By Onche Odeh
Pirjo Suomela-Chowdhury is the 17th Ambassador of Republic of Finland to serve in Nigeria.
Suomela-Chowdhury presenting her letter of credence to President Goodluck Jonathan.
She has been in Nigeria for only two and half months as Ambassador representing the in Nigeria, as she presented her Letter of Credence to Nigeria’s President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, on October 2.
Being in Nigeria as ambassador could be seen as a consequence of routine postings for which diplomats are usually subjected to. But for Suomela-Chowdhury, it is one of many cherished dreams come true.
The ambassador, who spoke in an interview with Sunday Independent in Lagos, disclosed that quite unlike the impression many have of Nigeria, she has found so much to be upbeat about the country since she arrived over two months ago.
In what may sound unusual to many Nigerians, Suomela-Chowdhury told Sunday Independent that it was her desire to come and work in Nigeria.
She said: “I don’t know why. But, it was my own quest that led to my being posted to Nigeria. So, it is not like I was just posted to Nigeria. Although, I can say I never had the idea of coming to Nigeria to work in the previous years. In the past, I had worked in Beijing, China for three and half years and later in Chile, Latin America for four years. Then, in Helsinki, where I was working with the United Nations’ International Development Affairs.”
Although Suomela-Chowdhury had a great job at the UN, she said being in Nigeria has given her a different kind of fulfillment.
She said: “Although I had a fantastic job at the UN, the time came for me to leave. Having worked in the Development Affairs Section, I started a research on possible places I could go. So, I started looking at where we had openings and which one of those openings will be interesting to me, and I looked at the list, thought about it and realised that Nigeria was going to be an interesting place for me.”
The ambassador has not been disappointed about her choice as she said, “Nigeria is a very interesting place for many reasons. It is interesting for political reasons, for economic, trade and many other reasons.”
Speaking further, Suomela-Chowdhury said, “So far, I can say the experience in Nigeria has been so good. I was extremely eager to come here, and having been around for about two and half months, I have been able to conclude that my instinct was right when it brought me to Nigeria. Of course I have only stayed two and half months. But, I am very happy so far.”
For her, Nigeria has so much to offer the outside world, including Finland and other developed countries.
While speaking of the country’s economic and other potential and how that could benefit Finland, Suomela-Chowdhury said, “Of course, Nigeria is a very important country for many reasons. There is a lot of potentials for Finnish business. As you may be aware, there is the economic and trade going on in our centre between the two countries, which is the focus of the Finnish Embassy here in Nigeria.
“We are really trying to promote this cooperation between Finland and Nigeria, with a view to establishing a lot of Finnish businesses here, in addition to Nokia and others that we already have here.”
She also gave further details on Finland-Nigeria cooperation in the areas of economy and trade relationships, saying, “These are the areas I would like to pursue in my three years as Ambassador in Nigeria. I know that my predecessor have already been working on this. So, it is not something new as he has been working with companies. I would like to take it further, concretise and hopefully, this would lead to increased trade and economic relationship between Nigeria and Finland, and by implication, more Finnish companies in Nigeria, because they have a lot to offer.”
When asked about governance in Nigeria, the Finnish Ambassador said, “That is a very difficult question because the place is so new to me and because it is rather complicated.
Nigeria is a massive country with a very complicated governance system. Well, I am still learning. You have the 36 states, the central government, there are elections coming. Obviously, we are in a very interesting period of the country politically. I think my first observation is that there is a lot still for me to learn.”
The 50-year-old diplomat also took some time to let Sunday Independent into some of her private life.
She said: “I am afraid I am a little bit of a workamaniac. So, I don’t allocate too much time to relaxing. I think I should do more. But, when I do, I read. I read at least two or three books in the spring before coming here. Those were amazingly incredible stories by wonderful authors.”
Suomela-Chowdhury said when she is not doing this, she unwinds at home, using the opportunity of a long breakfast to do so.
“Sometimes, I have longer breakfast, with a longer time with my newspaper, and if I am a little bit in the mood, I take a walk around.”
On the secret to her youthful look at 50, she said, “I think it is the laughter and the fact that I take life with a bit of sense of humour. It is really good to have a small sense of humour, even when sometimes the issues in question are quite serious. That helps to keep people healthy.”
The post My instinct right about Nigeria – Suomela-Chowdhury, Finnish envoy appeared first on Daily Independent, Nigerian Newspaper.