The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • UN approves resolution backing Morocco’s plan for Western Sahara

    UN approves resolution backing Morocco’s plan for Western Sahara

    The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has adopted a resolution supporting  Moroccan sovereignty over  Western Sahara.

    The UNSC, in a United States-drafted text, on Friday called for the parties to engage in negotiations based on an autonomy plan first presented by Morocco to the UN in 2007.

    According to the resolution,  a genuine autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty could be the most feasible solution to Rabat’s 50-year conflict with the Algeria-backed Polisario Front.

    The US, which sponsored the resolution, led 11 countries in voting in favour, while three countries – Russia, China and Pakistan – abstained. Algeria, Polisario’s primary benefactor, opposed the measure.

    Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, said the vote had been “historic” and would “build on the momentum for a long, long overdue peace in Western Sahara”.

    “We urge all parties to use the coming weeks to come to the table and engage in serious discussions.We believe regional peace is possible this year, and we will make every effort to facilitate progress,” Waltz said.

    Amar Bendjama, the Algerian ambassador to the UN, said that while the resolution was an improvement on previous iterations, it “still has a number of shortcomings”.

    “It is below, below, I say, of the expectations and the legitimate aspirations of the people of Western Sahara, represented by the Polisario Front,” he said.

    Although Friday’s vote was divided, the resolution offers the strongest endorsement yet for Morocco’s plan to keep sovereignty over the territory, which also has backing from most European Union members and a growing number of African allies.

    The resolution refers to Morocco’s plan as a basis for negotiation as with similar resolutions in previous years, the text makes no mention of a referendum on self-determination that includes independence as an option.

    The 11 council members vote in favour of the resolution also renewed for one year the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in Western Sahara, known as the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)

    Western Sahara, a tract of desert the size of Britain, has been the scene of Africa’s longest-running territorial dispute since colonial power Spain left in 1975 and Morocco annexed the territory.

    Morocco considers the territory its own while the Polisario Front seeks to establish an independent state called the Sahrawi Republic.

    Morocco’s autonomy proposal would establish a local legislative, executive and judicial authority for Western Sahara elected by its residents, while Rabat would retain jurisdiction over defence, foreign affairs and religious matters.

  • Putin, Trump and next

    Putin, Trump and next

    By Diane Francis

    Why doesn’t Donald Trump have sympathy with Ukraine like most people do? Why has he placed no sanctions on Russia or its oil customers? Why does he hesitate to give Ukraine Tomahawk missiles to retaliate against Russia’s devastating attacks on civilians? Why does he handle Putin with kid gloves and respect? Why is he the tough guy who beats up or bombs rivals but tiptoes around Putin, allowing him to embarrass, humiliate, and outflank him? Why is there no deal to end the war? Of growing concern is that Trump’s efforts have also been erratic and questionable, raising questions as to whether he’s impaired, has been promised riches by Putin, or is being blackmailed. Whatever the reason, Putin, the world’s worst geopolitical predator, has been able to run circles around the most powerful man on the Planet. So far.

    It makes little sense that a tough guy from New York City with a bottomless desire for success and the Nobel Peace Prize has squandered the momentum he created by executing the Israel-Gaza peace deal, a template that he made. All that is needed to stop Russia’s slaughter is: Back Ukraine to the hilt with weapons, as he did Israel, demolish Russia’s oil industry and economy with long-range missiles as well as severe sanctions, sanction all of Russia’s oil customers, publicly isolate, humiliate, and call Putin a war criminal who kidnaps children, then demand a ceasefire or escalate. Trump’s failure to put his own patented peace plan into gear makes him an accomplice, not a savior.

    Matthias Schmale, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, said 2025 has been deadlier for civilians than 2024, with casualties rising 30 percent.

