News

Tuggar Says Nigeria Expanding Its Foreign Policy In Line With Constitution

Published

6 months ago

March 29, 2024

Gloria Ikibah

…as diplomatic correspondents conferred on him Grand Patron

By Gloria Ikibah

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has said that Nigeria is vigorously expanding its foreign policy in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Minister who stated this when he received members of the Diplomatic Correspondents’ Association of Nigeria, (DICAN), on Thursday in Abuja, who conferred on him the ‘Grand Patron’ for his innovative role in enhancing Nigeria’s foreign policy through President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He commended the members of the association and said the step take by DICAN was a challenge to do more.

He said: “We will expand, we’ll continue to engage other countries but you also have to bear in mind that whatever you do in foreign policy, your starting point is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and in that constitution, the foreign policy objectives in Nigeria, and those constants, you cannot change that. And one of the foreign policy objectives, one talks about our region, West Africa. Another, Africa itself, so, those are immovable.

“And you can see how it also makes sense for Nigeria to pay close attention to what happens in its region because when outsiders also engage with us, they not only engage with us as Nigeria, but they’re also engaging with us as the leader in our neighborhood, in our region, on the continent.

“And this is going to become even more so because we’re growing in terms of population, we are the most populous and we will continue to be so we’ll be the most third most populous country on the planet by 2050 and of course, economy is also the largest economy on the continent. Therefore, when people look at us, they will approach us through that perspective,” he said.

According to Tuggar, Nigeria has been consistent in terms even in a bipolar world, “we were non aligned, we will neither with the US nor the Soviet bloc at the time. We dealt with both sides.

We are equal opportunity aligners, we are aligned with the interests of Nigeria and we will continue to do so.

“This is why she continued to emphasize today on strategic autonomy and that’s the new name for non alignment since we no longer have those two blocks, you no longer have a bipolar world with the structure that you have now, it is a multipolar world. We align with whatever polarity benefits Nigeria, Nigeria’s interests and the tradition of condoling with countries when they have such unfortunate incident occur, continues. It’s not new.

“And Russia is not an enemy.

If you go back to the Soviet era and the Cold War era? Soviet Union had very close relations with Nigeria, Ajaokuta Steel Complex was built by Soviet Union at the time, which consisted of both Russia and Ukraine and we will continue to maintain very good relations with them. Our position on violation of territorial integrity of countries remains the same, it remains consistent, we condemned the violation of Ukraine’s territorial space when it occurred but it does not mean that because of that, we will stop dealing with Russia, we will continue to deal with Ukraine, same way we’re dealing with other countries,” Amb. Tuggar concluded.

Earlier, the Chairman of DICAN, Comrade, Idehai Frederick assured that the Association will continue to report Nigeria from a patriotic point of view as well as project the nation’s image positively before the international community.

“We as DICAN are committed to supporting you to succeed in your responsibility as the number one diplomat in the country. We also assure you of DICAN’s partnership to project the nation’s image positively before the international community as well as drive the country’s foreign policy in line with the renewed hope agenda of the President.

“Your Excellency, we also wish to reassurance you of the association’s commitment to partner with you and the Ministry to make Nigeria a better place,” Idehai said.

News

Ecoparl: Speaker Ibrahima Reaffirms Parliament’s Dedication to Regional Unity

Published

5 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Gloria Ikibah

By Gloria Ikibah

The Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Rt. Honourable Memounatou Ibrahima, restated that the parliament remains committed to ensuring the unity and integration of the people within the subregion.

According to Speaker Ibrahima, the Parliament will continue to use parliamentary diplomacy to engage countries that are considering leaving the bloc due to political challenges, such as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, as a result of military coups they experienced.

The Speaker stated this when she led a delegation of the ECOWAS Parliament on a working visit to the President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday in Abuja.

She highlighted that while countries may break formal cooperation, the people of the region remain interconnected, adding that the Parliament, as representatives of these people, will work to maintain the unity.

Ibrahima expressed gratitude to the Nigerian Senate for supporting ECOWAS by providing necessary facilities for their plenary sessions, even as she discussed the socio-political challenges facing the region, as well as how parliamentarians can contribute more to address these issues.

She said: “We strengthen parliamentary diplomacy, because we know that the countries might break cooperation but we cannot separate the population. The population always live together and we as representatives of the people, we are doing our best so that this living together will continue to be reality and even made better.

