From the outside, ceiling-top inflation and its impact on buying or spending have given the look of Nigeria on a treadmill. Its federal officials are thinking up ideas that so far, haven’t fit what most households tired of the wait are expecting. Yet, further aerial views show that there are other areas to measure success, such as the scale-up of megacity transport which the Kingdom of Belgium is helping to drive.

On both sides of the aisle way, there are tangible reasons to motivate a strengthening of over five decades of friendship that has been undoubtedly fruitful and in 2022 had yielded US$719 million worth of Nigerian exports to the European Union (EU) headquarters. That is a diminutive figure compared to Belgium’s $7.72billion in exports in the same year but a shared bond has found a way to recycle the profits all the same.

Since he offered his letter of credence to Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu five months ago, Ambassador Pieter Leenknegt has been familiarising himself with the new environment. As Belgium’s newly-arrived topmost diplomat, he has translated his duties to involve touching base with the local communities be it at Nigeria’s Silicon Valley in Lagos or a greenish Saint Patrick Day gathering in the capital Abuja.

ALSO READ: Nigeria is the top agenda in Tinubu’s open invitation to UNGA

The Kingdom of Belgium has already started the construction of a €5.5million chancery of the Belgian Embassy in Nigeria with the completion date set for April 2025.

All these commitments only point to a relationship ageing well the way conserved wine does.

The move from rented premises to an owned building anchors the Belgian diplomatic presence in Nigeria, and within the EU compound, underscoring the European calling of Belgium and the need to unify the EU’s foreign policy ever more among member states, Ambassador Leenknegt tells Meiza.

The architectural language of the new building, he adds, will moreover ooze a hybrid of the typical Belgian red brick building and the traditional African fortress shielding its inhabitants from too strong incoming sunlight.

An eminent chancery not only expands the Federal Capital Territory’s social net value as the city of diplomats, but its transportation also has much to gain.

It was Ambassador Leenknegt’s visit to the FCT Minister, Nyesome Wike at the official’s Garki-based office on 6 March that brought on a feeling of optimism that residents are currently riding on.

As soon as May, the Belgian envoy had gathered from Mr. Wike, there would be the commissioning of the $823 million Abuja light rail service by President Bola Tinubu.

Standardising megacity transport, analysts agree, is essential to realising household relief from burdensome transportation. And since the meeting with the minister last week, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has been mulling converting its locomotive fleet to run on gas instead of diesel, which produces atmospheric soot, worsens carbon emissions, and climate change.

The main products exported from Nigeria to Belgium, mostly through shipping have been according to 2022 Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) data, petroleum gas ($236M), refined petroleum ($183M), and crude petroleum ($148M).

Also in the last 23 years, the exports of Nigeria to Belgium have increased yearly by 14.5 percent. That fortunately took Nigeria from $32million worth of trade in 1999 to $719million in 2022, which is something to be encouraged. Mapping out a direct route from the Port of Antwerp in Belgium to take ships straight down to Nigerian ports will be good for speeding up development partnerships between the two countries.

Except for refined petroleum, Meiza gathered from the ambassador, Belgium also exports pharmaceuticals and machinery of all kinds to Nigeria, and some of [the kingdom’s] expert companies worldwide could help in setting up the production of certain pharmaceuticals and innovative types of vaccines within Nigeria, too.

The Port of Antwerp Bruges International is moreover represented in Nigeria in places such as Lagos and Onitsha, and looking to collaborate in the development of more inland and deep sea ports and their hinterlands. Surely the recognised Belgian dredging presence in Nigeria, from Lagos over Bonny to Cross River can further help increase that virtuous circle.

The crux of Nigeria-Belgium relations finds strength from the sprinkle of youth. Ambassador Pieter Leenknegt, a lawyer but also an art historian by training, has seen them at Nike Art Gallery exhibitions and will soon be engaging with a new vibrant set at a craft fair in Abuja.

Also, the diplomat has crafted ties with Model United Nations groups from various Nigerian universities, spoken to representatives of Nigerian Youth in the Diaspora and participated in the Study in Europe Fair in Kano last fall.

An X platform tweet shared by the Belgian mission has been calling on vendors to come to showcase their art at the Lycée Français Marcel Pagnol in Abuja already has its deadline.

While Nigeria struggles with hurdles, it is a testament that the development goals of the Kingdom of Belgium and indeed the European Union in Nigeria, are gathering pace.