INDEPENDENT
The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, met with Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday, where he noted that the economic decisions of the administration of President Bola Tinubu is drawing global attention.
Montgomery stated this while speaking to reporters after the closed door meeting.
He said that the removal of subsidy on petrol and the exchange rate reform have created a better investment environment in Nigeria.
“As I discussed with His Excellency, the big economic decisions being taken by this government are really important and are being noticed around the world.
“The removal of subsidy, the exchange rate reform and all of that create a much better investment environment.
“I was in London, last week. I was briefing my ministers, but I was also talking to British business in finance, banking and investment sectors. They are all responding very positively to these first decisions.”
Acknowledging the tough times Nigerians face with the economic decisions of the Tinubu-led administration, Montgomery said that his discussions with Vice President Shettima touched on the measures that would cushion the impact on the people.
“We know that there are tough times that are going on at the moment—inflation and unemployment.
“The vice president and I also touched on some of the measures that might be possible to cushion the blow of some of these economic pressures.
“But I think the big issue is that these reforms will help put Nigeria on a higher growth path; they will attract more investments and the United Kingdom and the City of London see Nigeria as a big opportunity going forward.
“I will be doing my part to try to boost those, enhance trade and investment.”
On the recent announcement that the British government would no longer give visas to dependents of students from other countries, Montgomery said it did not come up at the meeting with the vice president.”
However, he said that there was need to put the issue in “a wider context,” considering the number of visas given to Nigerian students in the last few years.
“Last year, for example, the United Kingdom granted three million new visas of which 325,000 of those visas were between Nigeria and UK.
“So, Nigerian visitors constitute over 10 percent of the people coming to London and the UK.
“On the issue of students’ visas, I would also like to provide the context; that the number of Nigerian students coming to the UK has increased fivefold in the last three years.
“It is a fantastic success story for our universities and we are really delighted that so many Nigerians are coming to the UK.
“The issue about restrictions of people bringing dependents; that is not just for Nigeria but many parts of the world; many more students are trying to bring their dependents with them; and I think there are two issues here.
“The first is it is not always possible to find housing services to meet all the needs of all our existing students’ population.
“Secondly, I think reasonable people will accept that we have to manage our visitor numbers and that we have to manage migration in and out of the UK; just as the Nigerian government does for your own borders.”
The British envoy said his meeting with Vice President Shettima dwelt on the long-standing partnership between the United Kingdom and Nigeria
