By vera Samuuel Anyagafu

The US Consul General in Nigeria, Claire Pierangelo, has said that the Consulate General is working hard to reschedule visa applicants who were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Claire said this at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Consulate’s newly renovated consular pavilion.

According to her, rescheduling visa applicants and renovating the consular pavilion go a long way in expressing US strong commitment to providing Nigeria visa applicants best of consular services as well as achieving safe space for visa applicants to socially distance while waiting for their appointment.

She said for most Nigerians and US citizens in Nigeria, their main interaction with the US Consulate is through the consular section. Hence, the consular customer experience, she continued, is something the Consulate General continuously improves on, and the newly expanded and renovated consular pavilion is an example of that effort.

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“From the pavilion to the interview section, we want Nigerian visa applicants and American citizens in Nigeria to have a positive experience. The new consular pavilion will go a long way in helping to achieve this goal”, Claire added.

Also speaking, Consular Chief, Liliane Hudspeth, explained that the new consular pavilion offers visitors a larger, more comfortable covered waiting area, protection from sun, rain, and inclement weather as well as a great view of the Lagos lagoon.

Liliane said that the consular section has introduced a range of measures to meet the increased expectation of safety, adding that the consulate General has put in place safety measures that not only protect visa applicants, but also consular staff who serve the applicants.

In his own remarks, Management Officer, William Bridgeland, while lauding the cooperation between the US Consulate Facility Maintenance team and the local Nigerian construction contractor said over the past six months, “our team and the Nigerian contractor have worked tirelessly to construct this comfortable waiting area and we thank them for a job well done,” he added.