If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.
Barack Obama

IndoNigeria Connect is a serious endeavour to unveil a new vision of strategic partnership between India and Nigeria. Both the nations are approaching the fiftieth year of the establishment of their diplomatic relations. It’s an effort to highlight and bring improvements in their relationship. We wish to highlight the recent developments taking place between the countries and what are they doing to further strengthen their ties. There is a dire need for both the nations to stand ever more united to meet the challenges of the new millennium.

We here at IndoNigeria Connect want the world to embrace the fact that there is a natural logic in ties between these two fast growing economies. India and Nigeria have cordial and friendly relations, marked by mutual respect and understanding. There are no contentious issues between the two. India is the largest democracy in the world. Nigeria is the largest democracy in Africa. Both are multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual societies. Their societies embrace modernity while preserving their traditions. Both share common perspectives on international political, social and development issues and these have manifested in various meetings at UN, WTO.

IndoNigeria Connect aims to do whatever it can to bring upon significant improvements in the relationship between these two countries and take them to all new levels of development. The task of making life mean more for the people lies in co-operation among countries. With Nigeria being rich in natural resources and India striding ahead in terms of technological know how, there are emerging opportunities of collaboration between the nations.

The success of diverse democracies like Nigeria and India is important. It will prove that democracy and development go hand in hand. IndoNigeria Connect is a platform for sharing information and better understanding about the present relations between the two nations and to propagate and build long-term sustainable economic relations.

The major challenge before these two developing nations is the socio-economic development of their people. The information revolution and higher levels of literacy have raised popular expectations. Disparities are leading to social tensions. Economic growth has to be accompanied by a better distribution of its benefits. India has a plethora of opportunities to become a major exporter of agricultural commodities to Nigeria where agriculture contributes to 7% of the GDP.

India and Nigeria have regularly exchanged visits at governmental and commercial levels to strengthen bilateral economic and commercial relations. India and Nigeria have had fruitful relationship in economic terms for several decades and the Indian PM’s visit during Oct 2007 opened new vistas for co-operation between the two countries.

Several memoranda of understanding which the two countries signed during the visit of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India in Oct 2007 point to a desire to raise multi-level relations between them. These include agreements on the Foreign Service Institute of India and its equivalent Nigerian Foreign Service Academy; on the Indian Council for World Affairs and the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs; and on protocol for foreign office consultation as well as a defense co-operation agreement. Other key agreements like Trade Agreement, DTAA, BIPPA, S&T, ICT cooperation, MLAT etc are expected to be signed within the next six months..

Both countries have agreed to work on yet more areas of agreement, to come into effect in a short span of time. They include double taxation avoidance, bilateral investment promotion, a renewal of old bilateral air services agreement, as well as agreements on legal assistance and extradiction treaties, co-operation against trafficking in drugs, and on a cultural exchange programme.

The two fast developing countries can promote transfer of technologies in key areas of the knowledge economy like information technology and biotechnology. Small and medium scale industry can play a key role too.

With India hosting the next India-Africa summit in Delhi this month, ground for a common destiny is clear. India needs to establish a sustained dialogue with Nigeria to identify joint approaches on international issues such as combating terrorism, nuclear disarmament, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, trafficking of small arms and narcotics. Theses two nations sharing a common future hope to work together in the areas of peacekeeping and peace building to bring their relationship to full bloom.

With a new focus on India’s approach towards Africa in general and Nigeria in particular, one can hope for a new and very important beginning in the coming time.

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