The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kuwait

  • Update: Egyptair crashed in Mediterranean- officials

    Update: Egyptair crashed in Mediterranean- officials

    Officials in the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation on Thursday confirmed that the missing Egyptair Flight 804 crashed in the Mediterranean Sea.

    The officials said in Cairo that initial findings showed that that the Airbus A320 has not landed at any nearby airports.

    The Egyptair said the Egyptian military search teams received a distress call from the emergency mechanisms of the missing aircraft at 4:26 am (0226 GMT) almost two hours after it disappeared from radar.

    According to the airline, the flight from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar at 2:30 am local time (0030 GMT), some 45 minutes before it was expected at Cairo airport.

    It said 30 Egyptians and 15 French nationals were among the passengers on the plane before it disappeared from radar.

    It said the other passengers include two Iraqis, and one person each from Algeria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Chad, Kuwait, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

  • Arab League postpones talks on regional military

    Arab League postpones talks on regional military

    A meeting of Arab defence chiefs and foreign ministers on forming a joint regional military force has been postponed for the second time in two months, the Arab League said Wednesday.

    The talks, scheduled for Thursday, were postponed on requests from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the Cairo-based League said in a statement.

    The pan-Arab organisation did not give a reason for the delay, saying that a new date for the meeting will be set later.

    The countries were meant to endorse an agreement on creating a military force that would tackle the growing influence of hard line jihadists in the region.

    Arab defence chiefs had met twice in May and June to draft the mechanism for setting up the joint force, which was initially approved at an Arab summit held in Egypt earlier in 2015.

    In late March, Saudi Arabia and Sunni fellow Arab countries unleashed an air campaign in Yemen targeting Shiite Houthi rebels allied with Shiite Iran.

    In 1950, members of the Arab League signed a joint defence agreement, which has been rarely enforced.

  • To hell and back: Tale of Nigerians rescued from slavery in Kuwait

    To hell and back: Tale of Nigerians rescued from slavery in Kuwait

    The zeal to travel to Europe or America in search of greener pasture sometimes ends up as a misadventure for some Nigerian youths. Two young ladies were recently rescued by the Oyo State Police Command from slavery in Kuwait after they were deceived into the Asian country. They recounted their ordeal to  BISI OLADELE.

    Any young Nigerians are fed up with the wobbling Nigerian economy. They are in despair in a country that is unable to offer them employment or help them earn a decent living. Some are bitter because of the lack of job security while others simply lost hope after several failed attempts of securing their future. They look for any opportunity to move to foreign lands at which side the field looks greener.

    Desperate to escape, many of them become gullible in the hands of dubious travel agents who exploit, and sometimes, abandon them thereafter to harsh conditions in foreign lands.

    •Miss Daramola (right) and her friend Miss Ajayi
    •Miss Daramola (right) and her friend Miss Ajayi

    Two young ladies – Abiola Daramola and Taiwo Ajayi – just had a taste of the bitter experience.

    Seeking a better life in the United States of America (USA), they ended up in Kuwait where they were lumped with fellow victims from Nigeria and other West African countries and forced to work as house maids.

    Confined to solitude and rendered incommunicado, the ladies were forced to work as house maids with some others eking it out through prostitution.

    “The agent in Kuwait is an Ethiopian. He told me plainly that he signed a two-year contract on me to work as a house maid in Kuwait.” Miss Daramola said, with unbelievable surprise on her face.

    Daramola, 26, is a holder of Diploma in Industrial Relations from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye. She couldn’t finish her B. Sc. programme in a private university because of financial challenges. She sought greener pastures in the USA but she landed in Kuwait after she was persuaded by the agent to take the option for the countless job opportunities awaiting her in the Asian country.

    She said: “I went with my friend, Deola, to an agent, Mr Victor Adelaja, for traveling. When we got there, we said we wanted to go to the USA. The man is the agent in Nigeria. His office is at Bodija, Ibadan. He charged N250,000 for US. We agreed to pay and he promised to facilitate the visa. But as we got to the open office where his secretary sat, she asked us about our country of choice and we told her it was US. She asked if we had sponsors and I told her we didn’t have.

