By Rasheed Akinkuolie

Jeffrey Apkovweta Ewohime: the Nigerian vandal arrested by London police. Photo: LinkedIn

An angry Nigerian on 17th June, 2019 broke the windshields of  several official cars of the Nigeria High Commission at No 9 Northumberland Avenue in London over issues concerning the issuance of his international passport.

The behavior of this young  man cannot be justified in anyway. However, there is no doubt that  incidents of inefficiencies  at the High Commission and some Nigerian Embassies  are real and the issue, especially the underlying causes of this anomaly should be addressed in a forthright manner.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) hosts the largest concentration  of Nigerians abroad. And to cope with  this population, there used to be  three  Nigerian diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom viz: in London, Edinburgh and Liverpool.  The mission in Edinburgh covered Scotland and environs, while the consulate in Liverpool served  the coastal cities of the UK and Seamen.

The Nigeria High Commission London at no 9 Northumberland Avenue Office is the most important Nigerian diplomatic mission abroad. It is classified as a grade ‘A’ mission among very few others. The offices accommodate  the Chancery, the  High Commissioner, Defence Adviser, Immigration, Trade, Protocol, information Administration etc.

One of the Nigerian High Commision’s cars vandalised by the Nigerian in Britain

The various sections relate to their counterparts and the public in London as required to promote Nigeria’s interest.  The Chancery liaises with the Court of St James’s, Buckingham palace, the British and Commonwealth Office and other missions.

The issuance of passports, visas, and such  documents are  essentially  the responsibility of the Immigration Service.  The three missions in the UK worked in harmony with the public and the host authorities until 1984, when the two  consulates   in Liverpool and Edinburgh were unilaterally closed down during the  rationalization of missions, and  the retrenchment exercise of civil servants.

Rasheed Akinkuolie

The responsibilities  of the two closed missions were shifted to the High Commission in London, where I was at that time the Deputy Chief of Protocol. The system was suddenly thrown into confusion. The facilities in London were overstretched to the limits. The staff strength was reduced,  such that the few officers were overworked and stressed up. Nigerians and the general public were forced to come from different regions of the United Kingdom to London at great expense and inconvenience,  just to obtain passports, process visas, scholarships,  identity cards and authenticate documents. The mission and officers, equally victims of this awkward arrangement were unfairly held responsible for the travails and ordeals of the public and vilified for it, and sometimes attacked.

This is the genesis of the crisis which had persisted for 35 years without any solution in sight,  except of course, if  the consulates in Liverpool and Edinburgh are reopened to ease the  pressure on the High Commission in London.

The Chancery buildings of the two missions  are in states of disrepair, but recoverable,  if refurbished. This is yet another appeal on behalf of all Nigerians that the consulates in Edinburgh and Liverpool should be reopened immediately, after 35 years of being unilaterally closed down without any logical reason.

There are  other Nigerian missions in similar circumstances in other countries.  For example, the closure of the Nigerian consulate  in California-USA  created the same problem. The three Nigerian   missions  in Washington, New York and Atlanta Georgia are too few to cover the vast territories of America. California is 6 hours flight away from Washington or from any of the missions. It is the same with several states where flight hours to Washington or New York  is between 2-5 hours. The cost of travel, accommodation and inconveniences to the public and Nigerians who wish to obtain documents from the embassies  can best be imagined.

Brazil, Canada, China and India are facing the same challenges. Brazil is about 8 times the size of Nigeria. The mission in Sao Paolo was similarly closed down  leaving the Embassy in Brasília, and the Consulate in  Rio de Janeiro to cope with this huge country.  Most importantly,  Sao Paolo is the economic capital of Brazil, home of Embraer Aircraft manufacturing company, Volkswagen, Petro Bras, and several military hardware manufacturing companies. The district of Sao Paolo accounts  for about 10% of the gross domestic product ( GDP)  of the entire continent of South America. The presence of a Nigerian mission in this city is of critical economic  interest which cannot be provided in far away Brasília or Rio de Janeiro.

It does not cost an arm to run some missions, especially consulates, which  could have a staff strength of just three officers and three supporting staff from the host country. And where the Chancery and residences are owned by the government, the payment of allowances and the cost of running the mission can be derived from charging a little extra on visa and other fees, which is the standard practice by many missions, even in Nigeria.

This extra cost is very insignificant compared to the inconveniences of travelling long distances to reach far away embassies. Since this issue affects mainly Nigerians in diaspora, the office of Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairperson of the Diaspora Commission should take interest in reopening these consulates and others which were closed down without evaluating the political,  economic and social impacts on the image of Nigeria.

-Ambassador Akinkuolie Rasheed was Director of Trade and Investment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja Nigeria.

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