US urged to establish Visa Processing Centre in South East

The Director General, South East Governors’ Forum, Senator Uche Ekwunife has called for establishment of the United States of America, USA VISA processing centre in South East.

Senator Ekwunife further called for more positive consideration of a system to

improve the profiling of US visa applicants from the region to ensure that genuine applicants are not denied entry.

Speaking during a meeting with the US political Officer, Sophia Skupien, Ekwunife solicited for speedy establishment of US visa processing centre in the Southeast to alleviate the burden of long distance and other bottlenecks the people of the region face in search of visa.

Senator Ekwunife further highlighted an upcoming security conference designed to raise awareness and encourage citizens’ participation in security, which she identified as a critical component that is currently lacking in the region’s security framework.

“We are facing an unconventional war; the identification of these elements by security operatives will always meet a dead end unless citizens rise to their duties and help in information sharing.

“The security of an environment is a tripartite arrangement; government, security operatives, and citizens; therefore, everybody should be involved.

The SEGOF boss attributed escalation of insecurity in the region to what she termed exploitation of genuine agitation by Indegenous People of Biafra, IPOB by criminal elements and called for prompt government intervention to address the underlying issues contributing to insecurity, such as hardship, unemployment, and poverty.

She expressed optimism that the conference would bring together all relevant stakeholders, including state government representatives, heads of security agencies, citizens, leaders of youth council, traditional rulers, clergymen, and market unions among others.

“It will be a holistic conference that touches on the roles of each of these stakeholders in securing our environment,” She said.

In the area of solid infrastructure to aid development, Ekwunife said the governors of the South East region are deliberate in embarking on common infrastructure that will connect the entire region through modern rail system.

She said the technological driven rail transport system when fully put in place by the governors would not only ease transportation within the region and beyond but will further foster the unity and enhance conviviality amongst people of the zone.

Ekwunife said there is ongoing programme by the governors to make power generation and distribution competitive to enhance regular and affordable power for the people of the zone especially the industrial clusters.

She threw more light on empowerment programmes of the South East governors which she said are aimed at empowering the youths through skilled endeavours to be self reliant.

Senator Ekwunife said, “South East governors are working on a proposal to include skill acquisition into the educational curriculum from primary to tertiary institution across the region while also leveraging on the proposed Smart School Model for South East states.

In her response, the US Political Officer, Sophia Skupien expressed satisfaction with the progress made so far by the South East Governors Forum in the area of security and other aspects of human endeavour and underscored the need for the security conference.

She requested for a detailed proposal containing detailed steps and areas of possible collaboration between the US government and governors of the South East Nigeria which she will present to the security officer at the US Embassy for further insights and support.

Skupien further reaffirmed the US commitment to seeing Nigeria prosper and expressed her willingness to assist SEGOF in the initiative.

The meeting marked yet another significant step by Senator Ekwunife and South East Governors’ Forum, SEGOF in strengthening relationships with international partners and seeking viable solutions to ensure the Southeast flourishes again.