Nigeria To Reopen Mission In San Francisco — FG

Nigeria will soon reopen its Consulate-General in San Francisco
to provide consular services for the huge population of Nigerians
residing on the West Coast of the US.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb.
Gabriel Aduda, told the News Agency of Nigeria in New York on
Monday that the plan to re-open the mission had reached “an
advanced stage“.

The Federal Government shut down the San Francisco, California,
Consulate in 1989. The five-room, 4,250-square foot property is
owned by Nigeria.

Aduda said, “We think rather than having Nigerians residing in
California travelling to the East Coast or to the North Coast, they
don’t have to travel that far.

“The mission (San Francisco) is very important and in the next
few months, before the end of the year, the mission will be
running,’’ he said.

The permanent secretary said that the ministry and members of
the National Assembly committees on Foreign Affairs had visited all
the Nigerian missions in the US in June for on-the-spot
assessment.

“We visited the Embassy in Washington, DC, the New York Mission,
the Atlanta Mission and we took a trip to San Francisco where we
hope to re-open another mission that will service the West Coast,’’
he said.

On the state of facilities in the Nigerian missions, Aduda said
there was the need for the facilities to be maintained as some of
them had been in existence for so long.

“There is the need for upgrading, there is the need for routine
maintenance and on the whole, service-wise, I think we were quite
satisfied with what we saw at the missions.

“You will see that there are changes in all the missions in the
US, especially Atlanta and New York, when it comes to the services
that are being rendered to Nigerians.

“This is because, during the visit, it gave us the opportunity
to discuss with the staff of the missions the new direction that
the Federal Government is aiming,“ the said.

The permanent secretary said most of the challenges presented by
the staff were immigration-related and they were already being
addressed.

Aduda said Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) was totally
responsible for producing passports and that the shortage of
passport booklets was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“COVID-19 slowed down a lot of things and we got a lot of
backlog, so the inability to meet up is what created the problem in
offering passport service to Nigerians abroad.’’

The permanent secretary assured Nigerians living in the US of
improved services on passport issuance.

He said with the level of support the ministry was getting from
NIS, the missions would not be talking about shortage of passport
booklet by the end of the year.

The permanent secretary said the Nigeria High Commission in
London had a backlog of about 19,000 passports but had been cleared
in three months.

He said another batch of passport booklets had been received at
the Consulate-General of Nigeria in Atlanta adding, a lot is being
done and we are hoping that before the end of this year, we will be
on a clean slate.

Aduda commended the Consulate-General in New York for providing
improved passport services to Nigerians within its jurisdiction and
for organising a cultural show to promote Nigeria’s rich
heritage.

The permanent secretary said the consulate had adopted cultural
diplomacy through the show to sell the good image of Nigeria to the
world.

The consulate had on Saturday organised a cultural show, with
the theme “Nigeria: Our Community, Cultures and Unity’’, to
showcase Nigeria’s festivals, dances, and fashions, among
others.

Aduda, who was at the event, said the consulate had promoted
Nigeria’s culture in a way that people would able be to buy-in.

He said people would get to know the opportunities, the
advantages and rich resources in the country, adding, “we are going
to do more of the shows.

“We only showcased two festivals – the Osun-Osogbo and the
Argungu Fishing Festivals – out of the diverse cultural festivals.
We hope it will actually draw people to exploit the tourism
potential of the country.

“If you look at Osun-Osogbo festival, you will notice so many
foreigners; if you look at Argungu, you will see many foreigners,
if you look at Calabar carnivals at the end of the year, it is the
same.

“In fact, there was a time we had about 20 different countries
in attendance at the Calabar carnival, so apart from the economic
benefit, you would have raised ambassadors that will go back with
good image of the country,’’ (NAN)

Nigeria will soon reopen its Consulate-General in San Francisco
to provide consular services for the huge population of Nigerians
residing on the West Coast of the US.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb.
Gabriel Aduda, told the News Agency of Nigeria in New York on
Monday that the plan to re-open the mission had reached “an
advanced stage“.

The Federal Government shut down the San Francisco, California,
Consulate in 1989. The five-room, 4,250-square foot property is
owned by Nigeria.

Aduda said, “We think rather than having Nigerians residing in
California travelling to the East Coast or to the North Coast, they
don’t have to travel that far.

“The mission (San Francisco) is very important and in the next
few months, before the end of the year, the mission will be
running,’’ he said.

The permanent secretary said that the ministry and members of
the National Assembly committees on Foreign Affairs had visited all
the Nigerian missions in the US in June for on-the-spot
assessment.

“We visited the Embassy in Washington, DC, the New York Mission,
the Atlanta Mission and we took a trip to San Francisco where we
hope to re-open another mission that will service the West Coast,’’
he said.

On the state of facilities in the Nigerian missions, Aduda said
there was the need for the facilities to be maintained as some of
them had been in existence for so long.

“There is the need for upgrading, there is the need for routine
maintenance and on the whole, service-wise, I think we were quite
satisfied with what we saw at the missions.

“You will see that there are changes in all the missions in the
US, especially Atlanta and New York, when it comes to the services
that are being rendered to Nigerians.

“This is because, during the visit, it gave us the opportunity
to discuss with the staff of the missions the new direction that
the Federal Government is aiming,“ the said.

The permanent secretary said most of the challenges presented by
the staff were immigration-related and they were already being
addressed.

Aduda said Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) was totally
responsible for producing passports and that the shortage of
passport booklets was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“COVID-19 slowed down a lot of things and we got a lot of
backlog, so the inability to meet up is what created the problem in
offering passport service to Nigerians abroad.’’

The permanent secretary assured Nigerians living in the US of
improved services on passport issuance.

He said with the level of support the ministry was getting from
NIS, the missions would not be talking about shortage of passport
booklet by the end of the year.

The permanent secretary said the Nigeria High Commission in
London had a backlog of about 19,000 passports but had been cleared
in three months.

He said another batch of passport booklets had been received at
the Consulate-General of Nigeria in Atlanta adding, a lot is being
done and we are hoping that before the end of this year, we will be
on a clean slate.

Aduda commended the Consulate-General in New York for providing
improved passport services to Nigerians within its jurisdiction and
for organising a cultural show to promote Nigeria’s rich
heritage.

The permanent secretary said the consulate had adopted cultural
diplomacy through the show to sell the good image of Nigeria to the
world.

The consulate had on Saturday organised a cultural show, with
the theme “Nigeria: Our Community, Cultures and Unity’’, to
showcase Nigeria’s festivals, dances, and fashions, among
others.

Aduda, who was at the event, said the consulate had promoted
Nigeria’s culture in a way that people would able be to buy-in.

He said people would get to know the opportunities, the
advantages and rich resources in the country, adding, “we are going
to do more of the shows.

“We only showcased two festivals – the Osun-Osogbo and the
Argungu Fishing Festivals – out of the diverse cultural festivals.
We hope it will actually draw people to exploit the tourism
potential of the country.

“If you look at Osun-Osogbo festival, you will notice so many
foreigners; if you look at Argungu, you will see many foreigners,
if you look at Calabar carnivals at the end of the year, it is the
same.

“In fact, there was a time we had about 20 different countries
in attendance at the Calabar carnival, so apart from the economic
benefit, you would have raised ambassadors that will go back with
good image of the country,’’ (NAN)