    “Then she suggested Kuwait to us. She said there are jobs in Kuwait. Mr Adelaja had earlier told us but we rejected the idea. But the secretary persuaded us to do it because she had also applied. She said we could go there, work for a few months and return to Nigeria before going to the U.S. She affirmed that white collar jobs are plenty in Kuwait. She convinced us that the idea was good because it would enable us raise enough money before traveling to the U.S. They charged me N150,000. I paid N80,000 with a promise to pay the balance at a later date.  Then, they took me to Kuwait.”

    According to Daramola, she was unaware that she was entering the trap of an international trade syndicate with agents across borders. When she got to Kuwait, she recalled that she was well received by the agent in the country. She disclosed that the man came to welcone her at the airport from where he took her to her office. After the office, the agent told her that she was in the country to work as a house maid.

    Her words: “But on getting to Kuwait, the agent there, who is an Ethiopian, received me at the airport. He then took me to his office where I dropped my luggage.

    Then he sat me down and asked if I remember that I signed a two-year contract with him to work as house maid. I was dazed. I said I didn’t sign such contract. I said I only came to work for a few months and return to Nigeria. He said that was not possible because he signed the contract over me, stressing that he paid N350,000. I was helpless. I didn’t know what to do again.

    I didn’t have a choice because even another Nigerian agent there told me to play along. He said I could just work for about four months and obtain work permit that would enable me do the kind of job I desired.”

    But the job was hard. It wasn’t what she thought as she had to daily clean a two-story building housing 14 families. Worse still, feeding was once a day, and, it was crumbs she packed from the tables of occupants of the building.

    “I started doing the job. But it was so stressful. I had to clean a two-story building accommodating 14 families. There is this family with nine children. Two grown-ups among the children are also married and live with the larger family in the apartment. They are so many. The work was so tedious. Moreso, there was no provision for food. I ate left-over from the families; and that was only once daily.

    “So, I became so uncomfortable. I then told the Nigerian agent that I wanted to come back to Nigeria but he said I must pay back the amount they spent bringing me to Kuwait. I then learnt that the Ethiopian man actually paid N350,000 on me covering visa, air ticket and agent fees. It was like someone sold me to someone, unknown to me. Then, I started crying everyday.”’she recalled.

    Daramola said she continued to cry for days, even in the midst of other victims. After a few days, however, she managed to contact the travel agent in Nigeria, who also insisted that she would have to pay the huge sum if she was desirous of returning home.

    It was at that stage her relations contacted the Oyo State Police Command which waved in, leveraged on its wide expanded network and rescued Daramola and the second victim, Miss Ajayi, from slavery.

    Daramola: “Somehow, I managed to call Mr Adelaja, informing him that I wanted to come back home. He asked me to pay the Ethiopian agent. Then I asked him if he ever told me that he was selling me to someone else. He insisted I must refund the N350,000.

    We managed to get across to Nigerian police who rescued us. The police went to arrest him in his office.”

    “When one of the other victims saw how I cried daily she advised me to go into prostitution to raise the huge amount the cartel requested but I declined.

    “But none of them is doing prostitution because they used to lock us up in a place. No one could go out. They came to pick whoever they had a job for. They also returned us there after work. They didn’t allow us to communicate to the outside world. I hid the phone I used to call. Otherwise, they would have seized it from me.

    There were  lots of young women there, so many. They were uncountable. There were so may Ghanaians, Sierra Leoneans, Camerounians who were trapped there.  It’s hard life. They are forced to work as house maids. But there is a particular one who is into prostitution.”

    The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Muhammed Katsina, described the suspects as “a syndicate whose stock-in-trade is unlawful, criminal indulgence in human slave trade of international dimension.”

