Dr Richard Montgomery has been appointed British High Commissioner to Nigeria.
Today (Thursday), he presented his credentials to His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja. He takes over from Ms Catriona Laing CB who recently concluded four years as High Commissioner in Abuja.
Richard is an experienced diplomat who has worked in different parts of the world including previously in Nigeria. Prior to becoming the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard was the UK Executive Director at the World Bank Group Board from 2018 to 2022 in Washington DC, USA.
He has held various senior positions in the Department of International Development (DFID). These included Director for Asia, Caribbean & Overseas Territories Division, Country Director for Pakistan, and prior to that Country Director in Nigeria from 2009 to 2013.
Prior to these operational roles Richard was Deputy Director for Corporate Human Resources and Deputy Head in DFID’s Top Management Group. Earlier in his career, he did postings in British High Commissions in Zambia, Bangladesh and India.
Richard is married to Naheed and together they have two children. He and his wife are looking forward to their second stay in Nigeria.
To mark his arrival Richard Montgomery said: “It’s great to be back in Nigeria. I look forward to working with the people of this great country, including those in government, in the private sector and in civil society, to do all I can to help build a more prosperous Nigeria and strengthen the partnership between our countries.”
· Nigeria and the UK have longstanding historical ties. Our shared culture, people and relationship spans decades. Nigeria is a priority partner in sub-Saharan Africa with substantial UK interests. What happens in Nigeria has wide repercussions, particularly in the region.
· A stable, secure, and prosperous Nigeria is in the UK’s interest. The UK’s aim is to support a more prosperous and resilient Nigeria, and be a partner of choice on trade, development, and security.
· Our work is supported by a variety of UK Government departments represented in Nigeria. These include the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Department for International Trade, UK Visas and Immigration, and the Ministry of Defence. The British Council promotes our cultural relationships with Nigeria. Our work can be categorised into five pillars:
- Sustainable Economic Transformation: The UK wants to see Nigeria’s economy thrive sustainably, delivering higher growth, jobs, increased revenue leading to better infrastructure and services for Nigerians with reduced emissions and more resilience. We want the UK be the partner of choice for the federal government, state governments and Nigerian businesses.
- Governance and Stability: The UK government in Nigeria works closely with the Nigerian government to help promote peace, tackle insecurity and strengthen democracy and governance. We work closely with civil society partners that promote the rule of law, social development and social inclusion, support stable political transitions and strong public financial accountability; lending our support to civic education and capacity building programmes and projects.
- Lake Chad Basin: The UK adopts a comprehensive and regional approach to tackling the causes and impact of conflict in the Lake Chad region, including addressing the immediate needs of those in humanitarian crisis. We work closely with all affected countries to tackle terrorism and address the underlying causes of conflict.
- Human Development and Demography: The UK works to support Nigeria to be better able to finance and provide high quality, inclusive human development services that support more girls to participate and learn in school, ensures basic protection to marginalised groups, stronger health systems and health security (including responding to COVID-19), and people increasingly able to access their sexual and reproductive health rights.
- People to People: The UK enjoys strong ties with Nigeria. There is a Nigerian diaspora community in the UK of over 200,000 and there are many British Nigerians who we are proud of for their successes and influence across Business, Government, Culture and Sport. The UK Government in Nigeria works in partnership with Nigeria to maximise existing networks and services to strengthen the overall bilateral partnership between the UK and Nigeria.
Atinuke Akande-Alegbe
Senior Communications & Public Diplomacy Officer