WELCOME REMARKS BY H.E. DR. (MRS.) NIMOTA AKANBI, AMBASSADOR OF THE FEDERAL

 REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA TO  THE ROYAL KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS ON THE OCCASION

OF THE VISIT OF THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION

PROF. DORA AKUNYILI

Your Excellency,

Distinguished Ladies and Gentle

         It is my honour and privilege to welcome our August visitor in May, Her Excellency Prof. Dora Nkem Akunyili the Honourable, indefatigable and visionary Minister of information and Communication to the Netherlands. Your Excellency, Nigerian Community in the Netherlands is also very delighted to have you in their midst today.

2.      In a generation where there is a thirst for good leadership, your appearance first as NAFDAC Director-General then as the Minister of Information and Communication at the corridors of power was very refreshing and welcoming. You are not only a role model for this generation but also for the next generation. Your achievements and contributions to sustainable development in Nigeria as well as your various international recognition and awards since you appeared on the scene precede you.

3.      As NAFDAC Director-General, you tackled the daunting and risky challenge of breaking the evil cartel of fake drugs and beverages in the pharmaceutical and food Industry in Nigeria and bringing sanity to the industry. Your quest and eventual success in destroying the operators of illegal and ramshackle unhygienic make shift hospitals and medical centers even in the famous Ariaria market in Onitsha are memorable.

4.      Your Excellency, unrelenting like the Amazon you are, you began the courageous project of rebranding Nigeria at a time when most Nigerians and indeed the International Community were disillusioned and cynical about our country. Permit me to say that the rebranding project is coming at an opportune time when Nigerians are unjustly stereotyped as criminals and fraudsters. It is pertinent to note that though we as Nigerians have our shortcomings and off course there are no excuses for criminality, however this is not peculiar to the Nigerian society alone but to all societies of the world. On this note I would like to  thank you specially for this project and hope that it will achieve its goal of repositioning Nigeria positively among the International Community in order for us to hold our heads high as proud Nigerian as was the case in the early days. I enjoin all Nigerians present to see the rebranding project as a renaissance, a rebirth of who we are and what we really are; a great nation populated by               good people.

5.      Your Excellency, permit me to also intimate you on our activities in the Netherlands, in my almost two years as the Ambassador of our dear Country Nigeria to this wonderful land of the Netherlands. We have and continue to strengthen relations between both countries particularly in the area of trade and investment. At the representational level we have always met our commitment financial or otherwise to all international organizations present in the Netherlands.  Though the demands for consular services have increased and despite certain challenges we have tried to satisfy Nigerians to the best of our ability. In late 2008 and early 2009, we assisted many illegal Nigerians to secure their resident permit during the pardon given by the Dutch Government to all illegal aliens in the Netherlands since 2001.

6.      Your Excellency, there are about 25, 000 Nigerians living in the Netherlands responsible and hardworking as clergymen, in International Organizations such as the International criminal Courts, the Organization for the prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the Common Funds for Commodity and Shell as well as in legitimate businesses and as students in various Dutch educational Institutions.

7.      Your Excellency, I extol your virtues as a highly intelligent, dedicated, courageous and versatile administrator. You are also a woman of substance and of great talent, a worthy daughter of our dear country. Nigeria and Nigerians are proud of your achievements and appreciate your contributions. As a woman I am proud of you. You are a symbol of hope to the Nigerian woman that one can be an achiever as well as a loving wife, mother and grandmother. You have also taken an enviable place in the history of our country and indeed in the world.

8.      Your Excellency, I know you have had a very tedious week. Therefore I invite you to relax and enjoy this dinner as we take you back to Nigeria through the delicious cuisine of our dear people. Welcome and God bless you. God bless Nigeria. God bless the Netherlands.

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