NewsNigeriaPoliticsShettima meets British High Commissioner, Montgomery, seeks stronger relations with UK

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Vice-President Kashim Shettima has called for stronger relations between Nigeria and the United Kingdom given the long-standing historical antecedents, business activities and shared interests between the two countries.

The Vice-President made the call yesterday during a meeting with the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery at the State House, Abuja.

In his brief remarks, he advocated for the creation of a bi-national commission to enhance the business relationship between Nigeria and the UK.

He told Montgomery, “I will urge you to facilitate the setting up of the Nigeria-UK Bi-national Commission. That Bi-national Commission can be the driver for accelerating enhance the business relationship between our two countries.

“We need to ramp up the trade between our two nations taking into cognisance our proximity. There is no nation that we are close to than the UK and our trade represents less than five per cent of the volume of our import and export.”

Shettima commended the long-standing assistance and support of the British government to Nigeria. He also expressed hope for more robust business relations, promising that “most definitely, we are going to create an enabling environment for businesses to flourish in this country.”

The British High Commissioner, Montgomery, commended the new administration’s proactive economic policies, including the removal of the fuel subsidy and unification of foreign exchange rates.

Montgomery expressed confidence that the economic reforms will help place the country on a greater path, noting the readiness of the British government to partner closely with the federal government to achieve the overall development of the country.

“The big issue is that these reforms help to put Nigeria on a higher, greater path. They will attract more investments and the United Kingdom and the City of London see Nigeria as a big opportunity going forward,” he stated

The British High Commissioner further said that he discussed with the Vice-President the measures to cushion the effect of some of the harsh policies like subsidy removal.

“We know that there are tough times with inflation and unemployment. The Vice-President and I also touched on some of the measures that might be possible to cushion some of these economic pressures,” he told journalists.

The British High Commissioner was accompanied to the State House by the deputy development director at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Susan Mshana; counsellor Lake Chad Basin, Alex Maclean; political counsellor, Jonathan Bacon and senior political advisor at the British High Commission, Damilola Oyedele.

By Ezinwanne Onwuka (Senior Reporter)

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