The Indian High Commissioner in Nigeria, Amb. Ajjampur Ghanashyam, has said that there were 4,940 Nigerian students studying in India while 27,890 Nigerians graduated from Indian institutions.
He spoke yesterday in Abuja while featuring on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum.
Ghanashyam said the huge number of Nigerian students in India was a testimony to the good diplomatic relationship between the two countries which, he said dates back to pre-colonial era.
He said as developing countries with huge population it was important for Nigeria and India to maintain close ties with a view to sharing experience that would benefit the wellbeing of their peoples.
Ghanashyam said there were 200 Indian companies in manufacturing, servicing and retail businesses in Nigeria, adding that 36 of them were into pharmaceutical products.
On agriculture, he advised Nigerian farmers to embrace integrated farming to avoid losses that occasionally accompany farming single crops, pointing out that this had been the practice among Indian farmers.
He said India was ready to share its experiences with Nigeria in the agricultural and industrial sectors as part of its contributions to boost Nigeria’s economy.
On the automobile industry, the envoy urged Nigerian entrepreneurs to prioritise the manufacture of component parts, saying it would be difficult for them to compete with ‘big players’ in motor vehicle manufacturing.
Ghanashyam said this was the approach Indian entrepreneurs adopted before going into full scale motor manufacturing.
“Even, as at today, our greatest strength in the automobile industry is in the making of the components.
“Do your research very well; ensure quality; even if you want to go into motor vehicle manufacturing, manufacture the cheapest ones, start with cheap cars”, he advised.
On the alleged harassment of Nigerians resident in India the envoy said the Indian people have no problems with law-abiding Nigerians.
He, however, blamed the few cases of harassment to media reports, saying that negative actions spread wider than positive ones.
The high commissioner said it was time the media gave more publicity to the positive things Nigerians in India were doing and expressed optimism that with time things would change for the better.
