The American mission welcomes the new general console in Lagos

The mission of the United States in Lagos has announced the arrival of its new general console, Rick Swart.

Swart takes the place of Joellen Gorg, who led the Consulate General in a temporary ability in the last seven months.
This was after the immediate past general console, Will Stevens, completed his service tour in November 2024.
The consulate said on Friday that Swart was the representative of the United States government to the Nigerian people in all 17 states of southern Nigeria.
Swart, a career of the Senior Foreign Service career, has held diplomatic roles in Africa, Middle East, Europe and Asia, recently as deputy head of the mission at the United States Embassy in Chad.

According to the mission, he was responsible for the guidance and supervision of the activities of the US government who deepen commercial and investment ties, expand the connections of people-people and advance the entire range of priorities in the bilateral relationships of the United States-nigeria throughout the region.

The consulate mentioned Swart for saying he was honored to serve in Nigeria.

“I am enthusiastic about the opportunity to travel throughout the region, meet people, experiment with culture, making the shared goals advance to make our two countries safer, stronger and more prosperous”.

Swart also thanked Joellen for his extraordinary leadership and for the exceptional work he did to promote close collaboration between the United States and the Nigerian people in the region.

“I can’t wait to work closely with the Ambassador Mills and the American Embassy team in Abuja, to further advance the objectives shared between Nigeria and the United States,” he said.

The Swart diplomatic positions include the service as Chargé affair in Republics of Chad, Congo and Burundi; Deputy Consul General of Baghdad, Iraq.
“Also as a humanitarian assistance officer for Africa in the United States mission to the United Nations in Geneva,” he said

Before joining the State Department in 2002, Swart worked in the private sector for architectural and design projects in Asia and Africa.