Australia’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Leilani Bin-Juda, has said the relationship between Australia and Nigeria extends beyond trade and diplomacy, describing culture and shared values as key pillars of the partnership between both countries.
Gatekeepers News reports that Bin-Juda spoke on Thursday at the Australian High Commission’s NAIDOC Week reception in Abuja, where she highlighted the role of cultural exchange in strengthening international relations.
NAIDOC Week is an annual celebration of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, recognising their history, culture, achievements and enduring contributions. This year’s event marked the 50th anniversary of the celebration.
The reception featured a screening of Gurrumul, an acclaimed documentary chronicling the life of Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, the late Indigenous Australian singer and songwriter.
Born blind, Yunupingu is regarded as the most commercially successful First Nations artist, with the best-selling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music album in Australian history.
Speaking at the event, Bin-Juda said diplomacy is not limited to engagements between governments and institutions but is also strengthened through culture, dialogue and people-to-people connections.
“Nigeria and Australia are very different countries in many respects, but we share an understanding of the importance of culture, community and identity,” she said.
“Both our nations are enriched by remarkable diversity. Both are home to people whose traditions, languages, and histories, continue to shape national art.”
The envoy added that Australia and Nigeria continue to enjoy a warm and growing relationship founded on mutual respect, strong people-to-people ties, trade, investment and cooperation across several sectors.
Also speaking, Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said the documentary underscored the cultural similarities between Nigeria and Australia, noting that both countries are home to about 250 languages.
“Diversity is not a challenge to manage but a gift to celebrate,” she said, stressing that nation-building must be inclusive and leave no citizen behind.
Dabiri-Erewa described Nigerian youths in the diaspora as bold, innovative and creative, urging leaders to provide an enabling environment that allows them to thrive.
She also cautioned against neglecting culture in the pursuit of national development, describing it as the foundation upon which future generations are built.
