Nigeria will only consider opening an embassy in the UAE once trade relations are formalized and certain imbalances are rectified, Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Almaji Sule Lamido said Sunday.
Lamido was part of a delegation headed by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo that made a short stop in Dubai on their way to Japan, reported the Gulf News.
Lamido spoke of the "very warm relations" it enjoys with the UAE, which "arise in part from human traffic and the huge volume of commerce between Nigeria and Dubai."
Nigerian Airlines, the country's national carrier, halted its twice-weekly flights to Dubai early this year citing "serious difficulties," said the minister.
Nevertheless, some 2,000 Nigerians come to Dubai every month, many of whom engage in informal business activity, he added.
"It has frankly been a kind of one-sided business - in textiles and other areas. And this trade has not been formalized. I think we must address this imbalance. There are a number of things that we can bring into this country from Nigeria, for instance skins, hides and mangoes, if this imbalance is properly corrected," he said.
"We want to expand our missions, but for the moment we feel that our embassy in Kuwait is covering the area very, very well. Once we move into formal business, then we can look at opening a consulate here so as to improve the relations between our two countries," he added, according to the Gulf News – Albawaba.com
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