The European Union Head of Delegation to Nigeria, Gautier Mignot, Monday said it has been his long time ambition to work in Nigeria.
Guillaume, who only last week submitted his letter of credence to President Bola Tinubu said he started dreaming of working in Nigeria during his first visit to the country ten years ago.
The former EU ambassador to Mexico spoke in Abuja during a media parley with Diplomatic Correspondents.
The envoy who also doubles as Head of Delegation to ECOWAS said: “I came here to Nigeria 10 years ago on a one-week mission to Abuja and Lagos, and I found it to be a fascinating country. I always thought how great it would be to come and work here in this country one day and this dream finally has come true.
“ So I’m very happy with that. I arrived here in Nigeria at the beginning of September, taking over from Ambassador Samuel Aissopi.I know you knew her very well. She was a very active ambassador. And again, I’m extremely happy to be here in Nigeria, the number one nation in Africa and a key player in the world.
“I already had the opportunity to discover some parts of the country, apart from the Federal capital, Lagos of course, but also the city, Calabar, and more recently Borno and the Adamawa states. And also, I discovered a bit of the Nigerian tribal culture, since the Calabar carnival last year.”
Speaking on his mission Mignot said is to improve EU-Nigeria partnership, to positively impact on the people.
He stressed that the EU remains a constant and faithful and trusted partner that Nigeria can count on.
The envoy said his mission is to “bring the EU-Nigeria partnership to a higher level, with one goal: positively impact the Nigerian population. As I told the President, in uncertain times and in a fast-evolving, you need a constant and faithful partner on whom you know you can count: the EU is one for Nigeria.
“In turn we see Nigeria as a key partner and a major player in Africa and the world. New leaders are very much interested in Nigeria.
He also spoke about new initiatives that the EU wants to exploit in Nigeria, which include a better structured economic relation and dialogue to address and remove the issues that hamper more investment and trade.
He stressed that currently no agreement or dialogue framework between EU and Nigeria.
He however said the EU , through the Global Gateway investment agenda, will be focusing more on creating jobs and opportunities, especially for young people in Nigeria, building on Nigeria’s great sense of entrepreneurship, sectors like green economy, digital, agri-food and health: this is actually already an ongoing work.”
He also added that special attention would be paid to the North of the country where there are specific needs.
