Nigeria working on closing some foreign missions – Minister

The federal government is currently working on closing some of Nigeria’s 119 foreign missions, an official has said.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said though it is expensive to close a country’s embassy,it will be beneficial in the long run.

Mr. Onyeama said at the News Agency of Nigeria Forum in Abuja on Sunday that the reduction of Nigeria’s foreign missions was on the agenda of the Muhammadu Buhari administration. He, however, did not mention the number of missions to be closed.

“The government is following up on that (closing some missons) and we have sort of prepared the roadmap; we have started in the implementation of that and made also recommendations in that context.

“Paradoxically, closing missions are extremely expensive.

“At first sight it seems obvious that you close it you are saving cost but you will actually find that the cost of closing is almost prohibitive.

“But in the long run it will be cheaper, but in the immediate and short term it is expensive ."