British High Commissioner launches the Britain is GREAT Campaign in Nigeria

22 June 2012

The British High Commissioner, Andrew Lloyd CMG, MBE on Monday 18 June launched the GREAT campaign in Lagos.

British High Commissioner launches the Britain is GREAT Campaign in Nigeria

The British High Commissioner, Andrew Lloyd CMG, MBE on Monday 18 June launched the GREAT campaign in Lagos. The launch was held on Her Majesty’s Ship Dauntless, the British War ship which was on a three day visit to Nigeria. In his address to the media during the launch, the High Commissioner said Britain today is a great place to visit, study, work, invest and do business.

GREAT Campaign Launch

“In this extraordinary year, when we celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and host the Olympics and Paralympics Games, we invite you to take a fresh look at everything Britain has to offer”, Andrew Said.

He added: “We’ve always thrived on the exchange of goods, ideas and people. Our people are diverse, warm and welcoming. English is our national language and spoken by more than 600 million people worldwide and we’re also home to over 160 nationalities speaking over 300 different languages”.  

Andrew Lloyd said as a global leader of innovators; from DNA to MRI to IVF, the UK has won 76 Nobel prizes, and has the largest life sciences sector in Europe. And as a trading nation and a key connection in the global marketplace, Britain today is the world’s second largest exporter and fourth largest importer of commercial services. He said as evidence of UK’s business-friendly environment, it takes just 13 days to set up a business in the country.

He emphasized that the GREAT Campaign is utilising the unprecedented global attention on Britain during 2012 to promote the country as a world-class destination for business, investmentand tourism. The campaign was launched by the British Prime Minister, The Right Hon David Cameron in September 2011. It is focused on 12 areas of British excellence (Trade and Investment: Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Creativity, Technology, Knowledge, Green. Tourism: Heritage, Sport, Shopping, Music and Countryside).

He urged all Nigerians to join the global community in the celebrations and cheering their athletes in London Olympics in GREAT Britain.

Addressing journalists on board the ship, the Commanding Officer of the Ship, Captain, Will Warrender, said apart from tackling piracy, one of the aims of its three-day visit was to give training to the Nigerian Navy as well as other humanitarian activities. He said, “One of the things we’ve come to do is to work with the Nigerian Navy and to help develop regional maritime security across the Gulf of Guinea and to help beef up security.

After the launch, a press tour was organized by the ship for the journalists.