Obtain appropriate information before coming to India – Envoy

The Nigeria High Commissioner to India, Maj.-Gen. Chris Eze (Rtd) has advised Nigerians traveling to India for medical care or studies to obtain the right information before departing Nigeria.

Eze, who gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Delhi, said appropriate information would ease the process of getting the right services needed.

According to him, the right information about the various services offered in India is available through the Nigeria High commission or its website.

The envoy said the commission had been receiving complaints from Nigerians on Indian hospitals on wrong diagnosis, non-accreditation of institutions and other health and education-related issues.

“A lot of Nigerians come here with incomplete diagnosis, especially those coming for organ transplant.

“When they come, they find out that during compatibility test, they are not compatible with the person they came with.

“So the person has to go back home for another person to come,’’ he said.

Eze also decried the trend where some people come to India without enough money while some come unaccompanied.

“A diabetic patient who came here for treatment unaccompanied, on his way back went into comma at the Airport and was brought to us by a good Samaritan; he is still with us.

“Also, students coming here for studies should make inquiries before departure while a lot of them come to India without vetting the type of schools they have applied to.

“They come and they are embarrassed that the school is not accredited and some schools will insist that they stay off campus which is more expensive than staying on campus,’’ he said.

On trade, the envoy said that the ranking of India in the volume of investment in Africa had been impressive, moving from 7th to 5th.

Eze disclosed that Nigeria’s primary export to India is oil, noting that “when the price of oil was high, the trade volume was high.

“We are still trying to grow the agro-based sector so that we can export value added products.

“The latest report from Indian record says that in 2017, the volume of trade was 9.4 billion dollars and it was 80 per cent in favour of Nigeria, which constitutes largely of crude.’’

In addition, he said that the foundation that President Muhammadu Buhari has laid was yielding results.

“The foundation the President is laying for the restructuring of Nigeria economy, especially in Agriculture, Mining, Railway and Easy of doing Business Initiative has improved the economy.

“For instance, it has moved Nigeria 25 places up in the last ranking of Ease of Doing Business,’’ he said.

According to him, there is a whole lot of negative perception that arises from Nigerians among themselves.

He said that the commission had put in place institutional checks on such things by promoting better understanding among them.

Eze, however, thanked the community and students in the host country for conducting themselves well.

“Let me congratulate them on their patriotism for the way they have been conducting themselves.

“The frequency of mentioning Nigerians involved in unwholesome activities in the Indian media is going down, partly because they are organising themselves more than before,’’ he said.