    Equally perplexing is that Trump is unafraid of bombing and sanctioning the Ayatollahs or destroying thugs like Nicholas Maduro in Venezuela. But, in the case of Ukraine, Trump has held back from slamming Putin for refusing to agree to a ceasefire, as Ukraine did weeks ago, and has held back from providing more firepower to Kyiv as it is continuously bombarded. Instead, he has a chat with Putin and backs down. Clearly, nuclear escalation is always a concern, but Trump recently positioned nuclear submarines close to Russia to reassert American deterrence boldly.

    READ ALSO: Obi Cubana blames solo-ownership culture for African business failures

    What’s perplexing is the Trump-Putin relationship. Trump talks Tomahawks, Putin calls, and Trump shrinks. Then, Trump agrees that another summit will be held in Budapest. That bilateral is a coup for Putin for three reasons: Ukraine is not invited to participate, equivalent to settling the Israel-Gaza war by holding talks with Iran and Hamas without including Israel. Secondly, the summit provides another global photo-op for Putin, as did the pointless summit in Alaska, and thirdly, it also raises Putin’s stature in a city run by a pro-Putin government.

    Budapest is an unacceptable venue. Putin chose it because it was where, three decades ago, Kyiv agreed to surrender its nuclear arsenal in return for security guarantees from the US, Britain, Russia, and others – guarantees that were never honored. Ukraine was invaded twice since then by Russia, and the US and Britain didn’t lift a finger. Besides that, Hungary is Europe’s “skunk at the picnic” and a small, inconsequential nation run by Viktor Orban, a Putin lackey. Russia openly bribes Hungary by providing it with cheap oil, and Hungary returns the favor by refusing to supply self-defense military equipment to Ukraine, nor to allow military equipment sent by other European Union (EU) member states to pass through the country.

    Frankly, Hungary should be booted out of the EU and NATO because its government is obstructive to both alliances and is also guilty of democratic backsliding. Orban vetoes EU aid to Ukraine, and only recently agreed not to veto NATO assistance to Ukraine in return for concessions. But Orban is also a favorite of Trump because of his right-wing autocratic policies. So far, concerning Ukraine, it’s game, set, and match for Putin. In one phone call, Trump went from contemplating Tomahawks and sanctions to providing Putin with another global stage. Worse, in advance of the meet-up, Trump is putting pressure on Ukraine to capitulate, not on Putin. For example, he recently told Ukraine to accept Putin’s terms or risk being “destroyed” and suggested that Ukraine may have to trade land (Donbas) for peace.

    A bilateral summit also suits Trump and will help project his “peacemaker” image. More importantly, it will allow his team to conduct “business” with the Kremlin. Since his inauguration, Russia has dangled economic proposals to the American business community as a tactic to undermine support for Ukraine and as a disincentive against destroying Russia’s economy to stop the war, according to an Oct. 17 report published by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in Washington. “The Kremlin continues to employ a dual-handed rhetorical strategy, leveraging economic proposals and veiled military threats in an effort to simultaneously pursue normalizing US-Russian relations and deterring US support for Ukraine,” it wrote.

    This initiative is being directed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) CEO and key Kremlin negotiator, Kirill Dmitriev, who publicly promotes a gigantic joint US-Russian economic venture, according to the ISW. This undertow of promised opportunities is obviously designed to prevent attacks that could destroy Russia’s asset base as well as to discourage draconian sanctions that could cripple its key businesses.

    Interestingly, the Republican and business-oriented Wall Street Journal urges full-on escalation against Russia in an editorial entitled “Give Ukraine the Tomahawks, Mr. President.” It stated that “Mr. Trump’s reluctance seems to involve two concerns, and the first is escalation with a nuclear power. But Mr. Putin has been lobbing cruise and ballistic missiles at Ukraine for years, and there’s nothing escalatory about return fire. Tomahawks could be a force for peace by altering Mr. Putin’s capacity to carry on his grinding war. Mr. Trump has said repeatedly he wants to end the war, and no doubt he means it. But Mr. Putin so far hasn’t shown any willingness to stop shooting.”

    So what’s next? There may be a light at the end of this tunnel. For starters, Trump would never have agreed to go to Budapest without certainty that there is or will be a deal. The Putin call was lengthy and took 2.5 hours, which indicates that a complicated agreement may have been sketched out. The latest rumor is that Putin wants Donetsk but is willing to “surrender” parts of occupied southern Ukraine, wrote the ISW on Oct. 20. But no one knows.

    Optimistically, the best scenario would be that Trump may, in fact, pull off another Israel-Gaza triumph. After all, Putin knows that without a ceasefire win for Trump, the stalemate will grind on, Ukrainians won’t capitulate, and Tomahawks, backed by Ukrainian drones, will eventually have to wipe out what’s left of Russia’s economy. Only a deal can prevent Russia’s collapse and eventual dissolution. So Trump let Putin pick Budapest, but only if he agreed to freeze the battle line where it is now, give up some land, and immediately stop shooting.

    • This article was originally published in www.kyivpost.com

  • FULL LIST: Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, others under US “Countries of Particular Concern” List

    FULL LIST: Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, others under US “Countries of Particular Concern” List

    A Country of Particular Concern (CPC) is a designation by the United States Secretary of State (under authority delegated by the President) of a country responsible for particularly severe violations of religious freedom under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998 (H.R. 2431) and its amendment of 1999 (Public Law 106-55).

    It is no longer news that US President Donald Trump has redesignated Nigeria a ‘country of particular concern’ (CPC).

    Trump’s announcement on Friday was in response to allegations of a Christian genocide in the country.

    It is not the first time the US President has made such a move. In the last year of his first term as President in 2020, Nigeria was designated a CPC. However, the Joe Biden administration later removed Nigeria from the list.

    Trump’s redesignation comes after months of pressure from US lawmakers asking the President and Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, to make the move.

    When the US designates a state as a CPC, congress is notified to impose non-economic policy options designed to bring about cessation of the particularly severe violations of religious freedom. Where these options have been exhausted, an economic measure follows.

    Examples of both options could include strong diplomatic engagement and public condemnation, restricting or withdrawing development assistance, limiting or suspending security assistance, opposing loans, or blocking export licenses.

    The most recent Countries of Particular Concern designations were made by the Secretary of State on December 29, 2023:

    Burma

    People’s Republic of China

    Cuba 

    Eritrea

    Iran

    The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, 

    Nicaragua

    Pakistan

    Russia

    Saudi Arabia

    Tajikistan 

    Turkmenistan

  • What is the UN80 Initiative?

    What is the UN80 Initiative?

    By Pelumi Salako

    As the United Nations approached its 80th birthday in March 2025, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched a system-wide reform called the UN80 Initiative to restructure the global multilateral organization in the face of shifting realities. 

    The initiative was designed to find out how the UN could continue to be as effective in the discharge of duties as funding from member states shrinks — earlier in the year, the new United States government announced its decision to cut 80 per cent of its global aid support through its aidmaking organization USAID. European countries have since followed in a similar direction, opting to look inwards to solve domestic issues. 

    The initiative’s big question is: How can the UN adapt to become more agile, integrated, and equipped to respond to today’s complex global challenges amid tightening resources. The key areas of operation are efficiencies and improvement, mandate implementation review, and potential structural changes and programme realignments. 

    Initial proposals include consolidating administrative platforms in New York and Bangkok, unifying the UN payroll, and relocating some functions from higher-cost to lower-cost duty stations. The UN budget has been cut by 15 per cent and will see 18 per cent — about 6,000 positions — reduction in posts.

    “We have a pretty high level of vacancies in this system so it won’t be quite the elevator drop that it might look like and we have to look for ways of redeploying people where we can, ways of looking at voluntary separations. We are going to do this in the best way we possibly can,” said Guy Ryder, the UN Under-Secretary steering the initiative.

    READ ALSO: What happens to pension benefits when a contributor dies under CPS?

    He said the initiative is a result of a very deep and reflecting analysis of what the UN does and how it does it. He added that it is not a downsizing and it is being done through existing procedures in ways that will help mitigate the impact on UN staff.

    “This is not the UN’s DOGE,” he said referencing the United States Department of Government Efficiency empowered to cut government spending and programs it deems to be a waste of public funds.

    Shrinking funding points to growing skepticism about the place of multilateralism today. Ryder says the role the UN plays a crucial across the world, and it is important for its work to continue, especially its humanitarian work to those in critical need. 

    There is an increasing need for humanitarian assistance across the world as multiple countries confront crises, war, environmental disasters, and disease outbreaks amongst others. UN specialized agencies like World Food Program, World Health Organization, IOM and UNICEF are at the forefront globally

    “Humanitarian action is on the brink of collapse,” Secretary-General Guterres told the United Nations General Assembly on October 15. “Needs are higher than ever, yet funding for the UN system’s humanitarian operations is shrinking. Now is the time for bold, systematic change, building on the humanitarian reset…”

    The Secretary-General added that the reforms would reduce bureaucracy, and harmonize the agencies to work better in sync for faster operational response.

    The totality of the UN’s mandate has to be pursued, said Ryder who continued that although the UN may be smaller with fewer resources at their disposal, they have to work better.

    “This is not abandoning ambition, this is not stepping back from responsibilities, it is navigating tough times with a view to getting the job done,” he said.

  • A new partnership boosts nutrition efforts in Nigeria

    A new partnership boosts nutrition efforts in Nigeria

    By Pelumi Salako

    At a side event during the United Nations 80th General Assembly last week, a strategic collaboration with UNICEF and Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) under the Child Nutrition Fund, and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) was discussed. 

    UNCDF issued a $2.5 million loan to food manufacturer Ariel Foods FZE for the construction and development of a facility in Nigeria where lifesaving therapeutic foods for children will be produced using locally sourced groundnuts, instead of relying on overseas import. 

    The panel featured Dhiren Chandaria, the chairman of Ariel Foods FZE, Uju Rochas-Anwukah,  special assistant to the president of Nigeria on Public Health, Charles Wetherill, the programme development advisor at UNCDF, and moderated by journalist Damilola Banjo. 

    Charles Wetherill said the move was an investment in a Nigeria-based nutrition company to finance and extend the production line of essential child nutrition amongst other benefits. Nutrition in Nigeria has not been up looking this past few years as conflicts and spiralling economy amongst other factors continue to impact quality of life and access to food.

    According to WFP, 30.6 million people are food insecure. 10 million people and 17 million children are malnourished, the second highest in the world just after India. 

    Wetheril said the fund offers four major advantages; a manufacturing base locally creates jobs for Nigerians, 50% of which would go to women, he said. It also unlocks markets for smallholder farmers who would be supplying the factory with peanuts, the essentially ingredient for production of the nutrient food. 

    READ ALSO: What happens to pension benefits when a contributor dies under CPS?

    “Third, it enables a better performance of essential humanitarian supply chain by essentially bringing locally made products into the solution chain. And finally, it is an investment, it is a loan, and so the capital comes back to us, and then we do it again with another transaction. We’ll achieve development impact, and then the capital comes back to us, and we’ll do it again. So we are able to achieve multipliers of impact with a single dollar.”

    Wetheril said this model is a roadmap for how the United Nations system can work going forward. 

    “Such partnerships, collaboration, especially when the deliberate and coordinated would help sort of start to move the needle, and it will help us start seeing results, which this administration is keen on,” according to Uju Rochas-Anwukah, the presidential advisor, told The Guardian after the panel.

    Chandaria, Ariel Food’s founder said the funding would enable Africa to serve Africa. The major ingredients being put to use are produced locally by locally employed staffs of the company. 

    The company is situated in Alaro city, just 25km away from the Lekki free zone and the new airport under development in Lagos. 

