• Envoy plans Dangote Refinery tour for Mexican officers
• Seeks stronger commerce ties, as Akpabio pledges legislative help
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United Mexican States, Reno Omokri, has unveiled plans to deepen financial relations between Nigeria and Mexico by way of elevated export of refined petroleum merchandise and urea fertiliser, because the federal authorities seeks to increase the nation’s non-crude export earnings.
Omokri spoke after a gathering with President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, on the National Assembly in Abuja on Wednesday.
He stated preparations have been already underway for Mexican officers to go to Dangote Petroleum Refinery to discover alternatives for bilateral cooperation.
The ambassador stated Nigeria should transfer past exporting uncooked supplies to producing and exporting completed items, stressing that the nation has the capability to develop into a significant provider of commercial merchandise to Mexico.
He disclosed that Nigeria was already exporting urea fertiliser to Mexico however maintained that the quantity remained comparatively small in contrast with the nation’s potential.
Omokri stated, “What President Bola Ahmed Tinubu needs to do is to make sure that the merchandise popping out of Nigeria are refined. We don’t simply need to be a useful resource nation.
“We want to be a productive country, a country that manufactures what it consumes and also exports.”
He added that Nigeria might strengthen its place within the Mexican market by supplying urea fertiliser at aggressive costs, notably as some current suppliers function in areas affected by insecurity and armed conflicts.
He stated, “We are already exporting urea fertiliser to Mexico. Lots of people have no idea that. But the factor is, we’re actually doing little or no.
“We are in a better position to supply urea fertiliser at an affordable rate to Mexico.”
The envoy said that relative stability within the Gulf of Guinea might additionally strengthen Nigeria’s prospects as a reliable provider of commercial and petroleum merchandise to the Mexican market.
According to him, the area has loved greater than twenty years of uninterrupted peace, offering an vital benefit for maritime commerce and the motion of products.
Omokri disclosed that he had toured the Dangote refinery and held discussions with its proprietor, Aliko Dangote, on doable areas of cooperation between the Nigerian industrial facility and Mexican companies.
“There is already an invitation for the Mexicans to visit the refinery for a tour,” he stated, indicating that the proposed go to might present a chance to discover industrial relationships between the 2 nations.
The ambassador’s remarks got here because the senate management pledged to help efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s worldwide financial relations by way of legislative diplomacy and nearer cooperation with overseas legislatures.
Akpabio, who acquired Omokri alongside Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin; the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele; and different members of the management, congratulated the ambassador on his appointment and wished him success in his diplomatic project.
He counseled Tinubu for appointing Omokri and stated Senate had facilitated his affirmation within the curiosity of executive-legislative cooperation and Nigeria’s worldwide standing.
Akpabio said, “Let me congratulate my brother, His Excellency, Reno Omokri, Ambassador-designate to the Republic of Mexico. We want to wish you well and thank President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for standing by you.”
The senate president described Tinubu as a frontrunner dedicated to nationwide unity and able to figuring out individuals with the expertise and {qualifications} required for public service.
He stated, “This president does not harbour hatred. This president loves all Nigerians, and particularly has a knack for fishing out the square pegs for the square holes.”
Akpabio stated the senate was impressed by Omokri’s credentials when the president submitted his nomination and, subsequently, ensured that the affirmation course of was accomplished promptly.
He stated, “When you have been introduced by him as his alternative for the ambassadorial seat, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was actually impressed together with your résumé.
“We additionally imagine strongly in executive-parliamentary cooperation for the sake of Nigeria and for the promotion of Nigeria.
“So we were able to clear you timeously, and today you have your letters of appointment and you are on your way to resume.”
The senate president urged the ambassador to make financial diplomacy a central function of his project, stressing that Nigeria’s diplomatic missions should ship tangible advantages to the nation reasonably than focus solely on typical political relations.
“As you have said, we are now on what we call economic diplomacy, for the purpose of making sure that you bring economic benefits to your country through this appointment,” Akpabio stated.
He additionally disclosed that the National Assembly was contemplating legislative diplomacy as one other avenue for strengthening Nigeria’s worldwide partnerships.
Akpabio stated the senate management would think about visiting Mexico to determine a Nigerian-Mexican parliamentary friendship group that might promote legislative exchanges, deepen bilateral relations, and help the ambassador’s efforts.
He defined, “We are additionally almost certainly going to go to you in Mexico and begin a Mexican-Nigerian parliamentary friendship group with a purpose to make your job simpler and be part of you in selling Nigeria.
“We want to bring the two countries together in terms of cooperation, exchange of ideas and the making of laws for the good governance of our country.”
The proposed parliamentary initiative, in accordance with Akpabio, would complement diplomatic engagements by offering a platform for lawmakers from each nations to change concepts and discover areas of mutual curiosity.
He additionally counseled the federal authorities’s efforts to enhance maritime safety within the Gulf of Guinea, stating that secure transport routes are important to the motion of Nigerian merchandise to worldwide markets.
Akpabio stated the nation’s maritime safety and increasing home refining capability might reinforce one another within the drive to enhance exports and generate overseas change.
The senate president praised the Dangote refinery, describing it as a significant Nigerian industrial funding that has attracted worldwide consideration.
He stated the National Assembly had supported measures meant to maintain the refinery’s operations and strengthen the home refining trade.
According to him, the legislature’s engagement with the ability helped the introduction of the naira-for-crude association, designed to facilitate entry to crude oil for home refiners and cut back their publicity to the difficulties related to sourcing overseas change.
Akpabio stated the federal authorities was additionally dedicated to growing crude oil manufacturing to make sure that native refineries might receive ample feedstock whereas Nigeria continued to earn overseas change from exports.
He urged Omokri to make use of his diplomatic place to advance Nigeria’s financial, political and industrial pursuits in Mexico.
“Go there and be a good ambassador economically, politically and otherwise. I assure you that God will help you,” he stated.
Omokri, in his remarks through the assembly, expressed appreciation to the senate management for confirming his appointment and acknowledged the contributions of Akpabio, Bamidele, Barau, and different lawmakers to the promotion of Nigeria’s pursuits.
The proposed engagement with Mexico varieties a part of the broader effort to strengthen Nigeria’s financial diplomacy by figuring out export markets, attracting funding, and increasing industrial relationships past conventional diplomatic exchanges.
For Nigeria, the deliberate refinery go to and the present fertiliser commerce provide potential avenues for increasing exports of value-added merchandise, though the dimensions of future transactions will rely on industrial negotiations, demand, and the competitiveness of Nigerian provides.
