Nigerian Passport With 10-Year Validity Effective December – NIS

Mr Mohammed Babandede, Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration
Service (NIS), has said that the issuance of Nigerian Passport with
10 years validity will commence in December, 2018.

Babandede made the disclosure when he visited Gov. Abiola
Ajimobi of Oyo state on Monday in Ibadan.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the immigration
boss and some senior officers were in Ibadan for the first
International Conference on Border In-Transition at the University
of Ibadan.

He explained that the new passport would have features that
could stand the test of time, adding that it would run concurrently
with the old ones.

“We thank President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the new
passport with 10 years validity.

“We have also repositioned and improved on our services as
directed by the president,” he said.

Babandede said NIS had also improved accessibility to visa
through the introduction of Visa-on-Arrival for immigrants whose
country was without an embassy.

“We have initiated the centralization of Temporary Work Permit
for immigrants who are in the country for a temporary assignment as
well as made it easy for women to do change of name across the
states.

“We have also introduced forward-front-border patrol to curtail
activities of smugglers and criminals within the border areas.

“We will continue to ensure adequate security of the border and
country at large,” he said.

He said that the president had directed that NIS officers should
patronize the bushes unlike the street patrol system which operated
before his administration.

In his response, Ajimobi charged NIS to ensure regular
monitoring of the nation’s borders for the sustenance of peace in
the country.

Ajimobi, who was represented by his deputy, Chief Moses Adeyemo,
admonished the NIS boss to initiate policies towards checking
illegal immigrants into the country.

He urged them to improve on border policing and ensure
recruitment of credible people into the service.

Lagos Targets 150,000 Participants for
Marathon

…Increases Prize Money For Local, Physically-Challenged
Athletes

…To Set Up Marathon Village, Eyes IAAF Silver Label

No fewer than 150,000 athletes both locally and internationally
are expected to participate in the 4th edition of Access Bank Lagos
City Marathon, Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode said on
Monday.

Addressing a press conference at Lagos House in Alausa, Ikeja to
officially announce commencement of preparations for the marathon
which is billed to hold on February 2, 2019, Governor Ambode said
the target of the State Government, was to use the forthcoming
edition to take the tournament from the bronze label of
International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) to silver,
in partnership with the sponsors.

According to him, “The whole idea is to turn the competition
from bronze to silver level. In the last three editions, we had
between 100,000 and 120,000 participants. This time around, we want
to make sure that come February 2019, we would have not less than
150,000 participants.

“The reason why we want to take it to that level is to create a
new record and create a new platform to allow the 2019 edition to
herald what is going to happen in the next six years. We believe
strongly that in another six years when we are marking the 10th
anniversary, we should actually become a top class marathon, and
that is our vision for this competition.

“We believe that it is achievable. This is not necessarily about
me; it is not even about the sponsors but about making Lagos to be
on that top brand across the world and that is how cities are
elevated to become global brand,” Governor Ambode said.

He said arrangement had equally been firmed up to encourage more
local participation, as well as more physically-challenged
athletes, a development he said necessitated the increase in prize
monies for the two categories.

“We think obviously that we should pay more attention to our
physically-challenged athletes this time around and also to embrace
more of local participation. This time around, we would push more
money to the local races and we would push more money to also our
physically-challenged athletes to encourage more people to come in,
while the main prize remain the same,” he said.

Speaking further at the media briefing which was attended by
Nigeria’s sports icons including Mary Onyali, Samson Siasia, Waheed
Akanni, Seye Ogunlewe, among others, the Governor said the idea of
the marathon was part of his administration’s initiatives to use
sports, entertainment and hospitality to grow the economy and
positively engage the bourgeoning youth population in the
State.

“Looking at some of Nigeria’s sport legends here, it just
summarizes everything that we have tried to do in the last three
and half years. The idea is that it is possible to create a new set
of jobs and services using sports, using hospitality, using
entertainment to create a new level of creativity and innovation
and then drive the Nigerian economy into different direction that
creates positive energy, and when you come to this kind of
gathering and you are able to now see the private sector, sports
people, it means that there is still hope in this country,”
Governor Ambode said.

Besides, the Governor commended all the sponsors, media and all
those who have contributed to the success of the marathon in the
last three years, saying the development was a dream come true.

Earlier in his welcome address, Chairman of Lagos State Sports
Commission, Dr. Kweku Tandor said the Lagos City Marathon, was the
third of its kind after Brighton and Bournemouth Marathon in the
United Kindgom to earn the prestigious IAAF Bronze Label only after
its second edition, which held on February 10, 2018.

He said the Governor had already given approval for the setting
up of a Lagos Marathon Village at the Teslim Balogun Stadium that
would not only sustain the culture of the marathon but also serve
as a rallying point in the quest by the present administration to
stage mini-marathons in the five divisions of the State.

“It is going to serve as the headquarters for marathon races in
Lagos. What we have in mind is to have sectoral marathons, Lagos
Women Run is coming up next month, we have SWAN Marathon coming up
in December and we also envisage that we are going to be having Epe
Marathon, Ikorodu Marathon and so on.

“So we need a coordinating office under the direction of the
Lagos State Sports Commission and that is the vision that led to
the construction of that facility within Teslim Balogun to serve as
the Lagos Marathon Village. Construction work will commence anytime
from now,” Tandoh said.

He said the Governor had also approved the constitution of a
Marathon Council that would be responsible for the supervision of
the 2019 Marathon and going forward.

On his part, Managing Director of Access Bank, Mr. Herbert Wigwe
said the commitment of the State Government under the leadership of
Governor Ambode has ensured that the Lagos Marathon had become an
annual event on the international athletics map.

He assured that Access Bank, the major sponsors of the Lagos
Marathon would continue to give its full support to the event,
adding that the 2019 edition will take the event a notch higher so
as to receive an IAAF Silver Label for the marathon.

In his brief remarks, President of the Athletics federation of
Nigeria (AFN), Engr. Ibrahim Gusau commended Governor Ambode for
setting the pace for others to follow for others to follow in
sports development, saying that the 2018 edition of the Lagos
Marathon was highly rated amongst top competitions on the
international calendar.

SIGNED
HABIB ARUNA
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY