…Urges Swedish Govt To Replicate Same Gesture
Former President of the Nigerian-Swedish Chamber of Commerce, Chief Olayinka Ogunmekan has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his historic state visit to the United Kingdom, at the invitation of King Charles III.
This visit marks Nigeria’s first state visit to the United Kingdom in nearly four decades and is expected to focus on strengthening bilateral relations between both countries.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Chief Ogunmekan described Tinubu’s visit as an opportunity for Nigeria to reset its economy in the global business forum.
“Its no more news that our President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made a historic visit to UK.
“The economic fallout is not something you can realize overnight. I commend our action President for taking the bold step of reaching out to other countries for us to take advantage of their investment opportunities and to improve our trade with them.
“This is an opportunity for Nigeria to reset herself in the global business forum. Nigeria has lots of potentials to showcase to the world. We are now becoming more credible and reliable in global ratings. From part of the so far released fallouts of this historic British trip, we should now look at official travels as building super highway of global business connections which all Nigerians should now embrace.”
In a bid to build a broader relationship, Chief Ogunmekan advised the Swedish government to replicate the same gesture by inviting the Nigerian government to a round table discussion.
“I hope Sweden would now be on the priority official travel plan agenda. Oriflame and Ericsson are examples of good business relationship between Nigeria and Sweden. Oriflame, a leading social selling beauty company and Skincare Ingredients, paid out N16.3billion to Nigerians as trade benefits between 2015 and 2024.
“In February 2026, following a 2024 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the Federal Government of Nigeria partnered with Ericsson of Sweden to launch the ‘Connect NextGen’ Innovation Hackathon, aimed at upskilling Nigerian youth in 5G, IoT, AI, and cloud technology. Many more Swedish companies are around and a lot more are in the waiting.
“Nigeria is not an island and we must explore all opportunities be it on trade, education or security. Nigeria must be restored.”