“We came to thank him for all the facilities that the senate has been providing to the ECOWAS Parliament to facilitate the holding of our sessions here in Abuja. We also discussed on the socio-political situation in the community. We also discussed on the ways parliamentarians can make more contributions on the various issues and the challenges that we are experiencing in ECOWAS”.

The President of the Senate,

Senator Akpabio, who was represented by his Deputy, Senator Barau Jubril, commended Ibrahima’s leadership and her efforts in using parliamentary diplomacy to foster cooperation within ECOWAS, especially in light of the challenges posed by countries considering an exit from the bloc.

He noted that since Speaker Meimounatou assumed office, she has deployed enormous parliamentary diplomacy to bear not only on the level of cooperation with institutions in the region but also on those that have expressed the wish to quit the regional block.

Naijablitznews.com reports that Senator Jubril is the First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament.

He said: “Since she was elected the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, she has been up and doing in terms of giving leadership to the parliament. It is in that regard that she is here trying to chart a better course for the parliament to make sure that she brings parliamentary diplomacy to bear in terms of our cooperation not only with those who are within the community as we speak but also even those who are attempting to leave the community.

“It is in that respect that she is here, and what she is doing is commendable. She has come to strengthen her idea and initiative of making the parliament stronger and more effective”.

News

Air Force Begins Moving Electoral Materials For Edo Guber Election

Published

7 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has began airlifting the sensitive election materials for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to Benin, Edo State, ahead of the upcoming governorship election scheduled for September 21, 2024.

This was disclosed on Wednesday by the Deputy Director, Public Relations and Information, Group Captain Kabiru Ali.

The operation is part of the NAF’s efforts to ensure the timely and secure delivery of materials necessary for a smooth electoral process.

This development reinforces the collaboration between NAF and INEC to facilitate logistics and ensure a peaceful election in Edo State.

The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Bala Abubakar, had previously reiterated NAF’s commitment to providing airlift support for the swift movement of electoral materials during a meeting with INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu.

This airlift operation is a crucial aspect of NAF’s constitutional responsibility to provide Military Aid to Civil Authority, underscoring the force’s dedication to supporting democratic processes in Nigeria. With the election just days away, the NAF’s timely intervention will help ensure the successful conduct of the governorship elections in Edo State.

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State had earlier accused the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, of working with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to hunt the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members and supporters in the state and force them into hiding ahead of September 21 governorship election.

Obaseki, who made the allegation when a delegation led by the former Head of State, Abdusalam Abubakar, met with him to get the governor and his party to sign peace accord, said that the IGP had made nonsense of his (Obaseki’s) role as the chief security officer of the state.

The governor had said that the police chief obtained a warrant to arrest 60 members and supporters of PDP in Edo and that the IGP sent an armed “gang” of policemen who invaded the state, attacked PDP members, shot at a local government chairman and arrested 10 persons who are currently being detained in Abuja without charges.

Asked by the former head of state if his party would sign the peace accord, Obaseki said, “The person who is supposed to enforce the peace accord is now an active participant in creating a destructive environment.

“We are now in a situation where from the Inspector General’s office, there are armed gang policemen who came into Edo State, invaded, arrested and took away PDP members.

News

“Dancing gives me abundant joy and peace of mind”-Gov Adeleke

Published

7 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, has given reasons why he loves dancing.

The ‘Dancing Governor’, as he is fondly called, revealed this on Wednesday while responding to a tweet on X.

An X user, @Iwogoke, while praising the governor, stated that Adeleke has been busy fulfilling his electoral promises to the people of Osun State, while his political opponents believe he is only good at dancing.

Iwogoke tweeted, “I’m not flattering you, Your Excellency, your opponents think you can only dance but while they are busy shouting and calling you ‘Dancing Governor’, you are busy fulfilling your electoral promises to the people.”

Responding to the tweet via his verified X account, Adeleke explained that he loves dancing because it brings him joy.

Speaking further on his love for dancing, Adeleke highlighted that while dancing brings him immense happiness, his greater fulfilment comes from delivering the dividends of democracy to the people of Osun.

Outlining his administration’s efforts to enhance the state’s infrastructure, he noted that primary health centre rehabilitation is underway in at least 200 out of the 332 wards across Osun State, adding that road construction projects are also progressing in every local government area.

He wrote, “Dancing gives me joy, but delivering on my electoral promises and providing the dividends of democracy to the good people of Osun gives me even greater joy. Rehabilitation of primary health centers is ongoing in at least 200 out of 332 wards, and road construction is progressing in every Local Government!”