Diplomats from the United States Embassy in Nigeria and the US Consulate in Lagos have charged students of the Dominican University (DU), Ibadan and indeed Nigerian students to take advantage of the various programmes by the United States to enhance their careers and opportunities.
The team of diplomats led by the Public Affairs Officer, US Consulate Lagos, Mr Stephen Iballi, during an interaction with students of the Department of Mass Communication of Dominican University, explained that the visit was to foster interaction between the US Embassy in Nigeria and the University, noting that the United States was concerned about prosperity, stability and growth in West Africa.
Iballi said Nigeria and the United States shared a lot of values in culture, religion, entrepreneurship as Nigerians were doing well in business, healthcare and sundry human concerns in the USA. He said: “the visit is a conversation meant to enlighten the students of DU on the various things they need to know about the US and its missions in Nigeria.”
He observed that “a lot of people don’t understand what diplomats do or what the embassy is or what the consul is or what the ambassador does. It is a way to educate the people about what our consul does, where our embassy is and what we focus on. We focus on education, we focus on health; we focus on businesses here in Nigeria and also in the United States, promoting trade between the two countries. So, all of these things are education.”
He said the US sends “over 600 Nigerians a year to the United States and we have over 13,000 Nigerian students studying in the United States. Nigeria is the 10th largest sending country in the world in terms of students to the US. It’s just a way to talk about the growing relationship between Nigeria and the United State vis a vis the creative space and the companies.”
Head of the Department of Mass Communication of DU, Professor Andrew Okwilagwe, earlier in his welcome address thanked the team for the visit and charged the members to explore the various opportunities through which the US can help the young university in its quest to achieve academic excellence.
The visiting diplomats had, on arrival, been received by the vice chancellor of Dominican University, Rev Father (Professor) Anthony Alaba Akinwal, who said the young university was willing to partner the US mission in Nigeria to the advantage of both parties and for the enhancement of the varsity’s development.
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