I was pleased to be posted to Nigeria – Czech envoy

Weekly Trust: Could tell us a bit about you?Amb. Pavel Mikes: I studied African Studies and Linguistics in Prague and Ethiopia. I speak some African languages, unfortunately no Nigerian one.  I came into the foreign service 14 years ago. My first posting was in DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) between 1999 and 2005 as head […]

Weekly Trust: Could tell us a bit about you?
Amb. Pavel Mikes: I studied African Studies and Linguistics in Prague and Ethiopia. I speak some African languages, unfortunately no Nigerian one.  I came into the foreign service 14 years ago. My first posting was in DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) between 1999 and 2005 as head of mission. After that I served in the ministry at home for five years. It is common practice that after a posting you come back home and serve five years before another posting. Then I worked as an EU delegation for the African Union in Addis Abba. I returned to the African department in Prague, at the department of sub-Saharan Africa. I stayed two years before being nominated to be the head of mission here in Nigeria.
WT: Were you pleased with the nomination?
Mikes: I was very pleased. From my work with the African Union and with my experience on Africa, Nigeria is the economic and political giant of the continent.
WT: Is this a diplomatic statement or you really believe so?
Mikes: I really believe it because statistics show Nigeria is 30th biggest economy in the world. If you look at the GDP of the country even though it doesn’t mean that it is shared by everybody on equal terms, this doesn’t exist anywhere, but it’s clear that by population and economic strength, Nigeria is an African giant.
WT: Asides statistics you have come across, views and hearsays, did you have a personal view of Nigeria before you came?
Mikes: In Europe we hear a lot of negative things; not only about Nigeria but Africa in general. I have visited 28 African countries. I have worked in a few of them and I know that this negative image isn’t true. Among the African countries, Nigeria seems to have even more negativity in Europe. I didn’t believe it because having been here I thought it came from people who really didn’t know the reality on ground. But again because you hear it all over, it has a way of working on one’s psyche a little bit. You are not afraid but a little cautious. I came here and was very positively surprised. Though I have only seen Abuja and its surroundings because I have been here one month, but I intend to go round. But certainly the image of Nigeria in Europe is worse than the reality.
WT: You seem to have picked an interest in Africa very early. What triggered the interest?
Mikes: I really can’t say. I think at that time our country was part of the Soviet bloc and this was a kind of escape; the grey reality of the Soviet bloc country.
WT: Now that you are here, has it grown?
Mikes: I’ve. I have worked with my colleagues at the embassy on some cultural projects. We are planning a fashion show for next week for our national day. One of the biggest world producers of brocade is a Czech company.
WT: Asides educational collaboration with other countries, in what ways do you think Nigeria and the Czech Republic can collaborate?
Mikes: The biggest interest of both countries is in the open trade and economic cooperation for the benefit of the citizens of both countries. Nigeria is developing very quickly and Czech Republic is an old industrial power with a lot of technology and know-how. To improve the lives of our citizens, we need economic growth and we have a lot to offer to each other. When I met with your president we talked a lot about education but even more about trade and economic cooperation, transfer of technologies, investments as well as technological and economic cooperation.
WT: Czech Republic is reputed as an established industralised nation. Is it so today?
Mikes: We used to be the 10th industrial power. The world is changing and we are not the 10th industrial power anymore because also, the population is not changing that much but the technological and industrial base are still there. As Czechoslovakia, we produced basically everything; from paint to aircraft. It doesn’t work like that anymore. In the world there is division of labour. We are still very good in aviation and give training and maintenance of planes. We have got a big coal and steel industry even though it’s shrinking. But we still have the know-how in this field which we can share with Nigeria. With Nigeria planning to activate its coal mines and steel industry, we are looking to bring our technology here. Exchanges of delegations and experts have taken place in this regard. That’s one of the areas we concentrated on.
WT: How has being a part of the EU favoured your country especially against the background of the economic crunch?
Mikes: I must say that Czechs are in a way a skeptical people. In a way they are like Nigerians, who in my view are too skeptical. Very many Czechs don’t appreciate being in the EU but the reality is that with Czech being a country of about 10 million people, we have gained access to a market of about half a billion people. The European integration was a way to preserve our economic strength and how to preserve our place in the world. It’s clear from all economic indicators in the world that the membership of EU contributed a lot to the development of the Czech Republic.
WT: What is instrumental to your stability?
Mikes: We have very reasonable policies by the central bank. We still have our own currency. Most of our political parties now favour the adoption of the euro.
WT: Prague has been host to a lot of Hollywood films. Can Nollywood also benefit from this?
Mikes: I’m glad you asked this because it was one of my ideas before I came to Nigeria. My wife is Ethiopian and has known Nigeria since growing up because of Nollywood films. Thanks to her, I began watching them too. We all know Nollywood is one of the biggest film industries in the world. Czech is also known for its contributions to the film industry. Our idea here at the missions is to develop some cultural exchange in this regard. We’ve a lot of film schools and studios and a lot of films are being shot in the Czech Republic like ‘Mission Impossible,’ so why not a Nigerian film shot in Prague?
WT: What draws tourists to Prague?
Mikes: Prague is in a way a magical city. It hasn’t been destroyed in the wars. So we still have monuments dating back one thousand years. Our art and architecture were preserved even in the difficult times of our history. Not only Prague. The country has many nice cities and I dare say even nicer than Prague. But people have to discover them slowly. There is the beautiful city of Cesky Krumlov in South Bohemia. For me it’s a place nicer than Prague.