Ambassador: Nigerian tourism village needed in Brazil

Vincent Okoredion, the newly appointed Nigerian Ambassador designate to Brazil has urged the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) to replicate the Abuja tourism village in Brazil.

Okoredion specifically requested that the Nigerian village model be located in Salvador where Nigeria has a house.

The ambassador, who gave the charge while on a networking visit to the NTDC, appealed to Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, director-general of the corporation, to work out the modalities for the project.

According to him, “Brazil has a population of 200 million with a black population of 6 percent; the Blacks in Brazil trace their roots to the Bight of Benin in West Africa and there is constant need to renew links with their roots.

I therefore seek ways of expanding cooperation between Nigeria and Brazil which will help harness the opportunities that exist between both countries.”

He however disclosed that Brazil had signed a cultural agreement with Nigeria and that they were ready to implement it, affirming that there were a lot of ways both countries could work together.

Citing the Nigerian house in Brazil, he adding that it could be self-sustaining when its utility is maximised to display Nigerian artifacts, sell Nigerian books and literature, stage Nigerian plays and more importantly, protect Nigerian cultures and values while generating revenue, among other things.

The Ambassador designate lamented the previous decay of the Nigerian house in Brazil, assuring that his tenure as the Nigerian ambassador to Brazil would reverse the trend and put the house to full use.