    “We are taking a malnourished child, skin and bones, out of that. It is a 92 gram pack and it is less than $50 worth we are bringing a child out of skin and bone situation … back to normal life. It is fantastic,” said Chandaria who added that the support from the Nigerian government has been incredible.  

    Nigeria’s strategic objective is to reduce malnutrition, build resillience and invest in human capital, according to Rochas-Onwukah, who said it might be deemed ambitious but it is achievable. 

    “We understand that nutrition is the foundation for productivity of the workforce and the growth of the economy and so this is why the president has put human capital at the center of the renewed hope agenda [the ruling government’s agenda] and earlier in the year the vice president innaugurated what we call Nutrition 774 (N774) initiative which ensures action and accountability at the grassroots where it matters the most,” she said. 

    Nigeria has a very young population with 70% of the people under the age of 30. Rochas-Anwukah said these programs is important and would help harness demographic dividends. 

    “We are very particular to ensure that we provide the right policies that would allow for public-private partnerships and bring in private sectors like Ariel Foods and UNCDF to be able to pull in together funds. And then we have N774 that creates such platforms bringing in three tiers of government – the federal, state and local government– the private sector and development partners all acting in a unified agenda to achieve one goal.”

    Sustainability is key because we can’t afford for the progress being made to be afffected by fund cuts or political cycles when they change, said Rochas-Anwukah, and so with our policies, one of which is presently being reviewed, at the multisectoral plan of action, initiatives like N774 will ensure that it’s embedded, N774 drives for political will.

    Political will will aid the program’s sustainability beyond the political cycles. She added that Nigeria is the only African country to attain WHO maturity level three and on track to level four which means that our local productions are now considered safe and quality for consumption 

    Meanwhile Wetheril said the investment will provide a boost to Ariel Foods and by the time they call back the capital, the company would have reached a stage where it is sustainable.

    “Together, that triangle of partnership: capital, public partners and a business like Dhiren’s, we can do that over and over again and I think that is really looking forward,” he said. 

  • Cameroon opposition rejects Biya’s win amid violent protests

    Cameroon opposition rejects Biya’s win amid violent protests

    Cameroon’s opposition leaders rejected presidential election results that extended President Paul Biya’s rule for another seven years, saying the outcome did not reflect the will of the people in a country already battling a separatist conflict.

    The central African nation’s constitutional council on Monday declared Biya, 92, as the winner of the disputed vote with over 53% of the ballots, triggering violent protests in several cities in the oil- and cocoa-producing nation.

    The court’s ruling, which is final and cannot be appealed, signals a potentially prolonged post-election standoff.

    Issa Tchiroma Bakary , Biya’s main challenger, had earlier declared victory and warned he would not accept any other outcome. His supporters have angrily taken to the streets, clashing with riot police and blocking roads in the commercial capital Douala with burning tires and debris.

    Read Also: Nigeria Pitch Awards to launch  annual  football conference

    The protests killed at least four people over the weekend and two others on Monday, according to the opposition.

    There were scattered celebrations in Biya’s strongholds and government ministers held a party. The usually bustling streets of Douala remained quiet yesterday as rain and riot police kept protesters away.

    The European Union expressed “deep concern” about the recent violent repression of protests and called on authorities to tackle the excessive use of force. It also urged leaders to engage in dialogue to preserve national stability.

  • Nigeria, Nordic partners pledge to deepen ties in green energy, digital technology, others

    Nigeria, Nordic partners pledge to deepen ties in green energy, digital technology, others

    Nigeria and its Nordic partners have pledged to deepen their collaboration across green energy, digital technology, health, and agriculture.

    They also agreed to forge partnerships that promise sustainable impact for years to come.

    They made this known at the conclusion of Nordic Nigeria Connect 2025 Business Forum held last week in Lagos under the thematic: “Forging Partnerships for Sustainable Impact”.

