Dr. Nimota Nihinlola Akanbi, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Netherlands, told CHUKWUMA MUANYA at The Hague that Nigeria would be the centre of attraction to the whole world in the next 15 years, because of its enormous potentials, especially oil and gas.
WHAT kind of relationship do Nigeria and Nigerians have with the people of Netherlands? What kinds of skills from Nigeria are in demand here and what kind of report do you get from the government here regarding Nigerians living here?
We have different levels of Nigerians living here. We have so many Nigerian working at international organisations, including Shell, the International Criminal Court (ICC), Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Common Front For Commodity, etc.
We also have Nigerians in the private sector here.
As an ambassador, you are the mother of documented and undocumented people. For the undocumented, I make sure that even when they are being deported, they are allowed to go home and pick their luggage. They may not want to go home because they have nothing to show for it if they are picked on the street and thrown into the flight back to Nigeria. You have to give them everything they have in their house before you can move them home.
Fortunately, I have been able to do that. Before anybody goes home, either voluntarily or involuntarily, they will go with their luggage.
I visited prisons and detentions and insisted that they must be given some training, let them do something, so that as you are dropping them and taking them home, they will be able to sit down and start practising that skill and may be master it.
So, the relationship has been so cordial. We are trying to develop the existing relationship that started over 100 years ago. We have some Dutch companies such as Lever Brothers, KLM Royal Dutch Airline, Shell, Heineken, etc being very big in Nigeria.
So, we have so many Dutch companies in Nigeria and we have good relationship with our host country and it is developing rapidly.
Is the Nigerian House here open to Nigerians who come into this country to get registered and supported?
Yes, it is on our website and you can even go there to see it. As soon as you come in, you register through the website and we take note that you are here.
Our door is open 24 hours a day and seven days of the week for Nigerians to come and tell us what problems they are having and we are ready to assist them.
How many Nigerians are here in The Netherlands?
We have about 20,000 Nigerians, documented and undocumented.
How about those serving terms in prisons or in detention?
We have them, but we do not have the accurate statistics, because our host country is usually reluctant to give us the actual data of Nigerians in its prisons.
What is the conduct of Nigerians here like? Are some of them engaged in illegal activities or having issues with the authorities?
Since I came on board, I have not been sleeping with my two eyes closed, because they could call me at night to come and pick the body of a Nigerian unconscious in the plane and by the time you get there and the person is rushed to the hospital, about 70 grammes of cocaine may be brought out of his stomach.
Some will die and some will survive before we send them back to Nigeria.
But as a teacher, part of my job has always been guidance and counseling. So, I do go to communities here to counsel them that it is possible for them to make it in Nigeria and it must not a matter of do or die.
If you are here illegally, you cannot do anything. You cannot even go to the hospital, you cannot do any work and you would not allow them (authorities) to see you, because if they do, they will put you in jail.
By the time you know it, they continue hiding and are jobless. When you ask them when they arrived here, they will tell you ‘some 15 years ago.’ You ask what they have been doing since then, they will say ‘nothing.’
They don’t want to show their faces in Nigeria, because they have wasted the prime part of their lives.
So, it has really been teaching, guidance and counseling that is actually helping our people and some of them are now good citizens.
Some decided to go home voluntarily and if they decided to do so, some cash is given to them at the airport to start a new life.
Those people here are people that want to be here. The rate of crime I met here was about 70 per cent, but it has reduced to about 15 per cent.
So, we are good citizens of Nigeria here.
What is your advice to Nigerians seeking greener pastures here?
They should try and stay in Nigeria and find something good to do. They should not come here to waste their time, because if they are here illegally, they will not get any job and there is no Euro under the tree.
I won’t advice any Nigerian to come here and go to jail.
But there are Nigerian professionals here, as well as opportunities for others?
Yes, there are lots of opportunities if the come in legally. There are big-time farmers here they can partner to become big farmers themselves.
In fact, they can come and find investors that could even turn them into millionaires if they are here genuinely.
They should make sure they have their visa and if it expires, they could return home to renew it and come back, if they like.
There are so many windows open here for genuine businesses.
Does the embassy help galvanise business opportunities for those coming here, especially through the Nigerian Netherlands Chamber of Commerce?
Two months after I came on board, I took Dutch investors to Nigeria. As soon as I came back, I organised business and investment forum for governors, ministers, companies, middle-level businesses and multinational companies to come and meet partners here, having already taken them to Nigeria.
About nine governors attended and ministers came and met their counterparts here.
Some companies also met their partners and signed deals and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). There are so many Nigerian companies here and vice versa.
Between June 4 and 7, this year, we would be having another forum in collaboration with Nigeria-Netherlands Chamber of Commerce and Netherlands-African Business Council.
Seven governors have confirmed their attendance and the minister of Trade and Investment will be coming to give the keynote address.
Some other ministers have indicated interest to attend, while the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) sent list of about 100 members that are coming. Same with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and individual companies that do not belong to any society.
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