Jamaica and Nigeria strengthening ties

Nigerian high commissioner to Jamaica, Ambassador Dr Maureen Tamuno, has been in office for just over six months, and she has been very busy forging links and creating opportunities between both countries. Recently, she made a courtesy call on Prime Andrew Holness, because she said, “You cannot be the head of a mission from a country like Nigeria, and not go to see the head of a government like Jamaica.”

Such courtesy calls are normal, she said. In this case, she said the visit was “receptive and dynamic”. She wanted the prime minister to know that she is around, to thank him for the courtesy that was extended to her ministers in 2020 when a direct flight from Nigeria arrived in Jamaica, and to tell him that there is the need for such high-level visits to take place between her president and him.

“Because at that level, government to government, things are settled on time,” she said. The visit was also to express the need to strengthen bilateral and multilateral relations. The focus will be on investment, trade, transport and the transference of culture, and to support each other at parleys such as at the International Seabed Authority, and Commonwealth and United Nations levels.

In a previous conversation with The Gleaner, Tamuno said more people would be coming to Jamaica. Now, she is saying, “It has started already”.

CULTURAL LINK

Quite a lot has been going on, but the COVID-19 factor is causing much delay, such as the manifestation of a Joint Jamaica/Nigeria Commission. It will now take place in Abuja, Nigeria, from February 22-24. A memorandum of understanding will be signed. They are going to look at certain bilateral agreements/relations, such as the bilateral air agreement for flight to both countries. It will not be just chartered. “Any airline that meets what is put in place is free to fly. This looks green,” Tamuno asserted.

Culturally, they want a link between Nollywood (Nigerian film industry) and Jollywood (Jamaican film industry) in which Nollywood people would help Jamaicans sharpen their acting skills. This would be easy since they are from the same people racially. There is also the hope that there could be some Jamaican housemates in a television reality show in Nigeria.

And within the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nigerian High Commission was instrumental in training 30 Jamaican young women to make necklaces, such as the one she was wearing during a recent exclusive interview. Three of the participants were selected to train other Jamaicans. Others were taught to make headwraps, and to do tie-and dye/batik art (dying and printing of cloth) by Nigerian Culture Diplomat Alao Luqman, who has been offering such training for just over four years. “We want to transfer that knowledge,” the ambassador stated.

Tamuno, who holds a doctorate in marketing, with a speciality in consumer behaviour, is also Nigeria’s highest representative to the Dominican Republic, Belize and Haiti, and its permanent representative to the International Seabed Authority. She has worked in the private and public sectors in Nigeria for over 13 years and has served as a board member of the Private Sector Organization of Nigeria. She was also community chairman on education and a member of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency from 2005 to 2007.