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Australia tightens visa rules for Nigerian students as migration hit high record

Published

10 months ago

March 21, 2024

The Australian Government has started the enforcement of tougher visa rules for Nigerian students and their foreign counterparts planning to move to the country as the number of migrants hit a record high.

The rules which will commence officially on Saturday indicate that English language requirements for student and graduate visas will be increased, while the government will get the power to suspend education providers from recruiting international students if they repeatedly break rules.

“The actions this weekend will continue to drive migration levels down while delivering on our commitments in the migration strategy to fix the broken system we inherited,” Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said in a statement.

It was learned further that a new “genuine student test” will be introduced to further crack down on international students who look to come to Australia primarily to work, while the imposition of “no further stay” conditions will be used on more visitor visas.

The initiatives follow a slew of measures taken last year to end the prior government’s COVID-era concessions, including unfettered working hours for international students. At the time, the administration stated that standards for students would be tightened, potentially reducing migrant intake by half over the next two years.

However, the quick surge of international workers and students has put further pressure on an already tight rental market.

According to data issued by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday, net immigration increased by 60% to a record 548,800 in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023, surpassing the 518,000 persons in the fiscal year ending June 30.

Overall, Australia’s population increased by 2.5%, the fastest rate on record, to 26.8 million people in the year to September.

The historic migration, led by students from India, China, and the Philippines, has increased labour supply while containing wage pressures, but it has exacerbated an already tight housing market, with rental vacancies hovering at record lows and rising building prices limiting new supply.

O’Neil stated that the government’s actions since September have resulted in a drop in migration levels, with recent foreign student visa grants down by 35% from the previous year.

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NASS Threatens To Discontinue Funding JAMB, Over N1bn Spending On Refreshment

Published

1 hour ago

January 13, 2025

Gloria Ikibah

By Gloria Ikibah

The National Assembly Joint Committee on Finance has warned that it may discontinue the Federal Government’s grant to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in the 2025 budget due to concerns over excessive spending.

This was the resolution after the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, presented the agency’s 2025 budget proposal to the Joint Committee comprising members of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Oloyede disclosed that while JAMB remitted N4 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund in 2024, it also received a N6 billion grant from the Federal Government.

This raised concerns among committee members, including Rep. Abiodun Faleke and Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who questioned the justification for allocating government funds to JAMB, which is supposed to be a self-sustaining agency.

Faleke queried: “Why not keep the N4 billion and stop government funding for JAMB?”

Oshiomhole also criticized severely JAMB for its expenses, including N1.1 billion on meals and refreshments, N850 million on security and cleaning, and N600 million on local travels. He demanded justification for the N6.5 billion spent on local trainings, asking, “What did you fumigate? Is it mosquitoes that took all this money?”¹

“You remitted N4bn and got N6bn f on the Federal Government. Why not keep the N4bn and we stop. the government from funding JAMB,” the Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Faleke asked.

“You spent N1.1bn on meals and refreshment. Are you being freely fed by the government? What this means is that you are spending the money you generate from poor students, many of them orphans.

“You also spent N850m on security, cleaning and fumigation in 2024.What did you fumigate? Is it mosquitoes that took al this money? ” Oshiomhole asked

The former Edo State Governor also slammed JAMB for spending N600m on local travels even as he called on Oloyede to justify the N6.5bn on local trainings.

….Details later

News

E-Customs: Absence of Interior Minister, Comptroller General Customs, Immigration Stalls Probe On Trade Mordeniation Project

Published

2 hours ago

January 13, 2025

Gloria Ikibah

By Gloria Ikibah

The House of Representatives has expressed displeasure at the refusal of Heads of government agencies to honour its invitation to appear before an investigative panel on the operations of the Nigeria Customs Service and management of the nation’s borders.

The House Committees on Customs and Excise and Interior had invited the Minister of Interior, Comptroller General of Customs, Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service and other stakeholders to the investigative hearing on the mordernisation of the Nigeria Customs Service.

