Nigeria Content Online

Lawrence Akindele,
the Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Benin, speaks to Elizabeth
Archibong on the historical ties between Nigeria and Benin Republic,
the challenge of managing Nigeria/Benin relations and other issues.
Excerpts:

Recent visit of Jonathan to Benin

You know we have
been waiting for the visit for quite a while now. Since Jonathan became
the president, many times the visit was scheduled but had to be
postponed. Nigeria, just like the Republic of Benin is preparing for
elections this year. You know that both countries have a lot in common.
About 25 percent of the population of Benin are citizens of Nigeria.
The people of Benin conferred on Mr Jonathan the highest national
honour of Benin. This is worth being celebrated.

The relationship between both countries

The relationship
between Nigeria and Benin has been quite strong. You will recall that
Beninoise President Boni Iyayi has visited Nigeria several times and,
in fact just like President Jonathan jokingly said in his speech to the
Nigerian community here, Mr Iyayi refers to Benin as Nigeria’s 37th
state.

And like I said
earlier, we have a huge population of Nigerians here. So when we talk
about the relationship, you will find that they are deeper than what
you can see on the surface. Those of us who come from Nigeria and are
unable to speak French will be surprised to see that most Benin
citizens can also interact with them in their own local dialects,
especially those who speak Yoruba, Egun and others. Those social bonds
still exist despite the so called international boundaries

Challenges of representing Nigeria in Benin

The challenges
before us are of consular nature and the way Nigerians are perceived
here. By consular nature, I mean the harassment of Nigerians even
despite the closeness I referred to earlier on. Many Nigerians have
taken advantage of the ECOWAS protocols on free movement of persons.
Nigerians are also very mobile, that is why they are found everywhere
in the continent.

Some of the
Nigerians we have here are doing extremely well and are quite
comfortable. They speak French and other local languages. This, of
course, have attracted enmity to them from their hosts. So, once in a
while, we come across pockets of problems arising from issues of envy
and so on. There is no doubt that Nigerians are easy targets
everywhere. If you go to other African countries, you may find that
things are not very different.

Nigerians are very
proud of their heritage anywhere they are and they demonstrate this .
For some people, this is pride but to the Nigerians, it is not. We have
what you call citizen diplomacy which teaches that people must protect
human rights at all times. We ensure that no Nigerian is detained
unnecessarily for minor crimes. Nigerians are quite happy here I must
tell you.

The type of
problems we have seen in other countries are not here and I think this
can be attributed to the long historical relationship which I spoke to
you about earlier which dates back to the period before the
Independence.

His thoughts on the behaviour of Nigerians

Nigerians are well
rated here. Several Nigerians have been commended by the government of
Benin Republic for their outstanding performances and contributions to
the country’s economy. There is a Nigerian who recently attracted the
visit of his state governor during his house warming. We have another
Nigerian who recently won multiple awards for his contributions to the
economy; a Reverend gentleman, Geoffrey Izemojo, who is the Managing
Director of Songhai Center of Excellence. He has been involved in the
training of Nigerians and other citizens of Benin Republic in
integrated farming, fishery, aquaculture, all kinds of animal breeding.
Any time the president here receives a very important visitor, he takes
the visitor to the Songhai Center of Excellence.

As we speak, I can
tell you that there is a struggle between Nigeria and Benin on who
should lay claim to the man. He is a pride to Africa. So many Africans
have benefited from his poverty elimination projects.

Areas of co-operation between the two countries

Since I assumed
office, we have had several areas of co-operation within the frame work
of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the
African Union (AU). We also have the Joint Nigerian/ Benin Commission
to promote trade in oil, gas, power gas turbines. We have facilitated
the coming of many Nigerians into Benin Republic to pursue legitimate
business. This has attracted the coming of financial institutions such
as the UBA, Diamond Bank and others.

Nigerian traders
are also doing well here. We have also been working very hard to manage
our border, which is well over 700 kilometers. We have to make sure
that we work to reduce smuggling. The heads of state of both countries
have also resolved that any dispute which may arise must be resolved
amicably rather than resort to external bodies for adjudications. We
have accepted the fact that we are brothers and this is the guiding
philosophy of all our actions.

The volume of trade between the two nations

You know that the
trade for now is largely informal and so it is very difficult to arrive
at an accurate figure. Recently, however, those who import rice into
Nigeria were told that they have to pay duties. This is to let the
Nigerian government derive some revenue from that. But by and large,
the trade between the two countries is largely informal. This is where
having a proper boundary has become very important. One of the reasons
why we cannot have accurate data for instance can be traceable to the
loose nature of our borders.

There is a plan now
to properly demarcate the border, where there will be more equity. And
it will also allow both countries to properly regulate the influx of
goods. We are working hard to ensure that this process comes into
fruition.

There will be more
sophisticated gadgets to monitor the borders and hopefully, this will
reduce smuggling and other cross border crimes.

The development of Nigeria since independence

Well, the fact is
that this country was once a country of great hope but, somewhere along
the line, we missed it. We did not sustain our development process. But
now we need a refocus of our capacity by emphasising education and I
think this is where the present president, Mr Jonathan is taking the
country. We need to give him a chance. I see the country being
refocused again and this process must be allowed to mature if Nigeria
is really interested in getting out of the present situation we find
ourselves in.

Preparation for the elections

I am sure that
given the current zeal shown by President Jonathan and other Nigerians,
we should be able to conduct free and fair elections. We must put those
who say we cannot conduct elections properly to shame. We have to do it.

Mr Jega is ready
and he is committed. It is not very difficult to do it. We have what it
takes to do it and we have to. For me, we have no other choice.

Permitting the Diaspora to take part in future elections

Yes they have been
agitating that they want to vote. But I do not think that may be
possible in the 2011 election because government is still trying to
work out the modalities, including the enabling laws. But it can be
done when all things are put in place. Nigerians in Benin can always
take advantage of their proximity to Nigeria to ensure that they take
time out and go back to the country and vote for now. We will sensitise
them to do that.