By Annette Ikponmwonba | September 16, 2026
Key Points
· Nigeria’s Ambassador to Spain, Okezie Ikpeazu, has called for revitalizing bilateral agreements with Spain, including the Bilateral Air Service Agreement
· He made the call after presenting his Letters of Credence to King Felipe VI at the Royal Palace in Madrid
· Ikpeazu conveyed President Tinubu’s greetings and reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to deepening ties in trade, energy, infrastructure, agriculture, education and other sectors
· He specifically pushed for direct air connectivity between Nigeria and Spain to boost trade, tourism and people-to-people exchange
· The ambassador called for broader stakeholder involvement, including the private sector, academia, and civil society, in strengthening the partnership
· He also acknowledged the Nigerian community in Spain as an important bridge for bilateral relations
Main Story
Nigeria’s Ambassador to Spain, Okezie Ikpeazu, has called for the revitalisation of existing bilateral agreements between both countries, including the Bilateral Air Service Agreement, as part of efforts to strengthen economic cooperation and people to people relations. He made the call after formally presenting his Letters of Credence to King Felipe VI of Spain at the Royal Palace in Madrid on Monday, an event that marked the official start of his diplomatic assignment.
During the ceremony, Ikpeazu conveyed greetings and best wishes from President Bola Tinubu to the Spanish monarch, government and people. He reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening bilateral relations across a wide range of sectors, including trade and investment, energy, infrastructure, agriculture, education, culture, tourism, security and people to people exchanges, He also expressed Nigeria’s readiness to work with Spanish government institutions and the private sector to create new economic partnership opportunities and increase trade and investment flows between the two nations.
The Issues
At the heart of Ikpeazu’s remarks is a call to modernize agreements that may no longer reflect the current state of Nigeria Spain relations. His specific emphasis on the Bilateral Air Service Agreement points to a practical bottleneck in bilateral engagement: the absence of robust direct air connectivity, which can limit trade flow, tourism growth and the ease of people to people exchange between the two countries, This kind of infrastructure gap often has outsized effects on bilateral economic relationships, since limited flight connectivity can raise costs and travel time for business delegations, investors and tourists alike, indirectly constraining the broader economic partnership Ikpeazu is trying to build.
The ambassador’s call for broader stakeholder participation, spanning public institutions, the private sector, academia, cultural organisations and civil society, also signals an awareness that government level diplomatic engagement alone may not be sufficient to translate goodwill into tangible economic outcomes.
What’s Being Said
Ikpeazu was direct in describing the scope of opportunity between the two nations, stating that the relations between the two countries offer significant opportunities for expanded cooperation, while advocating for wider stakeholder involvement in deepening the partnership, He also spoke warmly about the role of the Nigerian diaspora in Spain, describing the Nigerian community as an important bridge for promoting understanding, friendship and cooperation between the peoples of both countries. He reaffirmed the Nigerian Embassy’s commitment to protecting the interests of Nigerian nationals living in Spain.
At the reception held in his honour, attended by diplomatic corps members, Spanish government representatives, business and cultural stakeholders and members of the Nigerian community, Ikpeazu expressed appreciation for the warm welcome he received and pledged to advance Nigeria’s interests while working to consolidate relations between the two countries.
What’s Next
The ambassador indicated that the Nigerian Embassy in Madrid would continue working with the Spanish government, diplomatic community, private sector, development partners and the Nigerian community to convert existing goodwill into concrete, measurable outcomes, Whether the specific push to revitalize the Bilateral Air Service Agreement translates into actual renegotiation or new direct flight routes will likely be one of the clearer markers of progress to watch in the coming months, given how directly it was singled out during the ambassador’s remarks.
Bottom Line
Ikpeazu is using the ceremonial start of his ambassadorship to set a practical agenda for Nigeria Spain relations, framing improved air connectivity and modernized agreements as the groundwork needed to convert a longstanding but underutilized diplomatic relationship into deeper trade and investment outcomes.
