Ireland pledges to improve ties with Nigeria

On Monday, the Republic of Ireland pledged to use interpersonal interactions to strengthen and maintain its bilateral ties with Nigeria.

The Irish Embassy in Nigeria’s Deputy Head of Mission, Mr Shane Rice, made this commitment during a press conference to promote the Irish-Nigerian Partnership for Development and Growth Business Conference.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), top business executives and decision-makers are organising the conference, which is set to take place in Dublin from October 27 to October 29.

It attempts to improve the economic connections between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of Ireland.

The conference will be a hybrid occasion with international connections among attendees, particularly between Nigerian and Irish residents.

According to Rice, the goal of the next conference is to advance both countries’ economies through economic interactions.

We have been in Nigeria for a while, and this is our first embassy on the African continent. We intend to be here for a very long time and seek to strengthen the current relationships.

“And really to discover methods for us to strengthen each other’s cultures and to foster people-to-people relationships because when one partner prospers, everyone will prosper, and that is the essence of the meeting in Dublin.

Even after the investment conference that will take place in Dublin later this year, we truly look forward to continuing to support the conveners and forging new connections.

As a point of comparison, Irish people have long travelled to Nigeria to serve as nuns, teachers, and clergy. They travel here for education and to serve as priests. This will be evident during the upcoming conference, particularly with our colleagues joining us virtually.

“We will also see the contributions that Nigerians are making in Ireland as entrepreneurs, students, and healthcare professionals, among other occupations. Therefore, we will use this conference to evaluate it and determine how we might improve our collaboration.

The executive convener of INGA, Mrs. Edizemi Onilenla, who also spoke, went by the stage name Mamashee in Ireland, and stated that the three-day conference’s main objective was to bring together business leaders, industry leaders, and government organisations.

The conference, according to Onilenla, who is also the CEO of Mansions Foods, would give these experts the chance to start discussions about prospects for short-, medium-, and long-term trade and investment between Nigerians and Irish people.

“Areas like aviation, education, technology, agriculture, and resilient infrastructure will be discussed at the conference. It will reawaken the long-standing historical links that have existed between the two nations and enhance the standard of these ties.

The conference is a partnership engagement between the two nations, not a one-time event, and it is only one of many encounters we intended to achieve in the upcoming years.

We are grateful to the current Irish ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Peter Ryan, who is actively supporting this project and working to close the gap between the two nations by fostering an atmosphere that would allow both communities to prosper.

I humbly and gladly encourage corporate groups, CEOs, and parastatals as well as federal and state government ministries, departments, and agencies to participate in the conference.