News
Travails of black residence! Man lives 42 years in UK, denied citizenship
Nelson Shardey a retired 74-year-old man who cannot travel freely to Ghana an back to the UK, because authorities are telling him that he is not British after spending 42 years in the country he arrived at in 1977.
The Ghanaian who, had never left Britain since his arrival, said he made the shocking discovery in 2019 after applying for a passport to go back to Ghana following the death of his mother, and was told by the Home Office that he was British.
Rather, he was told by officials of the office to apply for the 10-year route to settlement, which would costs about £7,000, with a further £10,500 over the same period to access the NHS.
“I cannot afford to pay any part of the money they are asking. Telling me to go through that route is a punishment, and it’s not fair in any way. I don’t understand why this fuss at all, because I put my life, my whole self into this country,” was quoted as saying.
BBC reports that Shardey, who is recovering from prostate cancer has instituted a legal case against the United Kingdom Home Office after he was denied permanent residency despite living in the country for 42 years to get remedy.
The report further said, that Shardey had for many years assumed he was officially British after he first arrived in the UK in 1977 to study accountancy on a student visa that also allowed him to work, regretting that despite paying taxes all his adult life, he was now being told to cough out such huge amount of money to stay in the country.
His words: “I have never left the UK as I saw no need to and regarded it as my home. Nobody questioned me. I bought all my things on credit, even the house. I got a mortgage. And nobody questioned me about anything.”
Shardy, a retired newsagent, was quoted to have told the BBC that he took on a series of jobs, making Mother’s Pride bread and Kipling’s Cakes near Southampton, and Bendick’s Chocolate in Winchester after a coup in his native Ghana, which affected his family’s inability to send him money for the fees.
He was said to have added that no one ever queried his right to live or work in the UK until the twist of fate in 2019 when the need for the trip to Ghana arose as a result of the death of the mother, when he was told that he had no right to be in the UK, and directed to apply for the 10-year route to settlement, which would cost a whopping £17,500, inclusive of to access the NHS, over the same period.
The report also said the septuagenarian filled the wrong form when he tried to extend his right to stay in the UK online two years ago, meaning that the 10-year process had to begin again in 2023, as a result of which he would not be allowed to stay in the UK permanently until he is 84.
A lawyer at Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, Nicola Burgess, is now taking the Home Office to court on Shardey’s behalf, while the Home Office was said to have declined to comment on the case.
Hours after Mohammed Hayatu-Deen did, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday, also flatly rejected the outcome of the presidential primaries, of the African Democratic Congress, alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement and electoral malpractice.
Amaechi former Minister of Transportation and former Governor of Rivers State, described the announced results as “concocted,” insisting that the process failed to meet the standards of transparency and fairness earlier promised by the party.
He said in a statement: “I unequivocally reject the concocted results being announced,” Amaechi stated.
He said he had previously maintained that he would only accept the outcome of the primaries if the process was free, fair and transparent, stressing that the exercise did not reflect the democratic values the ADC claimed to represent.
“I will not accept results from a process that does not reflect the values that the ADC had pledged to uphold, to rescue Nigerians from the impunity and gross mismanagement that our country is currently facing in the hands of the ruling party,” he said.
Amaechi alleged that a significant number of party members were denied the opportunity to vote during the exercise.
“There’s no way that about eighty percent of members of the party were not allowed to vote, and you expect me to accept such results,” he stated.
The former Rivers State governor questioned the moral basis of the ADC criticising the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over alleged electoral malpractice while allegedly engaging in similar conduct internally.
“A party that criticizes the ruling APC and INEC for vote buying, rigging and writing of results, cannot be engaged in vote buying, writing of results, and other electoral malpractices that leads to the disenfranchisement of voters who are party members. This is not acceptable!” he declared.
Amaechi said the ADC was envisioned as a platform to amplify the voices of ordinary Nigerians and provide credible political alternatives irrespective of ethnicity, religion or social background.
