The President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the excellent bilateral relations between Nigeria and Germany, particularly the state-to-state visits and frequent meetings on the sidelines of multilateral fora.
According to a statement by Nigeria’s Ambassador to Germany, Senator Ita Solomon Enang, the discussions also centered on the expeditious processing of the Designate, incoming German Ambassador to Nigeria, to replace the re-designated incumbent.
The bilateral discussions covered economic relations, the power sector, and in particular off-grid technology, the Siemens Power project, agriculture, food security and citizen diplomacy. Migration and consular matters were also discussed, with emphasis on provisions for skilled Nigerians in medicine, technology, IT, AI and other crafts to be engaged across various sectors of the German economy through a formal, purpose-driven Nigeria-Germany migration agreement to be negotiated.
The statement further disclosed that the leadership role of Nigeria and President Tinubu in ECOWAS featured prominently, including the need to court back into the forum member states that are currently outside, including other Sahelian states. This, it noted, is in view of the regional and continental security advantages of state-to-state coordination.
Other areas discussed include the establishment of automobile assembly plants in Nigeria to assemble cars, trucks and machinery locally, instead of importing fully assembled vehicles, in order to build capacity and facilitate technology transfer.
The meeting also recalled the guarantor role Germany played in the Green Tree Agreement following the judgment of the International Court of Justice on the land and maritime boundary between Nigeria and Cameroon, including Bakassi, and the boundary demarcation which caused population displacement and humanitarian issues in both countries.
Discussions further touched on the interest of German firms in trapping gas being flared in the Niger Delta region and other fields for conversion to electricity, as well as Nigeria’s oil in the German economy.
The Ambassador expressed the appreciation of the Federal Government of Nigeria for the donation of funds conveyed by the German Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, as humanitarian aid to Nigeria during a recent courtesy call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu.
While appreciating the gains of previous visits and the personal good relations between President Bola Tinubu and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, both sides also discussed the need for further nation-to-state visits of equals.
Other country-specific issues were also discussed at the audience, which was attended by designated federal ministers and named cabinet members of the German Federal Government.
The bilateral engagement concluded with the exchange of memorabilia involving officers of the German Federal Foreign Office and the Bundesrepublik Deutschland, the Nigeria Mission in Berlin, and the delegation.
German President Lauds Nigeria’s Leadership Role in ECOWAS, Commends Tinubu
