Consul-General of Nigeria in New York, Ambassador Lot Egopija said the mayor would be attending the Nigeria Governors’ Forum meeting in Abuja during the visit, Voice of Nigeria reports.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams will arrive in Nigeria on Sunday for a two-day visit as part of his tour to Africa.
Consul-General of Nigeria in New York, Ambassador Lot Egopija said the mayor would be attending the Nigeria Governors’ Forum meeting in Abuja during the visit, Voice of Nigeria reports.
“He will be visiting the Minister of FCT to commence sister city relationship between the city of Abuja and New York,” he said.
A sister city relationship is formed when the mayor or highest elected official from a U.S. community and a community in another country or territory sign a formal agreement on behalf of their communities to endorse such a relationship.
Such agreements are meant to promote peace through people-to-people relationships. They could involve basic cultural exchange programmes to share research and development projects between the cities.
“Eric Adams would also be paying a courtesy call to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and meeting the business community in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja,” Egopija said.
Egopija in January briefed Adams at a meeting of African Consuls General on areas of interest in the sister city’s relationship with New York.
He said, “We have started an engagement on the need to have the sister city relationship between the City of New York and the FCT.
“We want a situation whereby the city of Abuja and New York are able to partner in the area of education, fire service, medical support and other social services.”
“Also, cultural engagement, the mayor has taken due note of my suggestion and said, the city would be willing to collaborate with the mission, especially as it relates to our desire to promote the ‘Seki dance’.
“The Seki dance troupe and America Tap dance, have a similarity: the origin of America Tap dance has been attributed to come from the Niger Delta region of Nigeria,” Egopija added.
On December 1, 2022, Mayor Adams announced the signing of a sister city agreement with Athens, Greece, to build on the relationship between the two historic municipalities.