SPEECHES

Consul General Brian L. Browne

Speech

"A Flight That Is Also A Bridge"

July 17, 2006
0900 Hours
Lagos Murtala Muhammad Airport, Ikeja, Lagos

This is a happy day for Nigeria and the United States, and more importantly for the people of our two countries. We are opening a new and exciting chapter in Nigerian aviation and U.S.-Nigeria relations. This is the beginning of a beginning.

We are at an airport so that means airplanes. But what we came here to do is to celebrate more than the flight of an airplane or even the introduction of an American carrier into the Nigerian skies. We came to celebrate the construction of a new bridge between the United States and Nigeria. This bridge reduces the distance between the United States and Nigeria by reducing the time it takes to travel from one shore to the other.

This plane, pardon me, this bridge, will connect two great countries together. And will connect their two most dynamic and populated cities, New York and Lagos. Heretofore, these two countries and two great cities were linked indirectly. A traveler had to transit through another country, another city, a third or perhaps a fourth airport. That is no longer. Henceforth, the connection is more direct and thus more durable.

This bridge has been built because people on both sides want it. No reasonable person spends his time or money to construct a bridge that no one will cross. The construction of a bridge implies a connection that already exists, but also one that needs to be enhanced.

That North American has sought this route is an affirmation of the growing attractiveness of the Nigerian economy and its positive interface with the American economy. North American Airlines' success in the Nigerian market will be a positive signal to other U.S. carriers. The entry and success of North American Airlines will be a signal to other businesses in other sectors as well.

Even more broadly, this bridge will bring ordinary people from both nations, their cultures, their customs, their dreams and aspirations closer together. More Americans will travel to Nigeria and more Nigerians to America. With this increased travel comes better understanding and a deeper bilateral relationship between the most populous country in Africa and the most populous in the Americas.

This day and this flight also signal the building of a close cooperation between U.S. and Nigerian aviation authorities. Our U.S. Mission, the U.S. Department of Transportation and its Federal Aviation Authority are working to partner with their counterparts here to improve civil aviation in Nigeria.

We have enjoyed an excellent working relationship with the Aviation Ministry, the NCAA, the FAAN, and other agencies involved in managing Nigerian civil aviation.

I want to thank the Minister, his staff and the relevant agencies working with North American and the relevant U.S. agencies to ensure the safety and security of this flight. U.S. officials will be working with Nigerian and American officials to ensure the smooth, safe and secure operations of this airline.

I also want to use this opportunity to encourage the Minister to continue to advocate steps that improve and reform Nigeria's civil aviation industry. An important initiative in this regard is the passage of a civil aviation bill that would provide for a more robust Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

But, enough policy talk for now. This moment is a time of celebration. Again, I would like to congratulate the Minister, North American Airlines, the civil aviation agencies of both nations, and most of all the people of both countries. There is the old saying that "I will cross that bridge when I get to it." Today we amend that saying to become "when we get to that bridge, we shall fly it." May this new bridge continue to welcome and be welcomed by travelers from both nations.

Thank you.

 

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