The Vanguard conducted an interview with the outgoing Consul-General of the United States, Jeffrey Hawkins and below are some interesting excerpts:
On the Procedure for Obtaining Visas:
“I think we have tried very hard to inform the Nigerian public and there are a number of people out there who are suffering from these people that are offering Nigerians a range of services, and charging money for something that should not cost anything at all.
“In some instances those services are illegal or could actually hurt the person’s chances of getting a visa and yet because there seems to be a culture of needing to have aid or to be assisted in some way, a lot of Nigerians fall into the trap of these men.
“We have an automated system and we have worked very hard to ensure that our wait times hover around a week or two. The touts for example, will go in and control all the visa appointments and then sell them, but they do not cost anything.
“It is free to book appointments, but they go in, reserve them and resell them to people, and we are working hard on ways to stop that, but they still do it. Not only are they charging people for what they should not have paid for, but they are also taking up others parts and schedules.
“And your question gets to the heart of it which is education is key to making people understand what is wrong or right and what you need to do or not. The touts really hurt the function of the system. The reason the system is telling you there is no date is not because Nigerian travelers have filled up all the appointments, but illegitimate touts have taken all the appointments.
“Finally for the people that get refused, I really want to say that far more Nigerian’s get visas than not. People should not take it personally and we are not making any assessment about whether the Nigerian is a good person. Basically, the idea is that you need to demonstrate that you have to come back. However, if you do not get the visa, it is not a judgment on you.”
On Solving Nigeria’ Problems
“…One thing I do want the leaders also to understand is that Nigeria is a Sovereign country and it is not up to the United State to solve Nigeria’s problem. Our job is to support Nigeria and not replace Nigeria and we share a very deep interest in partnering with Nigeria, for the fact that we want to see Boko Haram defeated, because it is in our interest as well.”