    He added that the syndicate has web of agents in many parts of Nigeria and overseas, particularly in Kuwait, specializing in luring young ladies seeking greener pasture abroad into slavery under the pretext of assisting in providing job opportunities.

    Recalling how the command succeeded in rescuing the victims, Katsina said: “Through the cooperation of our expanded strategic partners, we were able to establish links with the victims in Kuwait and immediately commenced the process of their rescue and at exactly 10:30 pm of May 2, 2015, the rescued victims arrived Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos. In company of our Special Force, the victims were safely brought to the Post-Trauma Unit of the Oyo State Police Command Hospital and Counselling.”

    According to him, Rev. Victor Adelaja  has since been arrested and sued to court.

    On her current frame of mind, Daramola revealed that she was already adjusting to normal life again.

    She praised the police for a job well done and warned young ladies against falling prey to fraudulent  travel  agents.

  • From Kuwait with shocking discoveries

    From Kuwait with shocking discoveries

    After cruising aboard an Egytian Airline from Abuja, Nigeria, for eight hours and landing safely at the Kuwait International Airport, simply referred to as KWI, my negative impressions about the oil-rich small Arab country fizzled out, even at my first feel of the country.

    I had nursed a lot of negative impressions about the tiny oil-rich country all my life. Would you blame a first-time visitor like me? Pardon my initial wrong judgment. It is typical of a first time visitor. Your negative or positive impression about a place may not change until you are there yourself.

    After my visit, I started wishing that my new Kuwaiti friend, Niyaz, could also visit my country, Nigeria, some day to see things for herself to reverse her low opinion about the country.

    The decision to spend part of my 2013 annual vacation in Kuwait was borne out of curiosity to explore and see things for myself. My fear of being ignored and looked down upon as an unwanted guest from a black continent of Africa and, indeed, Nigeria in particular, through possibly hidden resentment and snobbish glances at me gradually dissolved into strong confidence and courage, following my sudden discovery of Kuwaiti with black skin! My initial fear had arisen from the fact that racial discrimination the world over has been a serious issue; an embarrassing nightmare.

     

    Socio-culture

    Kuwait, which has about 10 per cent of the world’s oil reserves, with a population of about 2.7 million, is a country with citizens who are naturally lively, courteous, friendly and quite accommodation. And the foregoing attitude is in tandem with my own unreserved, communicative and interactive nature. Hence I found myself blending and relating well with my hosts so much so that I developed sudden affection for the country and its people.

    If you have too much love for money, men and women, do not go to Kuwait, because you would be tempted. Men and women mix freely. A typical Kuwaiti man or woman spends money lavishly, and Kuwait remains the best and the cheapest place for shopping in the world. The average Kuwaiti man and woman is given to a flamboyant lifestyle. They like talking big and hardly leave Kuwait for other countries to seek employment, except for further studies or holiday.

    Armed with enough money, they can easily fund their social lifestyles. Who says the Arabs don’t party? It is necessary to repeat the warning: do not go to Kuwait if you have a self-control challenge with money, men and women because you might be in trouble. Little wonder the country has a very high number of foreign nationals.

    Both men and women tend to have equal rights and freedom. The women, who are commonly seen in their black attire or ‘abaya’ with or without the head cover, do most of the things their male counterparts do. Unlike most other Islamic societies, their women occupy political offices, drive their own cars and engage in business activities like their male counterparts. Some of the women even believe that they work harder than the men.

    Miss Niyaz, an official of Bayan Palace, the seat of power and official residence of the Amir of Kuwait, said: “My dream is to visit Nigeria, which is in Africa, but I am afraid of the news I hear about Nigeria every day concerning corruption, bombing and insecurity.”

    But after educating her properly about Nigeria, Niyaz said: “I am surprised and happy to meet a person like you to change my ugly perception of Nigeria.”

    She added: “Some of our men tend to be lazy. Our women are more hardworking than some of our men. I wonder if you have the same experience with your men in Nigeria. But we are still very proud of our culture.”

