Nigeria to continue bilateral relations with UK under King Charles III – Laing
The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, has said the United Kingdom (UK) under King Charles II will continue to work with the Federal Government and build on its long standing cooperation across wide range of areas.
This was even as she revealed that the countries who were not invited to the Queen’s funeral was due to the bad diplomatic relationship with the UK
Laing disclosed this in a monitored programme by NwafoLive on Monday.
She said that Nigeria matters to the UK and with duo’s broad and deep relationship under pinned by strong people to people ties, it will continue under the new king Charles III.
She said, “The Nigeria-UK partnership is built on mutual respect and deep and longstanding cooperation across a wide range of areas. We look forward to this continuing in earnest with King Charles III and with the UK government.
One of the things Queen Elizabeth II was passionate about was the environment and climate change; the King was aware of it and has identified the importance of protecting the environment. King Charles III is also very passionate about the environment, that’s the area of focus as we head towards COP27, the next major international summit on climate change, which is due to take place in Egypt later this year”.
When quizzed on why Russia, Belarus, Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan and Myanmar were not invited to the Queen’s funeral, Laing said, “it is quite simple, all countries with which we have diplomatic relations have been invited to the funeral. The lists of countries you have mentioned are countries that at the moment, we do not have normal diplomatic relations with and that is the reason they have not been invited to the funeral.”
Catriona expressed gratitude to all who have commiserated with the United Kingdom over the passing of the Queen. She noted that many Nigerians including prominent senior citizens have turned up in their numbers to sign the condolence register.
“It has been an absolutely overwhelming solidarity and support from the Nigerian community. There have been many letters and flowers in the week of condolence signing,” she said.
