Bob Dewar

Sport is such a great way of empowering young people

Had an interesting chat with the Minister of Sport.  Sport is such a great way of empowering young people and getting communities involved, as well as bringing countries together. 

Minister has good ideas for improving facilities throughout the country, not just for football but for all sports.  Nigeria has such potential!  I explained how we hope that the Olympics in London will help bring about a "heritage" effect in many of our important partner countries such as Nigeria, e.g. helping bring sport into disadvantaged schools and improving the curricula, training etc. 

I also gave him a first hand account of the exciting launch last week at Wembley of the England 2018 World Cup bid which had been attended by David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and many of the 1966 team.

Not only does England already have great infrastructure, but also it has tremendous passion for the game on the part of its fans and communities at all levels.  Again, rather like the Olympics, it will be a tremendous event for the international community as well as for the UK.

Posted at 10:12 28 May 2009 by Bob Dewar  |  Comments[0]

The rainy season has started

Back in the swing of things in Abuja after the FCO’s Leadership Conference in London and Easter.  The rainy season has started – huge storm in Abuja at the end of the week.  The meetings in London were very useful including with the Nigerian community who were predictably mostly interested in visa issues.  Also had a good meeting with West African Business Association (WABA) members.  International economic crisis is having an impact on Nigeria but there are still important opportunities and our Trade and Investment office are very active. 

Good to see that the England and Wales Law Association sent a trade delegation, (for the second year running) last week.  The way the legal system is intertwined with that of the UK is symbolic of the close relations in many special areas.  My own belief is that one of the best things we can do as British Government is to help Nigeria adopt international standards.  In fact the impact crisis on the Nigerian private sector has to some extent encouraged a move towards quality, including in the banking sector.  As customers get more choosy so it must be win-win for UK companies to offer highest international standards and corporate governance as part of the package.

Posted at 09:45 22 April 2009 by Bob Dewar  |  Comments[0]