Dr Dalhaltu Tafida, Nigeria's High Commissioner to the UK on Tuesday said plans were on to establish a Consulate outside London.
Tafida, told the Western Europe Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview in London that the consulate would be located in the Midlands area.
He said the move was necessitated by the increased demand for consular and immigration services by Nigerians who reside in other parts of the UK.
NAN reports that more than two million Nigerians are resident in the UK, the highest in Europe.
The envoy said the consulate which would be manned by a Consul-General would become operational by 2013.
Responding to the development,? President of the Nigerian Council of Elders in the UK, Mr Adebayo Oladimeji? in a phone interview, said the proposed office was a welcome development “it is a fantastic development which will make it easy for the high commission to reach out to other regions”.
Oladimeji also said that the new office when operational would simplify the process of consular services through easy accessibility.
In the same vein,? Mrs Folake Aina, a banker in Scotland, urged the? High commission to sensitise Nigerians in the UK about the establishment of the consulate through their various associations and in their website.?
“There is need for awareness, and this goes beyond putting it on the website, the various associations, and Nigerian- owned churches must be told to announce it.? It is a positive move.
“It is all about citizen diplomacy in view of the huge number of Nigerians resident outside London,''Aina said.
Nigeria operates similar consular offices in the U.S. , and South Africa among others.
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