Juneteenth: America to Celebrate End of Slavery With a National Holiday
- United States of America's lawmakers have created a new national holiday to honour the end of slavery
- The lawmakers unanimously passed the bill in the Senate while it was voted 415-14 in the House of Reps
- President Joe Biden is expected to sign it to law and give the day the same status as all federal holidays
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Citizens of the United States of America have a new federal holiday - Juneteenth or June 19. The holiday was created to commemorate the end of slavery in America.
This becomes the first new federal holiday created by Congress in nearly 40 years.
The bill was voted 415-14 in the House and was unanimously passed in the Senate.
Source: Facebook
According to Wall Street Journal, President Biden will sign the bill into law on Thursday, June 17.
With this, June 19 will have the same status as Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and other federal holidays.
According to lawmakers, establishing the holiday was an important gesture in recognising those who suffered under American slavery and as an act of racial reconciliation, CNBC added.
The last holiday created by congress was in 1983, when lawmakers designated the third Monday in January as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This was to honour the slain civil-rights leader.
US announces priority appointments for Nigerians applying for student visa
In another report, the United States Mission in Nigeria announced that it will prioritise visa applications by Nigerian students who hope to resume academic studies in America by September 2021.
The US mission made this known in a statement on Friday, April 30, signed by Temitayo Famutimi of the public affairs section of the US Consulate General.
Susan Tuller, the US mission country consular coordinator reportedly promised that efforts would be made to assist student visa applicants in a timely fashion while keeping personnel and customers safe.
Why Nigerians are not granted visa
In another report, a Nigerian man who is currently residing in the US made revelations as to why most of his fellow countrymen seeking academic opportunities in the states are not granted students visa.
In series of tweets he made with his Twitter handle @MisterNigerD, he said the key to scaling through the visa application hurdle is not giving the consular at the embassy any reason to believe that you will be staying back in the US after your studies.
@MisterNigerD stated that another huge pitfall to avoid is to say that you would be getting a job when your school is on holiday in the state. This, according to him, will get your visa application denied.
Source: Legit.ng
