Nigeria’s non-oil export would grow tremendously if government reduced its involvement in processes, a U.S. Diplomat, David Gilmour, said in Abuja on Thursday.

Gilmour is Director, Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs for Africa, Bureau of African Affairs in the U.S. Department of State.

He told a parley with newsmen that he was visiting Nigeria from Washington to promote cooperation between nationals of the two countries, particularly what he called people-to-people dialogue.

He stressed that if bureaucratic bottlenecks were removed or reduced, Nigerian businessmen and women, farmers and artisans would have the opportunity to export goods to the U.S. and Europe.

Gilmour cited the case of India which reduced bureaucratic bottlenecks in doing business only a little over a decade ago and was doing well today.

He also said Nigeria’s abundant agricultural potentials stood the country in good stead to export food items, flower cuts, and other sundry items to the United States, particularly under the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA).

The diplomat expressed disappointment that Nigeria was not tapping into the opportunities available under AGOA as it should, leaving other countries to reap its benefits.

AGOA was put together by the American government to encourage African producers to export into the U.S. at reduced duty rate.

Gilmour warned that Nigeria must rise to its potentials as competition surrounding it in the area of exports, particularly of non-oil products, would not wait for the country, but would take advantage of emerging markets.

Prior to his current appointment in August 2011, Gilmour was Deputy Chief of Mission in Panama where he managed 22 U.S. federal agencies.

He coordinated the work of a large inter-agency law enforcement team focused on the security of the Panama Canal, illicit trafficking, money laundering and counter-terrorism.

Gilmour, who joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1986, was Charge d’Affaires of the U.S. embassy in Malawi between 2004 and 2007 when he oversaw U.S. assistance programmes that totaled nearly 100 million dollars annually.

He worked in many parts of Africa in the past, including South Africa, Cameroon and Senegal.