President
Emmanuel Macron of France, on Tuesday, arrived in Nigeria on official visit
aboard French Presidential Jet A330 and landed at the Presidential wing of
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at about 3:10 p.m.
President Emmanuel Macron of France,
inspecting a Guard of honour during his arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport in Abuja President Macron on arrival was received by the
Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama before he inspected
the Presidential Guard of Honour.
He was
also presented with a plaque by the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT),
Malam Muhammad Bello before leaving for the Presidential villa at about 3:40
p.m. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, in an interview with newsmen, said the
visit would support improved ties and trade relations between the two
countries.
He said
it would also be the first formal meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari
and the French President since assumption of office.
Onyeama added that the visit would further
help to reinforce the French support to Nigeria in the areas of security, trade
and cultural ties. According to him, French is involved in the five Sahel
countries in what they called the G5 Sahel and which is sorted around Mali and
dealing with the Al-Qaida in the Sahel and also the other terrorist groups in
the Sahel region.
“We are
also going to be looking complementarily at the two security groupings, that is
the G5 Sahel and of course the multinational joint task force that we have in
fighting Boko Haram, so we can work together sharing intelligence. “Also very
importantly, there is the issue of funding for the fight against terrorism in
the African countries and France has been supporting us in this and looking for
greater United Nations involvement financially in the process.
“So we are looking forward for the support of
the French in engaging the UN to help. “We have a stronger ally in the demand
for the UN financial investment and involvement in fighting terrorism in the
West African Sahel region,” he said. In the area of economy, Onyeama said that
France had been one of the big investors in the country, adding that more
investment was expected with the visit of Mr Macron.
He said
that President Buhari would let the French president know that Nigeria was very
much ready for business notwithstanding the security challenges that the nation
is facing. He also disclosed that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be
signed for French Energy and Environmental companies for an environmental
project in Ogun State during the visit. According to him, this project is
looking at reforestation and also brings in investments there in developing
timber and other agricultural products that will now in turn create about
150,000 jobs. “President Macron is a young president and he is a president that
believes so much in the youth.
“So after meeting with Mr president here and
signing the MoU, he will be going to African shrine, Lagos, and also engage
with the youth in Nigeria. “He will also be meeting with some of our creative
industry proprietors to promote greater cultural ties, and we are hoping that
his engagement with the creative sector of our country will further enhance
French-Nigeria cooperation,” he said.
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