Universities in Jamaica and the Caribbeans have intensified efforts to strengthen ties with Nigerian and African universities to enable teacher and student exchanges and boost cross cultural experience, the Jamaican High Commissioner to Nigeria, Esmond Reid, has said.
He spoke at the launch of Wings, Roots and Branches, written by a tourism expert, Elizabeth Agboola, that details the successful staging of the first direct charter flight from Nigeria to Jamaica in December 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
He said:”We have many Nigerian students in Jamaica, and the Caribbeans. We have lecturers too. The universities in the Caribbeans want to strengthen ties with Nigerian and African universities, they want to expand for teacher and student exchanges. Their cultural exchange will help them contribute to the development of their various local communities.”
Agboola,who is the founder of Nigerians Travel Too, a travel firm, narrated the elements surrounding the flight, the significance and challenges of striving to establish a direct air connection between Africa, the Caribbean and other regions that play host to descendants of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
“Jamaica was on my mind,but there was no direct flight. But I had the opportunity to organise the flight with my company. It is interesting, there is Abeokuta in Jamaica and Calabar school. It was not easy, because it was a chartered flight direct from Nigeria to Jamaica. It is expensive,in the last 3 years, we have not had that. When we arrived in Jamaica in 2020 during the pandemic, it was emotional. The book is a way of recounting the experience,” she said.
Speaking on the gains of reconnecting with the Caribbeans, Reid said: “Africa and the Caribbeans are connected,we all know the transatlantic slave trade. They took our forebears across the Atlantic into slavery.
We want to be able to reconnect . The gains of reconnection with the Caribbeans are multiple. They will learn more about Africa, there will be trade and investment opportunities; there will be a boost for entertainment and education.”