Naijablitznews.com recalled that the House, at plenary on two occasions had ordered the committees to investigate the modernisation project of the Nigerian Customs Service (e-customs) concession to the Trade Mordenisation Project (TMP), role of Webb Fontaine in the E-Customs framework; the need to employ modern technology to secure Nigeria’s borders and address the challenges posed by illegal migration and border management.

However, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji Ojo was absent at the hearing and could not attend the session with the lawmakers, as they said he was out of the country, but no reason was given for the absence of the Comptroller General of Customs and his Immigration counterpart.

A committee member, Rep. Olumide Osoba was displeased at the absence of the Chief Executives, as stated in section 88 of the constitution gives the parliament power to invite any individual to appear before it to offer explanation, and added that in such instance, only the Chief Executives of the agencies are to appear before the parliament.

As a result of their absence,Rep. Osoba said the investigative hearing cannot be held as the representatives of the Chief Executives were not in a position to provide the answers being sought by the parliament.

Another member of the Committee on Customs, Rep. Awaji-Inombek Abiante asserted that the refusal of the Head of agencies to honour the committee’s invitation was an afront on the parliament, and that if they refuse to appear on the next adjourned date, the committee should invoke its powers and recommend their removal from office.

According to Rep. Abiante, their refusal to honour parliamentary invitation would mean that they are either tired of the job or incompetent to carry out their assigned duties.

In his ruling, Chairman Committee on Customs, Rep. Leke Abejide, emphasized that the investigative hearing on customs modernization focuses on enhancing government revenue, while the second aspect concerns national security.

Rep. Abejide noted that despite the lawmakers’ tight schedules, they prioritized this national assignment. However, he stated that the investigative hearing would need to be rescheduled, preferably after the passage of the national budget and at a time when the key stakeholders can be present to address questions from the committee.

The Committee’s mandate includes probing the concession of customs operations to the Trade Modernisation Project and examining why Webb Fontaine, which has been overseeing the collection process, continues to manage the system.

They are also tasked with investigating the due diligence conducted in selecting the Trade Modernisation Project to take over e-customs operations from Webb Fontaine, assessing TMP’s performance under the concession, and reviewing the introduction of modern scanners aimed at expediting goods clearance processes.

News

South Korea’s impeached president gets pay rise

Published

4 hours ago

January 13, 2025

Naijablitznews

By Francesca Hangeior

Suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will receive a scheduled pay rise, official documents showed on Monday, despite an impeachment trial and investigation into his ill-fated martial law declaration.

Yoon suspended civilian rule on December 3, sending soldiers into parliament and plunging South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades. He was forced to backtrack hours later.

He has been impeached by lawmakers and is awaiting a final Constitutional Court ruling that could finalise his removal from office, while separately facing an insurrection probe with investigators seeking to detain him for questioning.

However, Yoon was given a raise, according to the civil servant salary table for 2025, even as he remains holed up in the presidential residence using his security detail to resist arrest.

The document from the Ministry of Personnel Management, seen by AFP on Monday, indicates Yoon’s salary will rise to 262.6 million won ($178,400) — a three percent raise compared with last year.

Yoon is only suspended from duty because the impeachment motion is still being deliberated by the Constitutional Court, so he retains his status as president and will be able to receive his salary and security benefits.

His successor as acting president, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was himself impeached and is now suspended from office, will also receive a salary raise of three percent to 203.5 million ($138,350).

“It makes my blood boil. He’s (Yoon) getting paid for doing nothing,” one user wrote in a post on social media platform X that quickly went viral.

Yoon has refused to meet prosecutors and investigators probing his martial law declaration, and his presidential guard unit thwarted an attempt to arrest him following a tense, hours-long standoff this month.

Investigators are preparing another arrest attempt.

Rival protests for and against Yoon have been staged almost daily in the South Korean capital since the crisis began.