    Read Also: I want to take Nigeria to 2026 World Cup – Osimhen

    Organised by the Nordic Embassies in Nigeria and their Trade Offices, the forum, which was the fourth edition, provided a platform for government leaders, innovators, and private sector executives to explore collaboration across four critical sectors: green energy, digital technology, health innovation, and sustainable agriculture.

    Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Dr. Bosun Tijani, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Samuel Egube, Enugu State Deputy Governor Ifeanyi Ossai, State Secretary for Trade and Investment for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Denmark H.E. Lina Gandløse Hansen and Deputy Minister for International Trade in Finland H.E. Jarno Syrjälä were part of dignitaries who attended the event.

    Other significant Nordic dignitaries present included H.E. Johan Frisell, Deputy Director-General and Director for Africa at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs; Ambassador of Finland to Nigeria, H.E. Sanna Selin; Ambassador-Designate of Sweden to Nigeria, H.E. Anna Westerholm; Ambassador of Denmark to Nigeria, H.E. Jens Ole Bach Hansen; and the Ambassador of Norway to Nigeria, H.E. Svein Baera.

  • Provisional results say Ivory Coast’s Ouattara wins re-election

    Provisional results say Ivory Coast’s Ouattara wins re-election

    Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has secured a fourth term with a commanding re-election win, according to provisional results announced by the electoral commission yesterday

    The 83-year-old former international banker won 89.77% of the vote, his third consecutive decisive victory after the much closer election that brought him to power in 2011.

    His predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo, refused to acknowledge defeat in that race, sparking a four-month war that killed around 3,000 people.

    Read Also: Why Nigeria is best for global mineral Investment

    Ouattara has since overseen a period of relative stability and steady economic growth in the world’s biggest cocoa producer.

    The turnout of around 50% was comparable to the presidential elections in 2010 and 2015 but far below the 80% who voted in the first round in 2010.

    Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam, former CEO of Credit Suisse, were not legally permitted to run this year, and the remaining opposition candidates lacked the backing of a major political party, making Ouattara the clear favourite.

    The results are expected to be validated by the Constitutional Council in the coming days.

  • Constitutional council declares Cameroon’s Biya re-elected at 92

    Constitutional council declares Cameroon’s Biya re-elected at 92

    Protests errupt

    Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, the world’s oldest serving ruler, secured an eighth term in office on Monday, vote results showed, as the main opposition challenger, who has also claimed victory, reported gunfire near his home.

    Sporadic protests erupted in several towns across the country after the result was announced.

    Biya, 92, won 53.66% of the vote, against 35.19% for his former ally, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the Constitutional Council said. A new seven-year term could keep the veteran leader in power until he is nearly 100.

    Opposition protesters have clashed with security forces repeatedly over the past week after partial results suggested Biya was on course to win the October 12 vote.

    There was no immediate comment on the result from the government, which has rejected opposition accusations of irregularities.

    After the results were announced, Tchiroma wrote on Facebook that two people were killed after shots were fired at civilians outside his home in the northern city of Garoua.

    He did not say who had fired the shots or comment directly on the election result. Reuters could not confirm his account independently. Last week, he said he had won the election and would not accept any other result.

    In Garoua, angry protesters guarding Tchiroma’s home said they targeted a house sheltering snipers firing at supporters, bursting a water tank.

    Streets were largely deserted in the capital Yaounde and most businesses closed, with anti-riot police deployed across the city.

    Reuters reporters witnessed clashes between opposition supporters and security forces in Douala, where police fired tear gas as protesters protected their faces with masks or clothing. Tchiroma supporters erected barricades, piled debris on the road and burned tires, darkening the sky.

    “We all know that the majority of Cameroon’s people voted for Issa Tchiroma Bakary,” said one protester in Douala. “It is inadmissible that President Paul Biya won in certain war zones.”

    Read Also: Tuggar reaffirms Nigeria–EU strategic partnership

    The result raised the prospect of more confrontations between opposition supporters and security forces, a day after at least four people died in clashes in Cameroon’s commercial capital Douala.

