UK promises to provide further assistance with IDPs as Foreign Office director visits Abuja

BRITAIN and Nigeria have pledged to step up cooperation in assisting internally displaced persons (IDPs) currently living in makeshift camps during a recent visit to Abuja by the director for Africa in the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Yesterday, Harriet Mathews, the director for Africa in the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office, paid a courtesy call on Boss Mustapha, the secretary to the government in Abuja to congratulate Nigeria on the holding of recent elections. During the visit, said that the situation in northeast Nigeria is of much concern to British government.

Ms Matthews added that the British high commission in Nigeria is poised to offer further humanitarian services to the IDPs. She said the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office is a department of Britain's government with the core mandate of protecting and promoting British interests worldwide.

Responding, Mr Mustapha stated that the long-standing relationship between Nigeria and the UK which spanned over decades, must be sustained and cemented. He added that the visit of the British delegation further strengthens the bond between the two countries, recalling that Nigeria as a former British colony has enjoyed collaborative efforts and support, hence the need to keep the ties.

Mr Mustapha thanked the British government for the congratulatory message on the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari for his second term in office. He said the first tenure of the Buhari government witnessed tremendous achievements including the degrading of insurgency in the northeast, the success of the anti-corruption crusade and the government’s economic policy of diversification through agriculture

He added that Nigeria has been rated as one of the major producers of rice in Africa pointing out that, with the population of about 250m, the country believes in contributing directly to investment globally. However, Mr Mustapha stated that no country can grow her economy alone without the collaboration of other countries.

Mr Mustapha solicited for support from the UK in the key areas of capacity building, the provision of military hardware, the empowerment of the IDPs, the repatriation of stolen funds stashed away in foreign banks and institutional assistance to enable Nigeria’s institutions fight corruption effectively. Ms Mathews was accompanied by Catriona Laing, the British high commissioner to Nigeria.