Nigerians to pay £3000 to enter UK

It is now official that Nigerian visitors to the UK will have to deposit a bond of £3000 with the British government before they are allowed to enter the UK.

The policy which will become effective November 2013 will also target India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya  and Sri Lanka. In an attempt to pacify citizens of these countries living in the UK, the Home Office has said only visitors deemed to pose the "Highest risk" will be asked to pay the bond which they will receive back if they abide by the terms of their visa.

Point 1.

Are we seeing a trend that will gradually be rolled out to include other countries in Africa?

Point 2.

Would these countries also roll out similar reciprocal policies for UK citizens visiting their countries?

Point 3.

How many working class UK citizens can afford to pay bonds of £3000 when visiting other countries and yet still have money to spend on holiday there?

Point 4.

What becomes of this former colonial  umbrella called Commonwealth of Nations if its citizens are discriminated against in this manner by their former colonial master?

Panellists lets hear what you have to say on this.

War Criminals Versus illegal immigrants - Which would you rather have for dinner?

The recent stunt by the British government aimed at scaring illegal immigrants in the United Kingdom (UK) to go back to their home countries has drawn much ridicule from politicians and media outlets and as much anger within ethnic minority neighbourhoods who feel targeted by the adverts.

Is it fair and just for the van to be stationed in places like Peckham, Brent,Wood Green  but not in Richmond, Dulwich and Finchley?

But on related matter, it was discovered that there are approximately 100 war crime suspects living freely in the UK and using the courts to thwart any attempts by the Home Office to send them back to their home countries to face justice.

Point 1.

Where should the priority of the Home Office be - with illegal immigrants or with war criminals?

Point 2.

Is the placing of this advert in ethnic minority areas racist or is it an attempt to ensure that the people who are likely concerned get the message?

Point 3.

Do illegal immigrants actually take jobs that are meant to be for UK nationals or their cousins in Europe and if they do what kind of jobs are these?

Point 4. 

What role or contribution if any do illegal immigrants make to the UK economy?

Panellist lets have your say

Nigeria Lost $11 billion to Oil theft

The Nigerian economy lost  approximately $11 billion between 2009 and 2011 in oil revenue through illegal oil bunkering and pilfering. This staggering figure was disclosed by the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) yesterday in Abuja in an audit of the oil and gas sector.

This colossal amount is said to account for losses in the upstream sector alone with a further $900 million lost  in the downstream sector through pipeline vandalism. Yet according to NEITI, the combined total losses accounts for 7.7% of the total revenue accrual to Nigeria from crude oil.

This amount will more than pay for the cleaning of the massive oil spillage from these illegal activities and the attendant damage being caused to the ecosystem. If these amount is reinvested into the Nigeria's infrastructure, in 10 years, Nigeria will rival developed economies around the world in terms of infrastructure.

To put these figures into perspective, the combined total losses is more than the gross domestic product (GDP) of  these African countries in 2011.

Mali, Madagascar, Burkina Faso, Chad, Zimbabwe, Benin, Rwanda, Niger, Malawi, Guinea, Mauritania, Swaziland, Togo, Eritrea, Lesotho, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Liberia, Seychelles, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Comoros and Sao Tome and Principe.

Point 1.

How can Africa's most populous nation stem these massive losses in the country's national revenue?

Point 2.

How can a country be this rich yet its citizens are among the poorest in Africa?

Point 3.

Isn't it time the Nigerian government take the matter of illegal oil theft serious and pay more attention to the attendant ecological damage this is causing the local environment.

Point 4.

Why are Western nations keeping a tight lip on the scourge of stolen oil and the ecological disaster that results from it as opposed to the piracy in the gulf of Aden?

Panellist let us here from you.

Is God Homophobic

AFP Photo

Respected Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu has said that he will rather go to somewhere else than heaven if God was homophobic. The long time gay rights campaigner who has been a vocal supporter of same sex marriage even compared the opposition to gay marriage to the scorge of rascism.

While some Western nations have legalised same sex marriage, to most Africans, the issue is still regarded as a taboo. To most Africans, who were brought up in religious families, reconciling homosexuality with the strongly held believe of their consciences has been difficult.

Point 1.
Can a man who claims to be a Christian or Muslim reconcile gay marriage with his religious believe

Point 2.
If Archbishop Tutu is meant to be a leader of Christians and as such should teach what the bible says as the tenets of his believe in God, is his support for homosexuality not in stack contrast to what the bible says about homosexual? Is the archbishop therefore deceiving his flock by his teachings?

Point 3.
If on the other hand you oppose homosexuality as a sin, would you be right to say that as a heterosexual your sins (fornication and adultery if you engage in them) are less punishable than homosexuality by God?

Point 4.
As an African, what is your view to homosexuality - should it be an individual's choice?

Point 5.
Should the Western nations impose or try to impose a way of life on us Africans?

What are your views on these poignant questions? Let us hear from our panelist.

Malians Decide 2013

AP Photo

Malians turned out in droves to vote for a new president following the military coup that deposed the former civilian president. The vote, which is the first also following the military intervention by former colonial master France has been hailed as successful although some analyst have questioned if Mali was ready for such an exercise.

There are 27 candidates vying for the post of the president, but only four are seen as having any realistic chance winning the poll. Amongst these are three former prime ministers and a former finance minister. If there is no outright winner of yesterday's poll, a second round is scheduled on the 11th of August.

That Malians want a change in direction for their country is evident in the words of voter Daouda Bertet. Mr Bertet was quoted by the BBC as saying ''I have voted in several elections before but I have never seen so many people. It seems Malians have realised it is time for change and that voting can make a difference.''

Point 1

How realistic are you that these polls will bring the changes Malians are expecting?

Point 2.

What role can the AU play in helping the country buttress the gains if any are made as result of these elections and what will become of the vast amount of foreign troops stationed in Mali?

Point 3.

What are or rather what will be the most important issues for the president to focus on in his/her first 100 days in power?

Let us hear from the African panelist

Egypt Massacre....Shoot to Kill

BBC Photo

Over a one hundred people (100) people had been killed in Cairo with over 1,500 injured during a protest supporting ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi according to doctors in the Egyptian capital. However official government figures had put the death toll at 38. The BBC's Jim Muir in Cairo reported "bullets were whizzing past my ears," when he arrived at the Pro Morsi protest camp at  Nasr City mosque . According to him,  "Today was just brutal - people were fired at, with live firearms."

The anti-Morsi camp  which had occupied Cairo's Tahrir Square  at the behest of the army chief, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who had urged people to demonstrate to provide a mandate for the military intervention were well protected by the military.

Point 1.

Isn't it curious that the supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi were dying in the hundreds whereas supporters of the military junta that ousted a democratically elected president are well protected and not recording even a single death from bullet?

Point 2.
Isn't it curious that the Western nations particularly the USA who had expounded the values democracy appear to be muted to the atrocities going on in Egypt? Or rather at the trumping or illegal overthrow of a democratically elected government?

Point 3.
Isn't it curious that the Western nations and particularly the USA which had berated Russia for supplying arms to the Asad regime to fuel the conflict in Syria are in effect doing exactly what they are accusing the Russians of doing in Syria by going ahead with the supply of military hardware to the Egyptian military at this sensitive time?

What do you think Africans?