U. S. opens educationusa advising center in Calabar, announces opportunity fund programme

New Royal Navy ship to protect critical’ undersea cables

I Nits renewed efforts to reach out to students and youths in underserving communities, the U. S. Mission in Nigeria has opened a new Educationusa Advising Centre in Calabar, Cross River State.

The Calabar Educationusa Advising Centre hosted at the American Corner, 37 Ekpo Archibong Street, Calabar will offer accurate, unbiased, and comprehensive information about educational institutions in the United States, as well as guidance to prospective students on how best to access those opportunities.

Delivering keynote remarks during the opening ceremony, U. S. Mission Counselor for Public Affairs Aruna Amirthanayagam said the new Educationusa Advising Centre presents an opportunity for the youth in local communities in Cross River State and its environs to obtain a world- class education in the United States and then return home to contribute to Nigeria’s economic growth and development.

“We are very pleased to open an Educationusa Advising Centre in Calabar. The centre offers a variety of free educational resources, including public information sessions, webinars, one- on- one, cohort advising and hands- on support for completing the U. S. College and university application process,” Counselor Amirthanayagam said.

U. S. Consulate Public Affairs Officer Stephen Ibelli added that Educationusa Advising Centre in Nigeria assist many determined and talented, low- income students in Nigeria who only require financial resources and access to information to better their educational future.

Ibelli noted that applications for the 2021/ 2022 Educationusa Opportunity Funds Programme will open on April 15 until May 31, 2021, adding that applicants are welcome from all the states in Nigeria.

“In 2021, 19 high achieving, low- income students from southern Nigeria received full scholarships totaling $ 2.17 million to attend American universities and colleges for the 2020/ 2021 academic session. This feat was made possible through the Opportunity Funds Program of our Educationusa Advising Centre, with support from Coca- Cola Nigeria Limited,” Ibelli added.

In his goodwill message, Cross River State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Godwin Amanke, expressed the readiness of the state government to partner with the U. S. Mission to expand access to the services of the new Educationusa Advising Centre.

ANEW Royal Navy surveillance ship is to be built to protect “critical” undersea cables.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned, “The lights could go out” if national infrastructure was lost, and the cables were “incredibly important”.

He also told the BBC’S Andrew Marr that Russia had “taken a deep interest” in the cables and the UK would be “deeply exposed” without further measures.

It comes ahead of today’s publication of the defence command paper.

The document will give more detail for the armed forces on the conclusions of the integrated review of the UK’S foreign and defence policies.

But some parts were already announced this week, including the lifting of the cap on the number of nuclear warheads the UK holds in its stockpile. The government had previously committed to reducing the level to a maximum of 180 by the middle of the 2020s, but the move would allow the number to reach 260.