The British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Peter Carter on Wednesday cleared the air on the controversies trailing the decision to introduce a £3000 visa bond by the British government.
Carter assured that “there is no change to our visa service, there is no change to our visa policy at the moment” adding that “it (Visa Bond Policy) does not exist”.
He noted that it is a policy that the British ministers “are still considering” insisting that at the moment “there is no visa bond; there is no requirement on anybody to pay £3000 or any thousands of pounds to get a British visa”.
He said the British government is only trying to deter those who are tempted to over stay their visa “not just in Nigeria” stressing that it is a problem “we have with many countries”.
He said the Visa Bond Policy is one of a series of policies being considered by the British government, promising that “we will be informing the Nigerian government, if it concerns Nigerians, adnd make sure it is properly advertised”.
He then stressed the importance of Nigeria’s relations with the United Kingdom especially in trade and investments
Carter, speaking during Sunrise Daily on Channels Television, said “trade and investment relations with Nigeria are really at the heart of our relationship”.
He further noted the importance of the politics involved in the relation and assured Nigerians that the British government “stands by Nigeria in some of the difficulties it is facing at the moment, particularly in the North”.
He said the British government is putting in an enormous amount of effort into encouraging British companies to look seriously at Nigeria “to look at trading here (Nigeria), to invest here and to take advantage of the opportunities that are here”.
He also noted the contributions of “big” British companies, already operating, to the economy of the country.
He revealed that President Goodluck Jonathan and British Prime Minister, David Cameron had reached an agrrement in 2011 to double efforts in ensuring the continuation of bi-lateral trade from £4 billion to £8 billion annually insisting that “we are well on the way to achieving that”.
He also added that Nigeria has reasons to celebrate with a stable and growing economy noting that Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest growing economies with people who are full of creativity and talent.
He further said that “there are well over a million Nigerians in the United Kingdom alone, taking the expertise, their creativity, developing themselves, developing our (British) economy and crucially helping to develop Nigeria’s economy”.
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