President Muhammadu Buhari and his Turkish counterpart, President Recep Tayyip have signed a Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on eight major sectors including defence, industry, mining and hydrocarbons among others.
The pacts were signed after both leaders met at the Presidential Villa Abuja, following a series of interactions on their similarities and areas of mutual cooperation open to Nigeria and Turkey.
Speaking about the positive gains of the Erdogan’ visit to Nigeria, President Buhari said both countries discussed issues and signed agreements that will further strengthen existing diplomatic relations between both countries, especially security and defence, as well as trade and commerce.
Buhari said: “I’m happy to welcome my brother, His Excellency, President Tayyip Erdogan, and his wife, First Lady of Turkey, that have been visiting Nigeria for the past two days. It is a reflection of our warm and cordial bilateral relations that this is the second time I’ve had the pleasure of receiving my brother in Abuja.
“During the visit, we had very useful discussions on a number of bilateral issues, aimed at strengthening this cordial relationship between Nigeria and Turkey. The key issues we touched on included a series of bilateral agreements and Memoranda of Understanding that have been finalised.
“As a positive outcome, eight major agreements, MoU) on a number of the key sectors, including energy, defense, industry, mining, and hydrocarbons, among others, were signed today. We have agreed that implementation is to commence immediately.
“In the course of our discussions, we also reviewed the travel ban based on the revised COVID-19 protocols, and removed Turkey from Nigeria’s travel ban list. Turkey has indeed achieved remarkable success in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In his speech interpreted by one of the officials on his entourage, President Erdogan recognised Nigeria as one of Turkey’s oldest allies in Africa, having seen 60 years of diplomatic ties.
He assured that that steps will immediately be taken to expand the trade volume between the two countries to $5 billion from the $2 billion it achieved last year.
