The British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria in Lagos Nigeria, Jonny Baxter, in Lagos, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has revealed that 132,000 Nigerians have been granted visas in the first half of 2023.

He made other revelations including the high increase in the number of dependants Nigerians have brought into the country. “In 2019, Nigerian students going to the UK brought in 1,500 dependents. By 2022/2023, that number had risen to 52,000 dependents; that’s a massive increase.”

“In the first half of the year, we granted approximately 132,000 visas, and those are all sorts of visas, which include visit, work, and study visas.

He revealed that Nigeria constitutes approximately 10 percent of the entire visas they issue to across the world. “In the previous full year before that, we issued about 324,000. The UK, in that year, issued about three million visas, and of those three million visas, 324,000 were issued to Nigerians, which is about 10 percent.”

“If you think about Nigeria’s population, relative to the world, that’s actually a higher proportion of Nigerians taking up those visas and coming to the UK, which I view is a good thing.

He said Nigeria ranks second in the countries with the highest number of students in the UK. “The UK has a huge number of Nigerian students in the country, and in terms of foreign students in the UK, Nigeria is second only to India.

According to him, the development is a good thing. “We welcome and value the many Nigerians that we have coming to the UK to study or settle, as long as they are coming through legal routes, and it is important that the country’s rules are followed and respected.”

Interview Excerpts: News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Story: Ehizogie Ohiani

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