NBCC congratulates Cameron, hails victory of Nigerian MPs

The Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce has congratulated the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron.

The NBCC, which comprises about 500 companies in Nigeria and Britain, also hailed the victory of four Nigerians into the UK Parliament.

The President and Chairman of Council, Mr. Adeyemi Adefulu, made the remark in a statement on Monday.

The statement read, “It gives me great pleasure to congratulate you (Cameron) on the unequivocal victory of your party in the recently concluded British elections. It was, if l may say so, a most impressive performance and an emphatic endorsement by the British electorate.

“To say Nigeria and Britain enjoy a special relationship − cultural, economic, social and other ties− is merely stating the obvious. Britain is home to well over two million Nigerians and is a second home to many more. Indeed, Britain hosts more Nigerians than any other country.

“Nigeria holds a sizeable portion of British foreign investment portfolio. Significantly, and for the first time, there are four Members of Parliament of Nigerian extraction in the new British Parliament. The NBCC, therefore believes that the present bilateral trade level is only a small fraction of the potential for trade and investment flow between the two countries.”

The NBCC said bilateral trade between the UK and Nigeria could improve in the next four years even as it stated that bi-lateral trade between both countries has doubled in the last four years.

The NBCC, which was set up principally to promote Nigerian-British trade, therefore, expressed optimism that the incoming Muhammdu Buhari administration would foster a better relationship between both countries.

The council said it would continue to sell the best of Nigeria to Britain and vice versa. The NBCC said it would need some Nigerian businessmen with interest in export, agriculture and foods to Britain in June to meet with their colleagues in the UK.

The statement added, “The NBCC notes, with delight, that both countries have, in recent years, made impressive progress in their bilateral trade. Your government’s Prosperity Agenda has led to a doubling of the bilateral trade between Nigeria and Britain from £4bn to £8bn between 2010 and 2014.

“While this, by all accounts, is an impressive performance, the NBCC believes this figure can be multiplied in another few years if the two countries continue on a deliberate path of close co-operation and collaboration with appropriate policies to stimulate trade.

“The NBC believes that with your (Cameron) re-election and the track record of your trade policies, we can look forward to a collaboration between your government and that of the recently elected government of Gen. Buhari in Nigeria to deliberately forge closer ties and pursue policies which will enable a full exploitation of the enormous trade opportunities between the two countries.”