    The writer visited one of Kuwait’s biggest and most popular malls, called ‘Avenue’, where all the designers often meet. Besides, my visit to one of the country’s local old markets, Al-Mobarakia, in Kuwait City, the country’s capital, exposed me to some of the local delicacies of the people, and I did not hesitate to savour or help myself to some of them. Some of the most enjoyable Kuwaiti delicacies include the traditional flat bread called khubz, normally served with Mahyawa fish sauce and biryan, prepared from rice with spices. It was gathered that biryani is the national cuisine of Kuwait.

    Every meal served is usually accompanied with pure natural green tea in a small glass cup, an equivalent of a cup we popularly refer to in our local parlance as ‘short’, used in serving our local gin commonly called shepe, ogogoro, kai kai or Sapele water. In fact, I had more of the delicacies in the hotel I lodged in: Courtyard Marriott Kuwait City. Interestingly, they would serve you in one fell swoop a minimum of five delicacies and maximum of 15; an illustration of the prosperity and affluence of the country.

    It was understood that the Kuwaiti revel in affluence so much so that they hardly do menial jobs. They leave those for foreign nationals.

    Commenting on life expectancy of the average Kuwaiti, a Kuwaiti government official who identified himself simply as Mr. Khaled, said: “Our men have lower life expectancy than women due to comfortability and lack of physical exercise. It is the opposite in Nigeria where you see both men and women on their feet walking, jogging and engaging in all kinds of physical activities. Nigerian men find the time to go to the gyms in spite of their tight official schedules.”

     

    Economy

    Until my visit to the country, I did not know that the Kuwaiti currency, Dinar, written simply as KD, is the highest in value in the world. 1 KD, for instance, exchanges for N600, 2.16 pounds and 2.59 Euros respectively. At the Bureau de Change in old market Al-mobarakia, you can see the nation’s currency openly displayed in showcases.

    Right from the Kuwait International Airport, you begin to see the names of famous designers, ranging from the designers of jewellery to those of perfumes and clothes, with Arab translations. I also gathered that even though the country’s 80 per cent gold is 22/24 carat, it is where you can buy the cheapest gold and diamond.

    The minimum wage a public servant earns monthly is equivalent to N1.5 million and it is tax-free. Tax-free wage is not enjoyed by Kuwaiti nationals only but also by foreigners who work in the country. The banking system and the national policy governing the ownership and use of motor vehicles is very favourable and encourages people living in Kuwait to acquire new cars with very flexible payment terms that make it difficult to find old cars on the roads.

    The commonest brands of cars are mostly the latest American cars, from Lamborghini and Ferrari to BMW, Toyota to Ford. Kuwait is among the 10 richest countries in the world with high income economy, according to a World Bank report.

    Housing

    It is also gathered that in every 15 years, houses are demolished and replaced with new ones.

    Nigerians in Kuwait

    The total population of Nigerians resident in Kuwait, according to my findings, stands at about 500, as at today, including professionals and artisans. Investigations further showed that they are so handsomely paid that they are not interested in returning to Nigeria or going to any other country of the world.

    Nigerians there are obviously not complaining. Apart from being economically comfortable, they are accepted heart and soul, appreciated and respected by Kuwaiti people, as they continue to live and work within the ambit of the country’s laws.

    The special regard the Kuwaiti society has for black people is believed to have stemmed from the uncommon bravery and commitment the blacks in the US Army and the Allied Forces displayed in reclaiming the independence and sovereignty of Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, which occupied it in the 90s, during which 773 Kuwaiti oil wells were destroyed.

    Kuwait, which got its independence in June 19, 1961, was annexed by the deceased and ex-president of Iraq who was chased out of Kuwait and humiliated out of power by the United States and Allied Forces in 1991. He died shortly after.

     

    The media

    The Kuwaiti media is regarded as the most vocal and transparent in the whole of the Middle East. In 2013, Kuwait was adjudged the 77th freest country in the world for journalists to operate, out of 179, according to Reporters Without Borders, in the Press Freedom Index list. Thus, Kuwait remains the freest regarding the freedom of the press in the Middle East region.

