President Trump Moves To Reject Visa Applications Of Nigerians, Others Critical Of U.S. On Social Media

President Trump moves to reject visa applications of Nigerians, others critical of U.S. on social media. Since January, Mr Rubio has revoked more than 300 visas, many of them belonging to students.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed U.S. embassies around the world to scrutinise social media posts of visa applicants for content critical of the United States and Israel before approving their applications.

This move followed the executive order signed by President Donald Trump after he returned to the White House, granting the Department of State the go-ahead to revoke visas of international students and other temporary visa holders suspected to have engaged in anti-American activities.

In the instructions cable sent to U.S. diplomatic missions around the world on March 25, Mr Rubio directed that starting immediately, consular officers must refer certain student and exchange visitor visa applicants to the “fraud prevention unit” for a “mandatory social media check,” the New York Times reported, citing two government officials.

The fraud prevention unit of an embassy or consulate’s section for consular affairs, which issues the visas, helps screen applicants.

The Times reported that the cable also described broad parameters visa officers must use in determining whether to grant or deny visa applications, including scrutinising posts of student and exchange applicants who were granted visas between October 7, 2023, and August 31, 2024, for potential cancellations.

Donald Trump

Mr Rubio stated in the cable that applicants can be denied a visa if their behaviour or actions show they bear “a hostile attitude toward U.S. citizens or U.S. culture (including government, institutions, or founding principles).”

Since January, Mr Rubio has revoked more than 300 visas, many of them belonging to students, for participating in activities deemed critical of Israel over the ongoing war in Gaza, with critics accusing the Trump administration of having no regard for the Constitution.

Tinubu To Embark On 2 Weeks Working Visit To Paris

Tinubu to embark on 2 weeks working visit to Paris
. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will depart for Paris, France, on Wednesday on a short working visit, the Presidency has revealed. A statement signed by Tinubu’s spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, said that during the visit, the President will appraise his administration’s mid-term performance and assess key milestones.

He added that Tinubu will also use the retreat to review the progress of ongoing reforms and engage in strategic planning ahead of his administration’s second anniversary.

“This period of reflection will inform plans to deepen ongoing reforms and accelerate national development priorities in the coming year.

Tinubu To Embark On 2 Weeks Working Visit

“Recent economic strides reinforce the President’s commitment to these efforts, as evidenced by the Central Bank of Nigeria reporting a significant increase in net foreign exchange reserves to $23.11 billion—a testament to the administration’s fiscal reforms since 2023 when net reserves were $3.99 billion,” Onanuga said.

He added that while away, President Tinubu will remain fully engaged with his team and continue to oversee governance activities. He will return to Nigeria in about a fortnight, according to the statement.

L-PRES To Establish 20 Veterinary Hospitals In Geopolitical Zones: Disease Prevention

L-PRES to establish 20 veterinary hospitals in geopolitical zones: Disease Prevention. The national project coordinator L-PRES, Sanusi Abubakar, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja.

Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project says it is embarking on building and equipping 20 model veterinary hospitals across geopolitical zones to strengthen the delivery of quality animal healthcare nationwide.

The national project coordinator L-PRES, Sanusi Abubakar, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja.

Mr Abubakar revealed that the 20 states for the model veterinary hospitals include Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, Borno, Plateau, Niger, Kwara, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kano, Edo, Enugu, Ebonyi, Ondo, Ekiti and Oyo.

He disclosed that seven out of the number were already at various stages of completion. According to him, these are the ones in Sokoto, Niger, Enugu, Ondo, Borno, Adamawa and Edo States.

“By estimation, the animal health infrastructure will serve more than 450,000 value clusters in its first and second year of full operations,” Mr Abubakar said.

The L-PRES national project coordinator added that the infrastructure would be linked with the private sector in a public-private partnership arrangement to ensure sustainability.

Mr Abubakar  noted that more than 80 per cent of registered veterinarians were in the private sector, adding that bringing them on board would ensure full utilisation of the facilities.

He said the arrangement would further ensure the mentoring and training of younger professionals who would be handed the mantle of leadership as soon as possible.

Veterinary Hospitals

“L-PRES is a $500 million World Bank project that has been on in about 20 states across Nigeria,” Mr Abubakar explained. “The project objective is to improve productivity, commercialisation and resilience of livestock value chains generally. Most of the activities that are going on at the state level deal with livestock value chain enhancement.

Mr Abubakar added that L-PRES’s framework was to ensure all its targeted 450,000 livestock value chain clusters are reached with veterinary care or services.