… As FCT minister lauds best National School Administrator***

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has said that its newly introduced Visa on Arrival  (VOA) facility was to attract foreign investments to the nation.

Mr Abdullahi Dalhatu, the Controller of immigration in charge of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), made the disclosure in an interview with the newsmen in Lagos, on Friday.

He explained that the visa on arrival policy was meant to facilitate easy travels, especially urgent business trips as well as promote international trading activities.

According to him, the facility covers African and non – African citizens, who are not members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

“VOA is a class of short visit visa issued at the point of entry and the facility is readily available to the frequently travelled high net worth investor”, he said.

He added that the facility aimed to provide easy access to potential visitors, who may not readily obtain normal visas at the existing  Nigerian Missions in their own countries or those on urgent business engagements and travels.

The controller said such travellers must apply for the VOA online, through the official website of the NIS, stressing that the facility was not a passport on arrival, as earlier misconstrued by some Nigerians.

Also read: Shippers’ Council urges NIS to be guided by port manual

Dalhatu said that the application would be processed online and all the criteria have to be met before a pre-approval was granted to an applicant within 48 hours.

“  It is the pre-approval slip that the visitor would use to board a flight using his travel passport” he added.

Africans, who are not ECOWAS members, have the privilege of applying for the facility on arrival before or after, he said, adding that non-African citizens, outside ECOWAS  must similarly apply online and get pre-approval before they embarked on any journey to the country.

” The service has created a ‘Special Desk’ in our office with a view to attend to such visitors on arrival.

“The personnel in charge of the desk are a group of qualified experts from the service who are readily available to attend to such cases”, Dalhatu added,

In another development, the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello has commended the Principal of Government Secondary School, Kubwa, Mr Musa Zuru, for being adjudged the best National School Administrator.

Zuru clinched the best National School Award at the recent World Teachers’ Day celebration.

Bello made the commendation on Friday in Abuja, when he received the principal and the proprietress, Blooming Heritage Schools, Mrs Adedunke Abiri.

Abiri’s school emerged as the 3rd best private primary school in Nigeria.

The minister said their emergence was a reflection of the high quality education in FCT schools.

” I am extremely proud of your achievements, including the achievements of our numerous students in both public and private schools.

” Teachers and students of our schools have been able, over the last few years, to get various awards and also came up tops in competitions.

” All these are a reflection of the educational system of the FCT,” Bello said.

Bello said that the overstretched facilities in some FCT schools were as a result of the confidence of the residents of the territory and neighboring states had in the FCT educational sector.

” Hence, the constant desire to enroll their children in them,” the mnister averred.

Bello assured: ” The FCT Administration will continue to do its best to uphold the standards already established in FCT Schools.”

The minister also emphasised the need for all the stakeholders to work together to make sure that the quality was maintained.

” And then we at the policy making level will try our very best to ensure that funding and all the needed support is granted within what is feasible and what is possible,” he added.

Similarly, Bello commended the Permanent Secretary, the Secondary Education Board and the Department of Quality Assurance, which supervises the activities of private schools in the FCT, for “their good showing on the national stage”.

” It was as a result of the emphasis the FCT Administration placed on the development of education in accordance with the agenda of the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.”

At the request of the Principal of GSS Kubwa for a new multipurpose hall, the FCT Minister directed that a new hall should be built in the school in time.

The minister said this was in order to enable the students to write the 2022 terminal examinations with ease.

Earlier, the principal, thanked the minister for providing the enabling environment that allowed FCT schools to excel.

He said that all the required school facilities were provided by the FCT Administration.

Abiri also commended the efforts of the Education Secretariat, especially the Department of Quality Assurance, for their roles in ensuring the success of her school.