Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said his administration will deepen its relationship with the Indian government culturally, economically, and medically for knowledge sharing and human capacity building.
Governor Sanwo-Olu, who commended the Indian companies in Nigeria for being the second largest employer of labour after the federal government, said his administration will continue to improve the Ease of Doing Business and provide a safe and secure environment for businesses to thrive in Lagos State.
Governor Sanwo-Olu spoke during a courtesy visit by the High Commissioner of India to Nigeria, Mr. Balasub Ramanian, at the Lagos House, Ikeja.
The governor acknowledged the support of the High Commissioner of India to Nigeria and other officials when the fellows of the Lateef Jakande Leadership Academy visited India last month for their internship.
He said, “There have been several decades of relationship between India and Nigeria even before our independence. India and Nigeria have so much in common that they have learned and will continue to learn from each other. We will continue to create a mutually beneficial partnership between the two countries.
“For us to take the first set of the Lateef Jakande Leadership Academy fellows to India wasn’t a difficult decision at all. We looked at the economy that has similar issues and challenges with us but have taken their own issues forward and begun to make good sense of it.
We saw that in India and I told them that is where you need to go because that is the only place you will see it, feel it and also learn
“I have heard from them that the trip is worth every moment of it and I am sure they are better citizens. There are things they have learnt and things they have seen. We will continue on that trajectory.”
Earlier, the High Commissioner of India to Nigeria, Mr. Balasub Ramanian, expressed the readiness of the Indian Government to strengthen the country’s bilateral relationship with Lagos on capacity building, technology, scholarships, and Corporate Assembly in line with the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration’s THEMES+ development agenda.
The India High Commissioner to Nigeria, who noted that Lagos is to Nigeria what Mumbai is to India as the financial capital of the country, made a promise for more collaboration to increase Indian companies over N27 billion investments in Nigeria.