    Some Kuwaiti citizens are very excited about Nigeria, agreeing to the fact that this most populous black nation is, no doubt, the giant of Africa. Hence it is part of their life-time dream to visit Nigeria.

    According to Bandar Al-shellahi, Managing Director, Kuwait News Agency, “I have travelled all over the world but have not come across a Nigerian journalist. I look forward to meeting one, and even visiting the country someday, for I believe also that Nigeria is the giant of Africa because of its enormous positive impacts on its continent and on the globe in general”.

    Religion

    As would be expected, majority of Kuwaiti people are Muslims, and very good ones for that matter. They exemplify true love and peace, even towards people of other faiths. Kuwait has a native Christian community with a large number of expatriate Christians estimated at 450,000. Indeed, there is no difference between the faithful of the two religions in Kuwait, as they mix freely.

     

  • Nigeria, Kuwait to sign two agreements

    Nigeria, Kuwait to sign two agreements

    Kuwait new Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Abdulaziz Ahmad Al-Sharrah, has said his responsibility is to enhance the bilateral relationship between his country and Nigeria.

    He also said both countries are set to sign two bilateral agreements.

    Dr. Al-Sharrah, who recently presented his credential to President Goodluck Jonathan, said his ultimate goal is to contribute to enhancing the brotherly relationship between our friendly countries, and to multiply efforts as to deepening it in all fields, be it political, economical, social, cultural and touristic.

    He said the two bilateral agreements between the State of Kuwait and the Federal Republic of Nigeria are to be signed, while four more agreements are undergoing study and amendments, making the total of six bilateral agreements.

    Besides, the Ambassador said the State of Kuwait ready to host the 3rd Arab-African Summit within the period 18-20/11/2013 Captioned “Partners in Development and Investment”.

  • Nigeria is safe for investors, says Kuwait envoy

    Nigeria is safe for investors, says Kuwait envoy

    His Excellency Saad A.Al-Asousi is the Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to Nigeria. Al-Asousi has been in Nigeria since 2009 when his home government named him his country’s envoy to Nigeria.  He spoke with Assistant Editor Onyedi Ojiabor.  Excerpts:

     

    Your Excellency, how has it been since you came to Nigeria as Kuwait Ambassador to Nigeria?

    Kuwait has no Embassy in Nigeria before 2009. But relationship between Kuwait and Nigeria started more than 40 years ago.

    So why did you decide to open your embassy in Nigeria now?

    Over 40 years ago, Ahmadu Bello flew to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and he asked them to support him to build the first school in Kaduna. Kuwait decided to donate to start the building of the school in Kaduna in 1965. We have been here since then. We have good relationship between Kuwait and Nigeria. Our brothers in Nigeria support us in different international organisations all over the world. We are member of more than 36 organisations all over the world. The government of Kuwait and the Nigerian government are cooperation in different ways to promote the relation between the two brotherly countries. I was appointed Ambassador of Kuwait to Nigeria in 2009. Since I was appointed I started working very hard to promote the relation with Nigeria . Since I came to this country I started to establish good relationship with the government and people of Nigeria , the media and universities. I have visited many universities. We are working to sign agreements between Kuwait and Nigeria . We have signed the first two agreements in the field of international investment between both countries. We are in the process of signing five more agreements between Kuwait and Nigeria . The second point is that we have requested our brothers in Nigeria to give us a piece of land to build our embassy here in Nigeria . We are in the process of building our chancery in Abuja . We are working to concretise our relationship with Nigeria . We are also working in different fields including economic field, which is the most important thing to us. We have held the first investment conference in Kuwait which we called “Invest in Nigeria .” We invited many people in Kuwait , we followed up with sensitization of the people. We used the media to sensitize the people of Kuwait about investment in Nigeria .

    What was the out come of the investment conference?

