Corporate Council on Africa and American – Nigerian Chamber of Commerce Seek to Strengthen Trade and Investment Relations Between Nigeria and the United States 
(Abuja, August 21, 2008)

Vice President for International Programs, the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) retired U.S. Ambassador Robert Perry says Nigeria provides enormous opportunities for business collaboration with U.S. companies especially in the energy sector.  “My short stay here gives me a better picture of the challenges Nigeria is facing in the power sector and there is need for collaboration to harmonize activities within this important sector,” Ambassador Perry told members of the Abuja press corps. (more) 

2008 Diversity Visa Program Ends September 30, 2008

August 13, 2008

The Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) Program, popularly known as the visa lottery, will end on September 30, 2008.  Approximately 100,000 individuals from around the world were registered for further processing in the DV program, but only 50,000 slots are available. No one country can receive more than seven percent of the available diversity visas or 3,500 visas in any one year.  (more)

U.S. Government Funds Manuscripts Conservation Training in Sokoto and Kaduna 
(Sokoto, August 11, 2008)

Eight manuscripts custodians in the Sokoto area have received specialized hands-on training from a U.S. preservation expert, Ms. Michaelle Biddle, Head of Preservation Services, Wesleyan University Library, Connecticut.   Entitled Conservation in a Box, the goal of the program, funded by the U.S.  Ambassador's Cultural Preservation Program, is to train archivists and conservationists on how to best  preserve Nigeria's Arabic and Islamic manuscripts and other paper documents in accordance with international conservation standards.  Each participant received a complete set of  conservation tools, conservation supplies that will last many months and a custom-made table on which to work. (more)

Embassy Political Officer Charms Sokoto Audiences With Her Hausa Language Skills 
(Sokoto, August 11, 2008)

As the saying goes, “communication is key to understanding, and language can break barriers.” Such was th case when Cristin Heinbeck, Embassy Political Officer greeted and engaged her Soktoto hosts in fluent Hausa on her introduction to the Sokoto community by the U.S. Embassy Counselor for Public Affairs, Atim Eneida George. (more)

Usmanu Danfodiyo University's Center for Peace Studies Receives U.S. Government Grant 
(Sokoto, August 11, 2008)

The Center for Peace Studies at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University in Sokoto, northwest Nigeria, has received a grant of sixteen thousand dollars to acquire academic resource materials in the field of peace and security studies.  These resource materials will be dedicated to the honor of American Nobel Peace Prize winner Ralph J. Bunche.  Ralph Bunche's enduring fame arises from his academic brilliance and service to the U. S. government and to the United Nations on peace negotiations. (more)

U.S.-Nigeria Partnership for Development Yields Spectacular Results in Sokoto State
(Sokoto, August 11, 2008)

The synergy of U.S.-Nigeria partnership and citizen-driven development in education is yielding spectacular results in Sokoto where the Usmanu Danfodiyo University has received a consignment of 10, 126 books worth over $706, 000 from the Book Bank through U.S. Mission Nigeria's facilitation.  (more)