From: AIDOGHIE PAULINUS, Abuja
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, at the weekend, received the Honorary Consul of Uruguay Designate to Nigeria, Emeke Cletus Enye, at the Tafawa Balewa House, Abuja.
Enye was at the Ministry to present his Letter of Commission to Onyeama, signalling the commencement of his official diplomatic duties in the country.
In his remarks, Enye said Uruguay, with a population of 3.5 million Hispanic people, where farming is the mainstay, has a wide expanse of land that is majorly occupied by cattle.
According to Enye, “I would like to implore you to imagine that you are in a country, a very small country, 3.5 million people; Hispanic. She has a border with Argentina to the east; Brazil to the west; and the south, the beach line coast of the Atlantic. This is the kind of country that I am talking about.
“Also imagine that you are making a road trip from the south of Uruguay towards the north in the inlands where farming is the mainstay, you gaze out of your window to behold wide expanse of landmass with evergreen pasture, majorly occupied by cattle.
“The numbers of cattle in Uruguay outnumbers the human population and there is a staggering first/one ratio of that. So, Uruguay obviously is very serious with livestock farming. It is one of the sectors that we pride ourselves in. It is even a simple thing to note that Uruguay is the number one milk-producing country in the world,” Ene remarked.
He added that his main duty as the Honourary Consul of Uruguay in Nigeria was to ensure that the multilateral relationship that Nigeria and Uruguay share is nurtured, saying that he would also find new areas where both countries can collaborate in technological exchange and assist Nigeria to harness her great potential.
Responding, Onyeama congratulated Enye on the commission, saying Uruguay was a country Nigeria is familiar with.
He said Uruguay was a country Nigeria would like to have greater cooperation with, expressing delight in the commissioning of Enye.
“We hope that you will use this unique position to promote cooperation between our two countries,” Onyeama said.
While noting that Nigeria has an embassy in Argentina, which covers Uruguay, Onyeama stated that if Enye is extremely successful in his duties, Nigeria would certainly consider opening an embassy in Uruguay.