British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery says the UK is awaiting the appointment of new ministers so it can take the necessary steps toward strengthening collaboration with Nigeria.
Montgomery said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, his first media outing since he assumed duty in Nigeria in May.
The new high commissioner took over leadership of the UK mission in Nigeria from Catriona Laing, who is now serving as United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ Special Representative for Somalia and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia.
The new British envoy said with new administrations in both countries a more systematic dialogue “is key to strengthening relations and exploring new areas to build upon for mutual benefits”.
Montgomery identified six areas in which both countries could strengthen cooperation.
“We have very long-standing ties being wired by history and we do have a very strong foundation on which to build and I am very optimistic about Nigeria’s direction in the coming years.
“We wish to build on our economic relations in particular and the first decisions by the new administration show that it is going to take big decisions on the economy which I think will give us the opportunity to grow our trade, investment, and economic relations.
“And I think there are a number of areas where the UK government can step up our diplomacy, our bilateral relations with Nigeria.
“But of course, we await the appointment of new ministers so that we can have the diplomatic dialogue necessary to lay the grounds for some of those.
“I will say that there are six areas we would like to explore. The first is, long-standing development cooperation.
“And I think what the UK always needs to do when a new administration comes into place is, we need to understand the priorities of that administration and how we can adapt and work in mutual partnership and with our development programmes.
“The second is economic area. We already have a good economic dialogue but we would like to take the next step and develop a form of a more enhanced trade and partnership – something I am quite keen to discuss with the new minister of trade and industry.
“The third area is security and defence, which we would like to evolve and take forward.
“We already have a good relationship on home affairs, with your interior ministry and other agencies, and that is an area where we would like to continue our collaborations.
“Finally, we would like to have a more systematic dialogue on foreign policy.
“Nigeria has played a very valuable role in regional and continental issues and the UK would like to have a more systematic foreign policy dialogue with the government of Nigeria once the ministers and advisers are in place,” Montgomery said.
The high commissioner said good diplomacy “is about understanding the perspectives, interests, and views of the host country and so, everything would be caveated to the dialogue with the administration.”
He expressed optimism about greater collaborations between both countries “having had successful separate meetings with President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume.”
The British envoy expressed the desire for ensuring a productive relationship between both countries.
“So, we would also work with agencies like the British Council, with higher education bodies in the UK, with diaspora business groups, and with our chambers of commerce.
“We want to make sure we keep those relationships productive,” Montgomery said.