| The Noose Tightens on Nigeria |
 Following the failed attempt by a Nigerian to blow up an American airline last December, the United States government takes step to review its visa policy This is certainly not good news for Nigerian travellers seeking the United States, US, visa. Last week, the US said that it would soon begin to reject visa applications by some class of Nigerians. While such class of Nigerians was yet to be made known, the US State Department which supervises US embassies globally, further stated that visas issued to such category of Nigerians might be revoked as well. The decision followed a directive by Barack Obama, US President, to all US embassies to re-evaluate visa issuance and revocation criteria giving special attention to counter terrorism. To make matters worse, one US senator was also reported to have proposed that multiple visas be denied Nigerians and 13 other countries on the US terror watch list. According to reports, Obama had maintained that the actions, which were to take immediate effect, were meant to improve security situation in America. The presidential memo further said, “They are also required to ensure that the standards, practices, and business processes that have been in place since the aftermath of 9/11 are appropriately robust to address the evolving terrorist threat facing our nation in the coming years.” At the wake of the failed attempt to blow up a US airliner on December 25, 2009, by Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, a Nigerian, the US had included Nigeria on its terror watch list, which citizens must undergo extra screening procedures at the US airports. In Nigeria, the US visa fee was also increased by 100 per cent to make it difficult for Nigerians to afford. And while the federal government has insisted that it was wrong for the US to have included Nigeria on its terror list, demanding that the country be delisted, Obama slammed harder on the country with the visa restriction and revocation order, an indication that the US is not ready to grant the nation’s request.
Obama: Issues directive to US embassies
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