Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago to Nigeria Wendell De Landro has announced that the country is ready to broaden its trade with Nigeria.
Mr. De Landro made this announcement on Monday in Abuja at the commemoration of the 60th independence anniversary of Trinidad and Tobago.
According to the ambassador, Trinidad and Tobago and Nigeria are alike in rich culture and natural resources which can be properly explored for mutual benefits. De Landro however lamented the increasing decline in trade relations between the two countries.
“Culture is one. Another thing is that we have our gas development. I know for a fact that there is gas flaring in Nigeria and that is a sacrilege to me. And that is why I came in 2018, I spoke to Nigeria Cas Association about it, to show Nigeria what we can do about it,” the ambassador explained.
Wendell further added, “Right now, Nigeria is flaring probably half to three-quarters of an LNG train…Nigeria has six trains and is working on the seventh. We (Trinidad and Tobago) have four. We are using our gas, our LNG and we sell. Nigeria is doing that but they can do much more by harnessing the flared gas.
“We were exporting bitumen to Nigeria. What we are doing now is to get agricultural produce. We have small yams, but in Nigeria, you have yams as big as my legs. I tell people that the sweetest pineapples I have eaten are in Nigeria.
“In Jos, you have tomatoes. We make ketchup in Trinidad. We can get tomatoes from Jos to export,” Wendell added.
Tunde Mustapha, a director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who was representing the Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyema, praised Trinidad and Tobago for their economic achievements so far.
Tunde said Nigeria was committed to strengthening its relations with Trinidad and Tobago.
“Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago share very warm and cordial relations dating back to the time of independence and our two countries have been able to solidify these cultural affinities over time,” the director said.
Tunde also mentioned that Trinidad and Tobago was rated by the World Bank as a high–income country with the highest capital income in the region, after the United States and Canada.
“Nigeria is committed to strengthening the ties and bonds with Trinidad and Tobago and there are many areas for cooperation in the economic sphere that need to be explored as both countries are oil-producing nations,” he explained.
