Nigeria is not only the giant of Africa …, Israel Ambassador tells Ambode

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (middle);
Ambassador of Israel to Nigeria, Mr. Guy Feldman (2nd
left); Senior Economic Officer, Embassy of Israel, Mrs.
Florence Osuji (left); Managing Director/CEO, EMI
System Limited, Mr. Mesika Eyal (2nd right) and Special
Adviser, Office of Overseas Affairs & Investment (Lagos
Global), Prof. Ademola Abass (right) during the
Ambassador’s courtesy visit to the Governor at the
Lagos House, Ikeja, on Monday, April 3, 2017.
Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Monday
expressed the readiness of the State Government to tap
into the agricultural expertise and technological
advancement of Israel for the greater benefit of the
State.
This came as the Ambassador of State of Israel to
Nigeria, Mr Guy Feldman said that ”Nigeria is not only
the giant of Africa and whatever people might think,
Africa is on the verge of huge success globally and
looking at Nigeria’
Governor Ambode, who stated this when he received the
Ambassador of State of Israel to Nigeria, Mr Guy
Feldman at Lagos House, Ikeja on courtesy visit, said it
was time for Nigeria and Israel to take full advantage of
their long-standing cordial relationship especially by
laying greater emphasis on opportunities that would
benefit both countries.
The Governor noted with excitement the fact that
members of the delegation of the Israeli envoy included
the business community, saying that as the economic
capital of Nigeria, Lagos was open to partnership that
would impact the people positively.
“Lagos remains the heartbeat of Nigeria. We pride
ourselves as the most populated and the commercial
capital of Nigeria, as well as the fifth largest economy in
Africa.
“We know that Israel is one of the huge tech-savvy
countries that you have across the world and obviously
for a city that is growing and still counting, we believe
strongly that this visit is more instructive for us and we
would like to take advantage of the technological
advancement that we see across the world being done
by mostly Israelis and also things that have to do with
agricultural expertise.
“On that note, I welcome this visitation and I also think
we should follow it up and make sure that the two
countries as we represent Nigeria also here, that we
should have greater inroads into the successes that
have been recorded by Israel and also to ensure that we
put that to our advantage in a cosmopolitan city like
Lagos,” Governor Ambode said.
Besides, the Governor assured of the commitment of his
administration to continue to protect foreigners including
Israelis and all Lagosians, saying that in the last 22
months, concerted efforts have been geared towards
security and judicial sector reforms, as government
remained very high in keeping the city safe.
Earlier, Feldman said he was at Lagos House to further
advance relationship with Lagos State, being the
heartbeat of Nigeria.
“Nigeria is not only the giant of Africa and whatever
people might think, Africa is on the verge of huge
success globally and looking at Nigeria, I am sitting at
the centre of its beating heart (Lagos) and you can feel
that actually.
“This is my first visit out of Abuja and looking at the tone
of our reception by the Governor, I am certain we are in
for a cordial relationship with the State,” Feldman said.