From ERIC OSAGIE, Abuja
Ambassador of Italy to Nigeria, His Excellency, Mr. Roberto Colamine, believes that only Nigerians can resolve the challenges confronting the country. In an interview with Saturday Sun, he said our multicultural diversity should be an asset to the people to truly assume its position as the true giant of Africa.
Excerpts...
Please, can you give us your brief bio-data: birth, education, career etc.?
I was born in Naples, in Italy, on April 10, 1963, and after the completion of my studies I graduated in Law at the University "Frederick II'' of Naples (established on June 5, 1224 by the eponymous Holy Roman Emperor). I joined the diplomatic services in 1991 and served in the following position: Second Secretary in Consular Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome; Consul of Italy in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; Counsellor at the Embassy of Italy in Brasilia, in charge of the coordination of the four Italian Consulates General, two Consulates and forty Honorary Consulates present in Brazil; Chief of the Inspector General's Secretariat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome; Deputy Head of Mission in Tunis, Tunisia, and then Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
When were you posted to Nigeria? Was your posting your first visit to the country?
I was posted to Nigeria in April 2009 and I took office in September 2009, when I travelled for the first time to the country.
How has it been since you commenced your tour of duty?
My mission has lasted for over three years and a half, so far, and has covered events of great relevance for the recent history of Nigeria, such as the launch of the Niger Delta amnesty programme by the late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua in October 2009, shortly after my arrival, the presidential, parliamentary and governorship elections of April 2011, as well as the development of the insurgency by the group popularly known as "Boko Haram." These and other events, like the efforts by the Presidency to rationalise the electricity sector, restart the industrialisation and improve the infrastructures of the country, in the framework of the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, have been followed closely by the international community and, therefore, by myself and by other heads of mission.
Please, brief us on your unique experiences so far?
In light of the above, I would say that my tour of duty has been interesting from a professional point of view and very involving from human perspectives. Besides the political and economic aspect of Nigerian public life and looking to the life of Nigerians, I developed a deep respect for the resilience of the Nigerian people in their effort to overcame the difficulties of their everyday lives. I soon realised that so many people do so much with so little and that they deserve consideration for their efforts to conduct their households.
I wish also to mention another aspect of the Nigerian reality that has been overshadowed by other events, the beauty of the nature of the country. I particularly enjoyed the occasions I had to visit the Nigerian countryside, seaside and historical towns, like Kano, Katsina, Calabar and Lagos, among others. The Yankari National Park stands out for the beauty of its scenery, the variety of its flora and the richness of its fauna; the Atlantic coast of Lagos presents beautiful sandy beaches and spectacular waves for expert swimmers or surfers, outstanding rocks formations characterise the middle belt, like Aso Rock and Zuma Rock near Abuja or the Riyom Rocks near Jos. Too many are the places of interest to mention, but I would like to visit also the Obudu Mountain Range and the Sungbo Eredo, a circular complex of walls and ditches 160 kilometres long and one of the longest human earthworks in the world, in Osun State.
Give us a glimpse into the balance of trade between Italy and Nigeria?
In September 2012 – last data available – Italian imports from Nigeria had a value of 1.328 billion Euro while Nigerian imports from Italy had a value of 638 million Euro: both were rising with regards to the corresponding values in the same period of 2011. The balance of trade, which heavily is influenced by the Nigerian oil export, has now a bias in favour of Nigeria and could be balanced by higher Italian exports to the country.
How can economic, political, cultural and social relations be enhanced between both countries?
The relations between the two countries are multifaceted and span from the long lasting presence of many Nigerian firms established with Italian capital and expertise – many of which are well known to the Nigerian public and operating mainly in the building and infrastructural sector and in the oil sector – and the very many entrepreneurs who are active in the bilateral trade.
Overall the presence of Italian citizens is very limited in Nigeria, at an overall number of about one thousand and five hundred persons. Italian workers and entrepreneurs in Nigeria are very active in promoting economic ties between the two countries. In doing so they also transfer know how to the Nigerian engineers, technicians and employees in general, as it is directly witnessed by so many Nigerians working in Nigerian – Italian companies.