His rejection of the outcome is expected to deepen tensions within the opposition party following the conclusion of its presidential primary election.
“These timeless virtues of devotion, selflessness, and submission to divine will are values our nation desperately needs today,” were the exact words with which Godswill Akpabio, attempted to rouse Nigerians to the ethos of unquestionable faith and service to the country.
Akpabio, Chairman of the National Assembly, who drew example from Prophet Ibrahim, admonished Nigerians to emulate his unwavering faith, obedience, and willingness to sacrifice for the sake of Almighty Allah.
The Senate President, who conveyed his sentiments via a statement by Eseme Eyiboh, also used the specifically hail President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his vice, Kashim Shettima and Muslim faithful in Nigeria and around the world as they celebrate Eid El Kabir.
Stressing that the occasion called for prayer and sober reflection on the theme of sacrifice, he added: “This sacred occasion reminds us of Prophet Ibrahim’s unwavering faith, obedience, and willingness to sacrifice for the sake of Almighty Allah.
“To our dear President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his vice, Senator Kashim Shettima and Muslim brothers and sisters, I felicitate with them on behalf of my family, constituents and the Senate on this blessed Eid. May the lessons of sacrifice, compassion, and generosity that define this season strengthen your faith and bring peace to your homes.
“As you share with the less privileged and extend love to neighbours of all faiths, you embody the true spirit of Nigeria. To all Nigerians, I urge us to use this solemn period to pray fervently for peace, security, and prosperity in our land. Let us pray for our troops in the frontlines, for farmers to return safely to their fields, and for unity to prevail over division in our Nation.
“Eid El Kabir also calls us to deep reflection on the future of our country. Just as Prophet Ibrahim was tested, Nigeria is in a season of testing. The sacrifices we make today in patience, in tolerance and in choosing hope over despair will determine the Nigeria our children inherit.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda of this administration, supported by the National Assembly, is anchored on that same principle: that meaningful progress often requires collective sacrifice.
“May Almighty Allah accept your prayers and sacrifices. May He heal our land, guide our leaders, and bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Barka da Sallah. Eid Mubarak.”
“I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps.”
These were the exact words of Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, one of the presidential aspirants of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), with which he cast a slur on the ongoing presidential primaries of the party, hinging his position on reports of fraud trailing the exercise.
Hayatu-Deen, a second timer in the search for the nation’s number one job, ran against Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s former Vice President and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation.
In a statement on his assessment of the exercise which began on Monday, the renowned economist Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), used his X platform to convey his dissatisfaction with the process.
The ADC which said the collation for the exercise would take place in Abuja had urged aspirants, party leaders, delegates, and members to conduct themselves peacefully and uphold party unity.
Bolaji Abdullahi, its spokesman, who described the exercise as a defining moment for both the ADC and Nigerians seeking a credible political alternative, maintained that it remained committed to internal democracy and a transparent leadership selection process.
“The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only political party whose choice of presidential candidate is determined through open primaries,” he said adding that the conduct of aspirants and party members during the exercise would reflect the leadership culture the ADC seeks to promote.
-
News4 weeks agoBREAKING: Makinde, Turaki, lose! *S’Court affirms Wike’s PDP leadership
-
News2 weeks agoTinubu to African leaders: Copy Nigeria, produce your way out of poverty
-
News1 week agoBREAKING: US-Nigeria troops slaughter 175 ISWAP fighters
-
Features4 weeks agoJim Nwobodo: The Sun shines, thrills, at ‘The Vanguard Awards’
-
Columns4 days agoDear General Gowon: That apology you’re running from is your nemesis
-
News2 weeks agoWhy we pegged presidential ticket forms at N60million – NDC
-
News2 weeks agoGowon on civil war: My book is to put records straight, remove falsehood
-
News3 weeks agoBREAKING! Coast brightens for Obi, as NDC zones presidency to South