several mutually beneficial areas. Speaking during the Nigeria-Jamaica Joint Commission in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja, Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama noted that several sectors, including trade, energy, education and cultural cooperation will be its main focus in its relations with the Caribbean nation.
“It has been far too long for a very important part of the globe for us–the Caribbean–that we’ve gone too far apart. So, we really want to bring a big push to all the various levels–technical and people-to-people is very important,” the minister said, comparing the people of Nigeria and Jamaica to “brothers and sisters”. “They are kith and kin and that’s how our policy towards Jamaica and other countries of the Caribbean is founded on that basis of kinship,” Onyeama noted.
The Nigerian Foreign Minister went on to recall the joint interest of Abuja and Kingston to develop direct people-to-people connectivity between the two countries. “So, a couple of years ago, we pushed very much for a first direct flight between Nigeria and Jamaica so that Nigerians can go to Jamaica and Jamaicans can come to Nigeria without having to go through Europe or the United States,” he explained.
According to Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kamina Johnson Smith, this was a small step in the right direction, as the Caribbean island looks forward to cooperating with Nigeria in several areas, including trade, mining, oil and gas and agriculture.
“This occasion, of course, marks the very first time that the meeting of this joint commission is taking place on the continent in Nigeria,” she said. “Since its establishment over 30 years ago, this joint commission has been a viable and important medium for us to exchange views on issues of mutual interest.”
