Nigeria’s Ambassador to the U.S, Prof. Adebowale Adefuye has urged Nigerians living abroad to patronise indigenous airlines.

Adefuye spoke on Friday night in New York at a dinner organised to mark the 5thanniversary

of Arik Airline and commemoration of its second year non-stop flight between Lagos and New York.

The ambassador praised the indigenous firm for raising the bar in the aviation business, noting that their services were comparable to other well-known established airlines.

He advised Nigerians in Diaspora to change their perception about their country, insisting that several positive developments were evolving in the country.

Adefuye cited the last general elections, rated the freest in the country’s history by international observers and the strides made by individual Nigerians in the U.S in different fields of endeavour.

“Our country is so blessed in human and resources. We can do anything any nation can do if we put our acts together.

“There is no profession in this world that you will not have a Nigerian,’’ the North American Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes him as saying.

Earlier, Bob Brunner, Vice President Americas, Arik Air, said safety, security and customer care, had remained the guiding principles of the airline since its incorporation.

According to Brunner the airline had transported eight million passengers since it commenced flight operations to different routes around the world.