U.S Visa Lottery Programme To Be Scraped In 2017

It’s no news that United States (U.S.) has plans to reform its immigration laws. The news is that this will eliminate the green card lottery. 

Around 100,000 people were Wednesday picked from several million who applied to get the Green Card. This could be the last batch of the yearly lottery.

The system that will replace it in 2017 will be merit-based and will also give Africans a chance.

Although so many opine that Africans could be the big losers owing to the fact that they are the main beneficiaries of the visa programme.

The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People said the number of African immigrants would go down even with the merit-based system. “In essence, we’re concerned,” said Hilary Shelton, the NAACP Washington bureau director.

Na wa o!

And The Winner Is: Turai Floors Patience Jonathan On Land Tussle

Nigeria’s former First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua on Thursday floored incumbent First Lady Patience Goodluck Jonathan as Justice Peter Affren of the Abuja High Court set aside the purported revocation by the FCT administration of a land measuring about 1.84 hectares allocated to Turai’s non-governmental organization, Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation, WAYEF.

The court held that the claims by the FCT Minister that the land was revoked on an overriding public interest were not supported by any shred of evidence before the court. It further held that the initial letter of offer issued Turai’s organization by the Minister remains valid and subsisting.

“The defendants failed woefully to adduce any shred of evidence before this court to support their claims that the allocation of the land was revoked on overriding public interest. There is no overriding public interest in this issue. The allocation made to the plaintiff who is a vocational training centre was in public interest and in line with section 28 (1) of Land Use Act”

The court faulted the FCT Minister’s exercise of his powers in revoking the plot of land allocated to Turai’s organization, noting that the exercise of that power to revoke allocation of land must come within the confines of the law.

Delivery of the court’s judgment was adjourned by the court several times to enable Mrs. Jonathan and Hajia Turai Yar’Adua reach a negotiated settlement but all to no avail.