    Because of the situation in Nigeria after October 2010, most people were a little bit worried about security issue in Nigeria . But this doesn’t mean anything. Any time some people express anxiety, I use the media to tell them they can come to Nigeria to invest. I tell them their investment is safe, the country is safe, and that hundreds of companies are investing in Nigeria from South Africa, Europe, from America. I tell them that their money is safe, they are safe, and that they can come and invest and do their business. From this point, I want to invite all our brothers from both countries to find the chance to invest and there are a lot of chances in both countries. So the relation between Kuwait and Nigeria is strong and we are working very hard to further promote the relation. I think that we can make the relation much more stronger within few months because the Nigerian Ambassador to Kuwait and my humble-self are working very hard to promote this brotherly relation between both countries. This is the most important thing I can say now, I promise that within few months, we get our brother Ambassador of Nigeria in Kuwait to invite the officials from both countries to exchange visits to promote our relation and to show people all over the world that Kuwait is here to reach our goals and to do something good, and to concretise our relation between both governments.

    You have been in Nigeria for about three years. By the time you conclude your stay, what would you want to be remembered for as the first Kuwait Ambassador to Nigeria?

    I think the most important thing as the first Ambassador of Kuwait appointed to this country, relationship between both countries started in my time. Two, in my time the first agreement was signed between both countries. There was no agreement of any sort before 2009 between Kuwait and Nigeria . So in my duty as the Kuwait Ambassador to Nigeria we signed two agreements and we are planning to sign five more agreements. Most importantly I am working for our brothers from both sides to come and invest in Nigeria and in Kuwait . I was in a meeting and most of our brothers in the Foreign Affairs they know very well that we are working to show all over the world that there is a fruitful relationship between Kuwait and Nigeria.

    You talked about the security challenge facing Nigeria . Is there any way your country can assist Nigeria in the effort to address the challenge?

    I don’t think that Kuwait will have the power to do anything. We as a nation, we are a very small country. Kuwait is not in a position to support in the field of addressing security challenge. But we hope and pray not to see more security issues in Nigeria . We believe this thing can be solved. But it is not in our power to help our brother nation in this field. If we can and we have the power we will do it because we don’t want to see any of our brothers have any security issue. This is because when you have these issues, it will create difficulties with everything you can think of because they are one chain.

    You spoke about some political re-engineering taking place in your country when you visited Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim in Abuja . Can you let us into some of these especially constitution amendment in your country?

    Regarding the situation in the last three weeks in Kuwait , it is a very long story. According to Kuwait constitution, the parliament of Kuwait was dissolved by the Emir of Kuwait because there was no cooperation between the government and the parliament. So, the Emir of Kuwait took a decision to dissolve the parliament. The period between the dissolved parliament and calling for a new election it is about one and half month. This period, according to the Kuwait Constitution, the Emir, the Ruler has the right to issue decree. We faced difficulty with the three elections in Kuwait , because there is a group that came to the parliament to take up some issues. During election, each Kuwaiti has four candidates. But we have taken a decision to ensure one man one vote. Each voter has the right to vote for one candidate instead of four candidates. Democracies all over the world have the some system of one man one vote. One man one vote is nothing new with Kuwait . We are not creating something new. What we are doing is according to the wish of the majority in parliament and democracies all over the world. And according to the constitution of Kuwait the new parliament which we will have can approve or reject what the Ruler mentioned. The parliament can vote and say one man one vote, we don’t accept it, we need one man four votes or three or two votes for one man. This is left to the new parliament to decide.

