Ex-Ambassador Wants Nigeria-Brazil Relations Strengthened
For Nigeria to enhance the scope of engagement with Brazil will require reuniting both countries, connecting businesses and investors, increasing supply of goods and services and ensuring public and private sector engagements, a former Ambassador to Brazil, Christopher Okeke, has said.
Okeke said this at a tourism promotion event on Tuesday hosted by the Brazilian Consulate in Lagos in commemoration of 200 years of Brazil independence which would officially be marked on Wednesday, September 7.
The event was focused on developing a sustainable framework for Nigeria-Brazil tourism enhancement and had stakeholders of the tourism and aviation industries, including the tourism boards of Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and São Paulo, investors and others in attendance.
Okeke said, “When we talk about Nigeria and Brazil the discussion has to centre on how to create, manage and sustain a progressive mutually profitable relationship.”
He explained that enduring relations between the two countries would require Nigeria concentrating on how to offer, provide and build mutually beneficial and respectful relations with Brazil.
Okeke, who had served as an ambassador to two other countries, Paraguay and Bolivia, said even though Nigeria has a cultural trait with Brazil that trade relations be done on a more professional and economical basis.
“Nigeria has an opportunity every single day to show that it really does understand how to conduct good business and that we do have innovative ideas.
“Let’s not limit the scope of our engagement with Brazil, let’s explore the mutual benefit as well as bargaining and expanding our relations with Brazil.
“We need to drive an initiative that will celebrate the renewed relationship between Nigeria and Brazil within a culture representation that connects the two countries.”
Okeke explained that the aim would be to establish a fresh idea of what both countries represent today as well as to build for tomorrow.
He said, “The initiative will be a catalyst to uncover the many opportunities between both countries and to facilitate the moving forward.”
The three-time ambassador said there were lots to gain beyond tourism, explaining that tourism was only an element that Nigeria owns to Brazil.
“There is the diplomatic aspect, literature, arts, films, music, tech, agriculture and mining. For any of these to have meaningful traction, we need to consider the scope of potential sponsorship opportunities,” he said, highlighting this to include agriculture sponsor, tourism sponsor, airline sponsor, media partner, banks, businessmen among others,” he said.
Okeke added that Nigerians should not be looking only at what to gain from Brazil but also what Brazilians could gain from Nigeria.
At the tourism promotion, which was part of the activities in commemoration of the Bicentennial of Brazil’s Independence, the Consulate General of Brazil, Francisco Luz, said amid the challenges the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine present that they also provide opportunities.
“We decided that in challenging times you can find many opportunities. The situation is not subverted for countries like Nigeria and Brazil. We have to take advantage of these challenges.
“We have to come closer to try to reinforce our relationship,” Luz said.
According to him, one way of doing so is through tourism because tourism brings knowledge into the society.
“You have a lot of misconception and mistrust and I think by increasing tourism more Nigerians will know Brazil and more Brazilians will know Nigeria.
He noted that Brazil’s historical relationship with Nigeria dated back to the 18th century when the Oba of Benin Kingdom set up diplomatic relations with Brazil, stressing that the relationship has to be built upon.
Noting specifically the challenges of direct flight and visa approval that arise between both countries, he said the relationship should be strategic to last longer than next five, ten years.
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