Nigeria’s high commissioner to Malaysia, Ahmed Sulu-Gambari, says the mission has adopted direct engagement with Nigerian communities to address consular challenges.

Mr Sulu-Gambari said this in an interview in Kuala Lumpur. He said that after assuming office, the mission stopped waiting for Nigerians to report problems and began engaging communities across Malaysia.

He said he held separate meetings with 16 to 17 Nigerian ethnic and community associations to hear their concerns.

“I first of all called all the ethnic communities, one after the other, about 16 or 17 of them, and I had a meeting with them,” Mr Sulu-Gambari said, adding that the mission took these concerns to the director-general of Malaysian Immigration.

“The director-general of immigration graciously gave me an appointment, and we went there and had a meeting,” Mr Sulu-Gambari said.

Mr Sulu-Gambari said Malaysian Immigration has since designated officers to work with the mission on issues involving Nigerians. He said the arrangement gave the mission clearer information on Nigerians in immigration detention and a direct channel to Malaysian authorities.

The envoy said the mission had also urged Nigerians facing compliance issues to obey Malaysian laws and protect Nigeria’s image.

“I told them in clear terms that they should be a good representative of Nigeria in Malaysia,” he said.

He said the mission had also introduced a free online registration exercise to profile Nigerians in Malaysia, including the number of women, men, students, artisans, and other categories. According to him, reliable data will help the mission engage communities more effectively and respond to their needs.

“We took the mission to the community. That’s the strategy. We didn’t sit here and expect to receive reports. We went to them,” he said.

He reaffirmed the mission’s commitment to working with Malaysian authorities and community associations to strengthen consular engagement.

Mr Sulu-Gambari said constructive engagement remains key to protecting Nigerians’ interests and strengthening Nigeria-Malaysia relations.

(NAN)