FRENCH Ambassador to Nigeria, Jean Michel Dumond, has canvassed deeper bilateral relations between his country and Nigeria with a view to ending the Niger Delta crisis.
Dumond said Nigeria would benefit from better ties with France owing to the position the latter had maintained on some of the major conflicts in the world.
Delivering a lecture titled, “The Foreign Policy of France: Europe and Africa” at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) yesterday, the French envoy stressed that the cooperation between both countries was also needed in this era of globalisation to promote global peace and security.
He restated his country’s willingness to help Nigeria resolve the Niger Delta conflict.
Dumond said: “Nigeria and France want to deepen their common approach to major international issues such as international peace and security, illegal trafficking in small arms and light weapons, terrorism, environment and climate change, United Nations (UN) reforms and conflict resolution in Africa. In doing this, we need to talk together in order to know each other better.
“To fight against corruption is not only a concern for the Nigerian people. It is also a concern for the European firms that want to work in Nigeria. France as well as the European Union (EU) fully supports President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s initiatives for promoting the rule of law and democratic values.
“We encourage an early implementation of the electoral reform with the willingness of the President. We are also concerned with the security in the Niger Delta region. France is determined to give favourable consideration to Nigeria’s requests, particularly in the field of training for improvement of security in the Gulf of Guinea.”
Dumond added: “We want to contribute more actively to the fight against poverty in Africa, through the new initiative by President Sarkozy, which would be operated by the Agence francaise de developpement. The total amount of this initiative is €2 billion over the next five years. This funding will help finance the creation of 2,000 African new firms and 300,000 new jobs.”
Identifying energy as an area of priority in Nigeria, Dumond said: “Our cooperation also takes the form of an energy partnership for the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. A memorandum in that regard has been signed and France is willing to give consideration to Nigeria’s desire to acquire an electro-nuclear programme in the long-term in order to meet increasing energy demands.”
Stressing that one of the problems on the African continent is conflict prevention and resolution, Dumond advised Nigeria not to make communication on foreign policies and relations the preserve of its diplomats alone.
He commended the Nigerian government for its initiatives in crisis prevention and mediation in the country and Africa.
His words: “I want to tell you that France considers the way Nigeria has dealt with the Bakassi issue to be exemplary. France wants to strengthen its relation and its cooperation with Nigeria, ‘the Giant of Africa.’ Let’s develop together a new kind of relations and cooperation, adapted to the new challenges of the continent and of the world.”