Opening of embassy big relief, say Nigerians

By Noimot Olayiwola/Staff Reporter

Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation-Qatar chapter (NIDO-Qatar) members yesterday expressed joy and gratitude to their government for establishing an embassy in Qatar.

The community was agog with the arrival of the ambassador-designate to Qatar, Shuaibu Adamu Ahmed, who promised to begin work as soon as possible.

Earlier, Nigerians here refer to their country’s mission in Abu Dhabi to avail consular services and the arrangement has caused several hardships to many who had urgent needs for document authentication, police character certificate and passport issue and renewal among other issues.

While some community members asserted that having an embassy in Qatar will bring relief to many Nigerians here, some claimed it will enhance relationship and foster stronger ties between Qatar and Nigeria.

NIDO-Qatar president O J Millar, who led a group of Nigerians to welcome the ambassador at the airport on Thursday, extended warm welcome to the ambassador on behalf of the community.

“It is good to have the ambassador arrive here in Qatar and we do hope that he will be willing to meet with the community soon in order to listen to their yearnings and aspirations,” he said, adding that a lot of expectations have to be met as soon as possible.

NIDO-Qatar vice president Raymond Bob Ume gave kudos to the Nigerian government for listening to the people by sending in the ambassador.

“I give special thanks to the Nigeria Vice President Alhaji Mohamed Namadi Sambo who has fulfilled his promises during his last visit to Qatar. I also congratulate NIDO-Qatar executives led by Millar, who worked hard to make this happen. NIDO-Qatar has finally arrived,” he said.

However, a segment of the community wants the ambassador to use his experience as a politician to bring all Nigerian residents in Qatar together in one accord.

They urged the official to also work closely with the NIDO-Qatar, which has so far been representing the Nigerian government in Qatar.

“We expect the ambassador to be ready to serve the community as a whole and not individuals and that he should be readily accessible to us as well as support our well-being in Qatar. We wish him all success and pledge our loyalty and support for the embassy to thrive here,” a leader of the Nigerian Muslim Association in Qatar opined.

Some community members also suggested the need to co-operate with other existing African countries’ embassies here for direction and guidance.

“It’s a very positive development that was long overdue. Of course, there are many potential benefits that Nigerians in Qatar stand to derive from having a resident ambassador and an embassy here,” another community member stated.

He said that document attestation will no longer need to be sent out, which will save a lot of money and time associated with such exercise in the past.

“Bilateral relations between the two countries should obviously improve which will naturally bring more business dealings for the two. I’ll also expect that Qatar will invest more in Nigeria and that will lead to job creations back home,” he said.

“More Nigerian professionals will also be able to come here through legitimate means to work to help in building this country and that will also contribute to Nigeria’s foreign earnings and improve our GDP by extension,” he added.

While some asked him to look into issues of high rate of joblessness among many newly arrived Nigerians in Qatar, some pleaded with him to help curtail the spread of visa racket, which is already giving bad names to the community.

“The ambassador should, however, help to tackle the problem of human trafficking, through visa racket, as some Nigerians are being brought here with the promise of a good job waiting for them,” a community member said.

A segment also clamoured for the establishment of a Nigerian school here as they claim that it will bring succour to many families, who are presently struggling to get affordable schools for their children.