Ahead of the forthcoming Nigeria-Brazil Strategic Dialogue Mechanism, Vice President Kashim Shettima on Tuesday said Nigeria is now on a new growth trajectory, ready for investments across different sectors due to President Bola Tinubu’s bold, courageous leadership and well-thought-out policies.
This is just as Brazil’s Vice President, Geraldo Alckmin, is set to lead a delegation of top executives in the country’s public and private sectors on a state visit to Nigeria for the second session of the Brazil-Nigeria Mechanism for Strategic Dialogue, after over a decade-long break.
Equally, the wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu on Tuesday, commended the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun and others saddled with the responsibility of managing the nation’s economy. According to Mrs. Tinubu, the economic management team have been doing a lot to stabilise the economy.
Speaking during an update meeting with relevant ministers and heads of agencies at the State House, Abuja, the vice president noted that, “in President Bola Tinubu, we have a leader who has shown that dexterity, that audacity to hope for a better tomorrow.”
Shettima expressed satisfaction with the firm grasp of the real issues by ministers in the key sectors targeted for deliberations during the Nigeria-Brazil Strategic Dialogue Mechanism slated for the later part of the year.
He called on all the key actors on the Nigerian side to make adequate preparations for the meeting, noting that there has to be some clarity, strategic coherence and a deep understanding of issues that would be tabled for discussion.
His words: “I want to urge all Ministers involved in this Nigeria-Brazil strategic dialogue to take charge of the initiative of the discussions so that we can take it to the next level, let’s walk the talk.
“Please, drive the process, engage with the different strategic focus groups to give you weekly updates to prepare us for the visit of the Brazilian Vice President and his delegation.
“The most important thing at this moment is for us to actualise the dreams of our nation’s development. We have the resources and institutional knowledge to make this work for our country.”
On the similarities between Nigeria and Brazil, the Vice President stressed the need to leverage the huge opportunities inherent in the partnership between both countries to actualise Nigeria’s vision across agriculture, culture and tourism, livestock production and military technology, among others.
Earlier in his speech, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, said the dialogue presents a renewed opportunity for Nigeria to revitalise the nation’s agricultural sector to attain the food sovereign goals of the administration.
“On behalf of the agriculture sector, it is time for us to walk the talk. It is a good day for Nigeria because agriculture will play a major role in the partnership.
“We have an opportunity to catch up with the rest of the world and be on our way to food sovereignty,” the Minister said.
On her part, Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa spoke on the cultural significance of the partnership, saying, “There is a huge population in Brazil of Nigerian descent who have a lot of interest in Nigeria.
“What we have done in the Ministry is to engage Brazil actively in working together. Already, we have an MoU, but we want to expand that beyond cultural diplomacy. Brazilians have a lot of interest in tapping into our creative industry,” she added.
The Minister hinted at plans to rebuild the Nigerian House in Brazil as well as host an annual Orisha Festival soon.
On defence cooperation, Minister of Defence, Muhammad Badaru, disclosed that: “All is set for signing of a defence agreement with Brazil. We are also engaging with them on defence industry development to start production centres in Nigeria.”
Also speaking, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Mohammed Ali Pate, highlighted healthcare opportunities that dialogue presents to Nigeria, noting that the platform was an important relationship for Nigeria.
According to him: “Brazil is able to produce almost everything they need, including pharmaceuticals and vaccines. We are keen on turning things around and with the efforts of President Bola Tinubu, we are unlocking the healthcare value chain.
“Manufacturing vaccines, diagnostics and pharmaceuticals is on the agenda, but it’s a very long journey and we are determined to walk through it.”
Also, the Technical Assistant to the President on Agriculture (Office of the Vice President), Ms. Marion Moon, said, “Brazil’s agricultural expertise—from their successful cropland expansion to their global leadership in key commodities—offers invaluable insights for our development. The upcoming $1.1 billion Green Imperative Project exemplifies the depth of our relationship and its potential to revolutionise Nigerian agriculture through modernisation and technology transfer.”
She explained that the strategic dialogue would be preceded by a Trade and Investment Forum coinciding with the anticipated visit of Brazil’s Vice President and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services, H.E. Geraldo Alckmin.
Others who spoke at the meeting included the Minister of Livestock Development, Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiha, and a representative of the Minister of State for the Environment, Balarabe Lawal, among many others.
First Lady Lauds FG’s Efforts to Stabilise Economy
Meanwhile, the wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu has commended Mr. Wale Edun and others saddled with the responsibility of managing the nation’s economy.
She gave the commendation during a courtesy visit to her office at the State House, Abuja by the Minister and the management of the Ministry.
The team was in her office to inform her about the forthcoming 32nd Annual General Meeting of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) which will be held between 23rd and 27th of June this year.
Mrs. Tinubu stated that the Finance Minister and others in his team needed to be praised for the yeoman job they were doing to ensure that Nigeria’s economy was on strong footing.
The First Lady, who expressed readiness in hosting the spouses of Heads of Governments of African and other Countries who would be attending the meeting, noted that this would be another opportunity to showcase the best of Nigeria.
“This is one of the ways that God has just been blessing us in this administration with the quality of the people that are running the affairs of the country.”
Earlier in his speech, Edun reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to stabilising the nation’s economy with manufacturing and export becoming more competitive with others globally.
He emphasised Nigeria’s strong partnership with Afreximbank and its commitment to fostering trade and economic growth for Africa and beyond.
Edun pointed out that the federal government and Afreximbank’s annual general meeting was one of the most anticipated gatherings on the African continent, featuring high-level policy discussions, presentations, and side events on issues pertinent to the socio-economic development of Africa as well as business networking sessions that drive integration through trade and investments.
According to him: “What we refer to was the competitiveness of the Nigerian economy, bold and courageous under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu over the last 20 months, Afreximbank has been reformed, it has been changed and it has been improved.
“We have a situation now where we have inflation stabilising, food prices crashing down, petroleum prices coming down, among other improvements in the economy.
“While we still have relatively high inflation, there is focus on helping people with their cost of living, and those reductions in major prices that affect the land, particularly encouraging and heartwarming for Mr President.”
Edun, who specifically talked about the inflation stabilising, explained: “With regards to the comment on Chatham House about the competitiveness of the Nigeria economy, it is there when you see the foreign exchange reforms and improvement, one of the things that, that does is that it makes Nigeria grow.
“The Nigerian manufactured exports will be more competitive either in the pharmaceutical; health products, beauty products, textiles and agriculture, it makes them competitive to neighbours especially West Africa and the whole of Africa,” the Finance Minister further said.
