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  With the cancellation of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline and the USA rejoining of the Paris Climate Accord, gas prices in the United States are already spiking in some locations. The shock value of this policy will consequently upset the hitherto steady demand and supply balance of oil derivatives. And so the need to seek for cheaper suppliers of crude oil may open up the U.S to markets which were earlier shut out. Nigeria may have a new destination for its cheap crude oil once again.
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Crude oil prices: Another implication of the Biden administration is the purported closing of shale oil production sites which are on Federal land and waters. This means there is going to be a glut in the local production of crude and inherently the need to import crude to sustain the supply deficit. These reasons may also lead to a slight hike in the price of crude which has hovered around $50 lately. Obviously, barring the wastefulness going on several levels of the Nigerian governance space, we can all agree that the country all of the extra revenue it can get. It is even at this crucial time when the government is so desperate to scrape revenue from unimaginable sources that such policies by the American government will benefit the country because world oil prices will spike and Nigeria will benefit from that. Immigration visas and Travels: Another Biden policy which Nigerians may benefit from is the so-called lifting of the ban on immigration visas and travel to the USA. On this particular policy, the extent to which Nigeria is affected is very much debatable. American visa is one of the things most coveted by Nigerians who are seeking greener pastures outside the shores of the country. The past administration of Donald Trump and the Republican party are very much against illegal immigration whereas the Democrat party and their presidents are historically more in support of immigration.
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The effort of the immediate past U.S government was to limit immigration into the US to only highly skilled immigrants. The Trump executive order banning immigrant visa, however, cited security as the reason for limiting that class of visa. As expected, such policy was immediately touted in the Nigerian and international media space as ‘Anti-Immigration’. Rightly so, many Nigerians were denied U.S visa since that policy was implemented on 31st January 2020, hence there has been a steady drop in the number of Nigerians issued visas. This was very unpopular among many Nigerians and they believed the Biden administration will rectify it. Importantly, America is faced by a huge migrant burden that has become an ideological especially with debates bothering on granting citizenship or not. However, this is not unique to the US. Canada is being run by a Liberal majority government. Its immigration policy is properly organized and restricted based on set standards – a merit point-based system. Suggestions are made as to whether the US would consider adopting the Canadian criteria and system rather than a politicised structure that changes with each incoming administration. Featured Image Source: @MBuhari – Twitter
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This article was first published on 24th January 2021

adedoyin

Macaddy is mostly a farmer in the day who also dabbles into technology at night, in search of other cutting edge intersections. He's on Twitter @i_fix_you

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