President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday in Abuja urged the international
community and investors to take advantage of the country’s diversity in
human and natural resources for investment, noting that youth
development, integration, and employment remain a priority for his
administration.
Speaking at a ceremony to receive the Letters of Credence of the
Ambassadors of Belgium, Mauritania, Austria, and Norway at the
Presidential Villa, the President said “Nigeria is ready to pursue
broader dialogue, as well as enhance cooperation and collaboration on
the basis of constructive mutual respect and a shared vision for our
future.”
He added: “As you may know, Nigeria is an ethnic and culturally diverse
society with various opportunities which we seek to creatively utilise
for the benefit of our people. We are also a country with a huge
population that is predominantly youthful.
“These pose peculiar new challenges of their own. As Nigeria relates
with your countries, it is our expectation that we should leverage the
advantages that can yield positive results in youth development in our
country.”
The Ambassadors who presented their Letters of Credence to the President
are Mr Daniel Bertrand, Ambassador of Belgium, Mr Amedi Camara,
Ambassador of Mauritania, Mr Thomas Schlesinger, Ambassador of Austria
and Mr Knut Eiliv Lein, Ambassador of Norway.
President Buhari said Nigeria enjoys very good bilateral relations with
the respective countries and had collaborated at the multilateral level
to achieve targets set by several international conventions and
treaties.
“Allow me to offer you my sincere congratulations as you commence your
diplomatic duties as defined by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic
Relations. As we celebrate its 60th anniversary, next year, it is my
hope that you will carry out your respective mandates to improve
existing cordial relations between our countries consistent with the
provisions of this time-honoured convention.”
The President told the ambassadors that there was a need to enhance the
existing cordial relations in the interest of citizens and countries.
“Nigeria shares common problems of insecurity, the impact of climate
change, and socio-economic challenges common among nations.
Notwithstanding these challenges, efforts are being made to sustain our
position to overcome these difficulties. I invite you to partner with us
to address these challenges.
“As a global family, we are impacted by several other common challenges
like terrorism, insurgency, climate change, population explosion, human
trafficking, corruption, poverty, and now the global health pandemic
which Coronavirus represents considering its mayhem across the world.”
The President said the challenges underscore the need for the
international community to make concerted efforts at resolving them in
the interest of common humanity.
“The survival of humanity depends on our efforts to enhance our
cooperation to attain the goals of global peace and economic
prosperity.”
In his remark, on behalf of others, the Ambassador of Belgium thanked
the President for making out time to receive the Letters of Credence in
spite of the peculiar situation created by the COVID-19, assuring that
all the ambassadors will make the most of the opportunity to enhance
relations in economics, commerce, and socio-cultural issues.
“Your Excellency, we are at your disposal to strengthen and narrow the
ties, not only in economic and commercial issues but also in cultural
terms,” he added.