From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Federal Government and the Government of Jamaica, have put in place, mechanisms to strengthen bilateral relations between both countries.
The development took place during the fourth session of the Nigeria-Jamaica Joint Commission which took place yesterday in Abuja.
Speaking during the event, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, said the joint commission is of high importance since issues that centred on education and cultural cooperation, economic and trade matters, technical cooperation, energy cooperation, migration and others would be considered.
Onyeama stated that the Federal Government was determined to ensure the success of the joint commissions by putting in place, mechanisms for monitoring in order to ensure that practical results are achieved from the agreements.
‘It has been far too long for a very important part of the globe for us, the Caribbean, that we’ve gone too far apart. So, we really want to bring a big push to all the various levels, technical and people-to-people are very important.
‘We also need to look at the cultural level where we can drink more Jamaican rum here and export palm wine to them and we export afrobeat and they will give us reggae and calypso, as well as show us how to organize carnivals through technology transfer to have better carnivals. There is so much we can be doing as a people to cement this relationship,’ Onyeama said.
Onyeama added that there were so much that bind the two countries considering that both countries are sovereign countries and as such, needed to put in place, mechanisms to strengthen the relationships.
‘We are both from the same source and so, we are essentially the same people. We are brothers and sisters and we do not see them as just another country with whom we trade and develop relations. For us, they are kith and kin and that is how our policy towards Jamaica and other countries of the Caribbean is founded on that basis of kinship.
‘Although it is one short flight, the impact will really be a giant leap for the relations between Nigeria and Jamaica, as well as the rest of the Caribbean. We are actually hoping that Jamaica will be the possible hub for Nigerian flights to the Caribbean,’ Onyeama also said.
In her remarks, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica, Kamina Johnson Smith, said the joint commission allowed Nigeria and Jamaica to celebrate and deepen the long-standing, formidable and dynamic friendship between both countries.
Smith stated that the flight to Jamaica from Nigeria in December 2020 was a small step in the right direction, even as she said Jamaica looked forward to exploring prospects in the area of oil and gas, mining, trading in agriculture and non-agricultural products and wider investment opportunities.