Nigeria and Brazil are considering the possibility of establishing direct flight operations between their respective financial capitals of Lagos and São Paulo, respectively.
Both countries also reaffirmed their commitment to deepening bilateral relations mainly to increase the volume of trade and cooperation across solid mineral exploration, healthcare and agriculture.
This followed discussions between Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on the sidelines of the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Sunday.
They also agreed to work out the modalities for President Tinubu’s state visit to Brazil following an invitation from Lula da Silva.
Nigeria and Brazil began diplomatic relations in the 1960s and have since collaborated in agriculture, education, energy and trade.
As the largest economies in their various continents (Africa and South America) both nations have also worked together within the framework of the South-South cooperation, even as their past leaders such as Umaru Yar’Adua (2009) and Goodluck Jonathan (2012, 2018) and President Dilma Rousseff (2013) have visited each other over the years.
At Sunday’s meeting, both leaders sought to fan the embers of over six decades of relations since the trade volume between the countries plummeted by a whopping 84 per cent.
Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed details of the meeting in a statement he signed Sunday titled ‘President Tinubu and President Lula Da Silva meet as both nations seek stronger ties across sectors.’
“The economic potential of Nigeria is enormous. We are ready to break all the walls standing in our way to progress,” Tinubu told Lula da Silva, saying his country is witnessing a leap forward, despite some short-term reform pains, as his government improves ease of doing business.
President Tinubu emphasised that his administration is investing in critical sectors of the economy, such as healthcare, education and agriculture, to ensure the welfare of all Nigerians and to create sustainable economic prosperity for future generations.
“We have a very vibrant population of young Nigerians who are trainable, dependable, and should be empowered.
“We are ready to fight corruption from top to bottom. We are ready to invest in critical sectors like healthcare, agriculture, education, infrastructure, and others. I have one of the most dedicated teams in agriculture,” he said.
Assessing Nigeria’s natural and human resource wealth akin to Brazil’s, President Lula da Silva said the two countries have a long and interesting history together.
He noted that Nigeria and Brazil once had a trading volume of more than $10bn in the past, which has now plummeted to $1.6bn, emphasising that he is determined to strengthen bilateral relations.
“I am back to try to restore, to reclaim our good relations with Nigeria. I cannot imagine that a country of 216 million people and another of 213 million people do not have strong relations.
“Mr. President, I am 78 years old. You are 71. What keeps me energetic is that I fight for a cause—the cause of my nation and people. A great cause is the elixir of sustained vitality for experienced leaders.
“Nigeria and Brazil need stronger relations from the academic viewpoint, from the cultural viewpoint, from the commercial viewpoint, from the agricultural viewpoint, from the industrial relations viewpoint, and trade relations viewpoint,” he explained.
Lula da Silva lamented the absence of direct flights from Lagos to Sao Paulo and vice versa, saying, “It is meaningless…I cannot understand that.”
“We have to sit at a table and find a solution for that. In aviation, there are many areas of potential collaboration with our manufacturers, who seek to have a greater presence in Africa.
“I only have three more years left of my term, Your Excellency, to do everything I have not done yet.
“The time is very short. I am in a hurry to make my contributions to improve these relations with Nigeria. To make this happen, we have to put our ministers to work,” he affirmed.
Responding, President Tinubu said Nigeria was ready to deepen ties with Brazil, noting that it is a “legacy of what can be done together to change the future for countless millions of our citizens.”
“We are stopping at nothing to remove all encumbrances to business. Red tape is being shredded around us. There is nothing we will not do to manifest the great potential of our nation.
We are fighting corruption from the bottom to the top. We will prevent it, and we will remediate it. We are very aware of your progressive legacies of social security provision, infrastructure, and reforms in Petrobras.
“We are in the process of implementing similar reforms in the NNPCL. We are focusing on investment in new production and new energy sources. We are investing in research, and we are removing obstacles to further partnerships in all areas of operation. There is opportunity for both companies in partnership,” the President noted.