    Essentially, under the new rule, each voter chooses only one candidate instead of four. There are 397 candidates for the 50-seat parliament according to the election affairs electorate. For us in Kuwait , we have decided to invest in Kuwaiti citizen. The most important thing that the Kuwaiti Government decided to invest in is to give a very good education to the citizens. It is very important to invest in your citizens, give them good education, housing, good health system. The Kuwaiti Government takes care of the citizens from birth until he goes back to the grave. The government gives you free education, free health care, housing; the government supports you or if you want to buy a house the government gives you a loan without interest to buy a house. If you want to marry, the government gives you loan without interest to marry. The government gives you opportunity to work any where and if you are not working with the government and you are working with the private sector, the government supports the private sector to pay you a good salary. The government supports the private sector to give you good salary to Kuwaiti citizens working in that sector. We are Kuwaiti, we feel we are proud, from our government we are proud that we are doing all these things because we feel we are honoured to be Kuwaitis. And I feel that all our brothers in Nigeria are honoured to be Nigerians because they are working for Nigeria . For me as a Kuwaiti whenever I meet any media person I’m proud that I am Kuwaiti.

    You also spoke about your country’s relationship with the African Union (AU). In what ways is Kuwait assisting the growth of AU?

    The State of Kuwait got the power from the last African-Arab Summit that took place in Libya because, according to the arrangement, the summit should hold in one African country and another summit in Arab world. The last summit was in Libya and they decided that the next summit will take place in Kuwait . The summit will take place next year in Kuwait . We believe that most of our brothers in Africa will explore the opportunities of the summit. The summit has a laudable agenda. We will use the summit to continue to promote the relationship between Africa and the Arab world. Kuwait is currently supporting more than 40 African countries through the Kuwaiti Fund. Through the Fund we build schools, we build houses and hospitals. Through the Fund we build roads and other things. While at the summit in Libya we requested that we want to be observer in the African Union. Immediately we were accepted and we are now a member of the African Union as observer. The Head of State of Kuwait was invited to the last summit in July. He attended and gave his speech in the AU. He told them that Kuwait will donate to build the new African Union building. We are supporting and we have good relation with our brother African countries. We are assisting in agriculture, and building hospitals through the Kuwaiti Fund. The Kuwaiti Fund started working in Africa since early 1960s. We support and build schools, hospitals and equip them. With the Fund we are cementing our relation. With the Fund we have good relation with African countries and I believe that this relation will continue after and grow even stronger after the African-Arab Summit in Kuwait because the relationship will have legal framework to work together.

    As the Dean of Arab Ambassadors in Nigeria, what are your functions?s

    I have acted as Dean just for one week. So I’m one week old as Dean. I took over from my brother Ambassador of Saudi Arabia who is going to leave us within two weeks. As the Dean of Arab Ambassadors, my time is going to be very tight. It is my duty to discuss with our brothers in Africa . At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I will speak on behalf of Arab Ambassadors. African Ambassadors have their own Dean, Asian Ambassadors have their own Dean. All the Deans hold meetings; if there are issues of difficulty, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would want to discuss with us. The Dean also tries to help any new ambassador if he needs any thing.

    Again, you have been in Nigeria for about three years meeting and interacting with Nigerians. What is your assessment of Nigeria and Nigerians?

    From the day I entered Nigeria , the people welcomed me. They told me some times I’m going to face some difficulty but frankly speaking, since I came to this country, I have not faced any difficulty. Life is going on smoothly. We don’t face much difficulty’. Nigeria is a very important country in the region. Nigeria is very strong and the country has a lot of chances for investment. From this country I call people to come and visit and see. Don’t listen, visit and see. You are listening about Nigeria , it is different, you are reading in the media, it is different. Visit the country and see the people. Come and see how the people will stay with you. I just say these things. The first day I met the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he told me ‘Mr Ambassador, this is my telephone number and my door is open’. You can’t find this all over the world that a Minister of Foreign Affairs will tell you, ‘Mr. Ambassador, if you need any thing, my door is open, this is my telephone number, any time you want to meet me, just give me a call’. For an Ambassador to find an official to be very close to you and you can contact him at any time, I believe that it is difficult to find that any where. I have been in Nigeria for three years now, when ever we meet any official they welcome you and tell you our door is open for any diplomat. They want to create a relationship, they want to promote this country, they want to do something for this country because they feel they are Nigerians.