An important occasion to enhance the dimension of the relations between the two countries will be the universal Expo 2015, hosted by Italy. The Italian city of Milan will host the Universal Expo from the 1st of May to the 31st of October 2015. The event will be focused on "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life." Italy attaches great importance to the participation of Nigeria to the Expo and the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs envoy for the Expo has just returned from its first visit to Italy. The focus of the Milan Expo is, in general, of great relevance for the future of a rapidly growing Human population but, in particular, of importance for Nigeria as a country with the largest population in Africa and that is among the economic powerhouses of the continent. Cooperation with Italian firms in the agricultural sector can be and should be the new expanding frontier of the relations between the two countries.
What assistance/collaboration are you offering Nigeria pertaining its security challenges?
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy financed a specialisation course, hosted in Italy by "Guardia di Finanza" (a corps with military status specialized also in border's controls activities) for 20 Nigerian officers of administrations with police tasks concerning frontiers activities: Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Customs Service, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Nigeria Police Nigerian Army and Office of the National Security Adviser, in January – February 2012. The government of Nigeria and Italy signed an agreement on immigration matters in 2001. It has fully entered into force, after final ratification from the Nigerian side, on the 12th of June 2011. The agreement regulates the procedures for repatriation of citizens illegally present in each of the Parties' territory. The Nigeria and the Italian police signed on 17th of February 2009 a Memorandum of cooperation on immigration matters. Twenty Nigeria Police officers have attended in February 2012 a four weeks specialisation course in Italy on borders control. Thirteen officers of the Nigeria Police have so far benefited from "on the job" training activities in Italy for one year each. Within a G8 initiative, Italy has hosted since 2007 at CoESPU in Vicenza, training course for police officers to be employed in stability police duties including international peace-keeping missions, mainly in the framework of the United Nation: the Nigeria Police has received training for over 300 police officers so far.
How has Italy managed its diversity so far?
All countries have a certain degree of diversity in the composition of the population or in the history of each area of their territory. For geographical reasons, however, mostly because it is a peninsula, Italy has been inhabited by peoples with a tight network of reciprocal relations and that merged in a common Latin linguistic and cultural background. Despite all the similarities, in certain periods of our history there was an increased perception of the differences existing in country, between the north and the south, the east and the west, the islands and the peninsular continent and so on.
A wider phenomenon of diversity has interested Italy only recently, when Italy has undergone a transition from country of emigration into country of immigration, in the Nineties, with an increasing presence of persons coming from other continents. Today over sixty one thousand (61, 000) Nigerians live in Italy and this is only one of the many African, Latin American and Asian communities living in the country. Italy has always been a welcoming countries and, without hiding the fact that rapid changes may bring sometime incomprehension and difficulties, today the Government presents its first Italian Minister of African origin, Mrs. Cécile Kyenge, as Minister for Integration, with a specific competence on immigration.
How do you think Nigeria can continue to maintain its unity in diversity?
The answer lies with the Nigerian people. The impression I have received speaking to the people of Nigeria is that they feel strongly about their Nigerian identity. Today all countries are experiencing the phenomenon of multiculturalism, in certain cases because of the intrinsic nature of the composition of their population and sometimes because of the phenomenon of international migration. Multiculturalism expresses itself in several dimensions, such as the existence of different languages, religions, cultures and ethnicities. The necessity to strike a balance between the ethnic, religious or political identities and the allegiance to one's own country is central to the notion of citizenship in today multicultural world. This is true not only in Nigeria but everywhere else in the world. News from the rest of the world demonstrates that this process is not always easy but there is no alternative to it, here like anywhere else.
Is Italy confident that Nigeria will pull out of its current challenges, especially economic and security?
Nigerians of all parts of the country seem to be able to fend for themselves and to be willing to work hard to achieve results in life. Overcoming the economic challenges of Nigeria may be reduced to one central point: freeing the talent of the Nigerian citizens by allowing them to conduct their economic activities. To allow them to do so, only one major step forward is probably necessary: to increase the electricity production, which has already been envisaged as a central objective by the President in his transformation agenda. Once Nigerians have the availability of electric energy they have one of the main conditions for development.
With regards to security challenges, I think that they tend to appear insurmountable at the apex of the crisis but the reality is that the model of world proposed by the terrorists, irrespective of their orientation or ideology, is unacceptable to the majority of the people.
Via: Sun News Online