By Salisu Sani-Idris
President Bola Tinubu, on Sunday solicited the support of German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in combating terrorism in Nigeria.
Tinubu made the request at a bilateral meeting with the German Chancellor at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Sunday.
“We are fighting terrorism and that is improving. We still need more support in that area. And for us to be able to sustain democracy, rule of law and freedom for our people, we need to fight for democracy.
“And democracy must win at all times for us to meet the expectation of an African dream. That is why your visit this time around is more than necessary.
“You will have noticed, I don’t need to go about the various problems happening in the Sahel region of Africa. You’ve seen and noticed the coup in Guinea and recently in Niger Republic.
“We have people diplomatically managing the situation. The need for you to help on security will be emphasised and we will continue to require your knowledge.
“We thank you for the past contributions, particularly on police, law enforcement training. We need more help. And we’ll discuss further today.”
The president said following the supreme court judgment validating his election, his administration would focus on good governance to move the country forward.
He said his administration was determined to change the narrative and bring about a transformative government in the country.
“It is just about a few days ago that the Nigerian Supreme Court had a final say on our electoral exercise.
“The distraction is over. This gives us more time to focus on governance for the people and moving Nigeria forward for economic opportunities and prosperity that will defend democracy.
“Our economic team and members of the group are all here ready to partner with you, with Germany as the largest economy in Europe.
“And the largest economy in Africa is Nigeria, so we are blessed with good environment, weather and blessed in terms of mineral resources.
“Our hydrocarbon industry is still fledging environmentally while we are moving towards the transition energy source.
“I know Germany has advanced a lot in protecting the environment and modernising energy to meet the 21st century needs both of the world and Europe in particular.”
On his part, Scholz expressed the commitment of Germany to democracy and the rule of law.
“And it is important for us to make this a lifestyle for countries. It is good for a better future for our people. And so I’m very happy that we can work on this discussion.
“We will examine how we can continue to support you in doing the best and having this insecurity questions in your country as well.
“We will go into details later, but I can assure you that we will continue our support and our cooperation in this field.”
He said one of the main aspects for cooperation between the two countries would be developing the economy and using the economic opportunities of Nigeria.
“As you already said, there are a lot of chances not just from gas and oil, which is traditionally linked to your country.
“But there’s a lot of room for improvement, using the capacities of your country, but also for going into investments for the future, which is about hydrogen.”
(NAN)
