By Ndubuisi Micheal Obineme
Since 1988, Ingo Herbert, Consul General of Germany in Lagos, has been a diplomat and have worked in different countries such as South Africa , Tanzania, Middle East and Moscow.
He is a lawyer by profession.
Since September 2015, Ingo Herbert has been the German Consul General in Lagos, Nigeria.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, German only have a consulate in Cape Town and Lagos.
The consulate have been able to improve the German presence in Lagos by establishing a solid contacts with the Lagos and Ogun state government.
The Consul General acknowledged Lagos as the economic, cultural and media center of Nigeria. That is to say, the Consulate General within its administrative district (southern part of Nigeria) is dealing
with the whole spectrum of consular services as well as with the economic, cultural, media and social aspects of its manifold bilateral relations; new fields like questions of urbanization, renewable
energies or sustainable development.
The Consul General explores Lagos during weekends. He is a cultural person, loves Jazz and Afro beats including sports.
The German Embassy usually organize a Soccer Tournament for International and IDP-teams in Abuja. The New Kuchingoro IDP/Refugee Camp fielded 5 excellent teams, squaring off against squads from the Embassies of Germany, Argentina/Finland and Adam Smith International (UK). The partnership with the New Kuchingoro IDP camp came about in February 2016 when the Former German President Joachim Gauck visited the IDP camp.
The idea behind the tournament was to reach out to the affected communities of the IDPs. To that effect the IDP teams received sets of matching jerseys and soccer balls to bring back to their communities in the New Kuchingoro Camp. Everybody involved had a great time.