of foreign affairs charge as well.
All these are questions for another day but I’ll need an American Citizen who have once been to Nigeria consular office in America to relate his or her experience as a rejoinder or better still Nigerians who have a fair knowledge of my questions to do a reply. President Buhari has started well, and he is on track. Nigeria is one Nigeria irrespective of foreign mission as well as help needed from other countries. Let us manage our resources very well. The lyrics of the national anthem should never be in vain as presuppose by the song. God bless Nigeria as Americans use to say.
BY Our Reporter