    “We expect unrest to escalate as Cameroonians widely reject the official result, and we cannot see the Biya government lasting much longer,” said Francois Conradie, lead political economist at Oxford Economics.

    “Biya now has a notably shaky mandate given many of his own citizens don’t believe he won the election,” Murithi Mutiga, Africa Programme Director at the International Crisis Group, told Reuters.

    “We call on Biya to urgently initiate a national mediation to prevent further escalation,” Mutiga added.

    Biya, 92, took office in 1982 and has held a tight grip on power ever since, doing away with the presidential term limit in 2008 and winning reelection by comfortable margins.

    “Hereby declared elected President of the Republic, having obtained the majority of the votes cast, the candidate, Biya, Paul,” Clement Atangana, president of the Constitutional Council, said.

    Tchiroma is a former government spokesperson and employment minister in his late 70s who broke ranks with Biya earlier this year.

    He mounted a campaign that drew large crowds and endorsements from a coalition of opposition parties and civic groups.

  • Tuggar reaffirms Nigeria-EU strategic partnership

    Tuggar reaffirms Nigeria-EU strategic partnership

    Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar has reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to deepening longstanding strategic partnership with the European Union (EU).

    Tuggar noted that the EU remains Nigeria’s largest trading partner and a critical ally in regional development, peace and integration.

    The minister spoke while hosting a six-member delegation from the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tafawa Balewa House, Abuja.

    The visiting parliamentarians, drawn from five countries and representing three different political groups, were in Nigeria as part of a working visit to strengthen bilateral relations and gain a deeper understanding of developments in West Africa.

    Discussions held in Abuja are expected to inform the EU’s policy input ahead of the forthcoming EU–African Union Summit in Angola later in November.

    Ambassador Tuggar, in his welcome remarks, noted that any engagement with the EU is “a very important one” for Nigeria given the continent’s economic and political influence.

    “Europe continues to be our largest trading partner, accounting for no less than €31.8 billion in trade volume.

    “For us, the European Union is not a distant partner; we consider ourselves neighbours, separated only by the Mediterranean, which is water in the middle of land.”

    He stressed that Nigeria’s relationship with the EU transcends commerce, extending to security cooperation, regional stability and sustainable development.

    The minister also highlighted Nigeria’s recent admission as the 77th shareholder in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), describing it as a milestone that reinforces the country’s commitment to international cooperation and investment.

    Tuggar said:  “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration prioritises food security as the foundation of national stability, especially with Nigeria’s population projected to grow from 230 million to over 400 million by 2050.

    “We are in a race against time to feed our population, create jobs, and promote sustainable growth. As the leader of our region and a key player on the continent, Nigeria bears the responsibility of fostering integration and ensuring the prosperity of the African market.”

    Read Also: Tinubu’s fiscal revolution rebuilding Nigeria, says APC

    He also pointed out that the West African bloc look up to the European Union as a model of integration and partnership, “and we are committed to strengthening our collaboration.”

    Speaking on behalf of the delegation, Member of the European Parliament and Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, David MacAllister, described Nigeria as a “strategic partner” for the European Union, highlighting the country’s political influence, population strength, and regional leadership within ECOWAS.

    “Nigeria is not only Africa’s most populous nation but also a major regional, political, and economic power in West Africa.

    “We are here to listen, learn, and deepen our engagement with your great country.”

    The delegation commended Tuggar for engaging them in a detailed and open discussion on regional affairs, including developments in ECOWAS, the African Union and the Sahel region.

    MacAllister said: “To sum it up in one sentence, Nigeria matters. Nigeria matters for us in the European Union.

    “We are very keen to take our relationship with Nigeria to the next level, and this will be the message we take back to Brussels.”

    The visit forms part of a broader mission to West Africa, with the delegation scheduled to spend two and a half days in Nigeria before proceeding to Ghana.