14 May 2015

The outgoing Nigerian High Commissioner, Mr Okubotin Charles Cocodia, says Botswana's good governance has been the highlight of his three year term. 

He paid a courtesy call, Thursday, to the Vice President, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi, to bid farewell to Botswana where he said he had toured many parts of the country and had seen the importance of proper livestock and wildlife management in such a sustainable manner. 

In an interview, Mr Cocodia noted that Botswana has a lot of tourism attractions which also create the avenue and synergy for those who appreciate wildlife, especially the big five to come and appreciate the abundance of wildlife here.

“I have been to Kasane several times, Chobe National Parks, Moremi Game Reserve and many others and those who have not had the opportunity to visit Botswana and this beauty are missing a lot,” he added. 

Since the inception of the bilateral relations at diplomatic level between Botswana and Nigeria, he said, the two countries had maintained “very cordial relations at both political and diplomatic levels.” 

Besides providing an opportunity to strengthen the bilateral relations shared by both Botswana and Nigeria, the outgoing High Commissioner said his three year term also created an opportunity for the two countries to improve other areas of cooperation in  areas of education, sometimes even in training- military and police trainings. 

“And we also have been able to exchange personnel, especially during the early days of Botswana’s independence. So far, so good, it could still be better we need to really flag many more important areas of training and cooperation,” he added.

For example, he said there was a lot that Nigeria and other countries could still learn from Botswana’s agricultural policy with regard to managing livestock in a more sustainable manner.

As his term ends, Ambassador Cocodia said he was pleased that the two nations had been able to maintain subsisting cordial bilateral relations.

In that regard, he said he had received tremendous assistance from officials and ministers of various ministries, such as agriculture, education and skills development and foreign affairs.

His main intention, during his three year term in Botswana, he said was to maintain the subsistence relation, if not to take it to higher levels, and to promote bilateral trade. 

“I think it is still very much at a low level,” he said.

In an effort to promote bilateral trade between the two countries,  he managed to organise two Nigeria and Botswana Business Forums within his three years of stay in Botswana.

“The other area where I could have wanted to achieve was to engender the formation of a Nigeria/Botswana chamber of commerce and industries, so that having received facilitation from the two governments, private sector will be in position to drive the cooperation in terms of bilateral trade,” he added.

Ambassador Cocodia is expected to leave for Nigeria on May 16, 2015. BOPA