President Muhammadu Buhari and Russian President, Vladimir Putin
\nWednesday in Sochi, Russia, agreed to put Nigeria-Russia relations on a
\nfast track, and pursue the completion of partially completed and
\nabandoned projects initiated by both countries.<\/p>\n
At a bilateral meeting held on sidelines of ongoing Russia-Africa
\nSummit, the two leaders agreed to start new infrastructure projects and
\nexpand trade and investment, security and military cooperation.<\/p>\n
In statements made by both leaders, Nigeria and Russia will work
\ntogether to improve efficiency of Nigeria’s oil sector, which is the
\nbackbone of the economy, in a way that will see to rehabilitation of
\nepileptic oil refineries through establishment of framework for a joint
\nventure between Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and
\nRussia-based leading oil company, Lukoil.<\/p>\n
Both NNPC and Lukoil will work towards prospection of oil in deep
\noffshore.<\/p>\n
Nigeria and Russia also agreed to revive and solidify the venture
\nbetween the NNPC and Russia’s gas giant, Gazprom for the development of
\nNigeria’s enormous gas potential and infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The issue of uncompleted and abandoned Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mill was
\npresented by President Buhari. His request for the return of Russia, on
\na government-to-government relationship for completion and commissioning
\nof the plant was accepted by President Putin.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arch
\nOlamilekan Adegbite had a very fruitful discussion with his counterpart
\nin Russia on Ajaokuta.<\/p>\n
The Russia government agreed to support development of Nigeria’s rail
\ninfrastructure by constructing 1,400 kilometres track from Lagos to the
\nSouth-South city of Calabar.<\/p>\n
There was also discussion on the advancement of ongoing project for the
\nestablishment of a nuclear power plant in Nigeria. According to
\nPresident Putin, the next step in the implementation of the project
\nshould be the commencement of construction of a power plant.<\/p>\n
On security and military cooperation, one that existed for fifty-nine
\nyears of Nigeria’s independence, President Buhari agreed to renew
\nNigeria-Russia Military Technical Agreement that had lapsed within a
\nshort time, saying: “I have directed the Minister of Defence to work
\nwith the Ministry of Justice to conclude this matter within the shortest
\npossible time.”<\/p>\n
This military cooperation agreement is expected to give impetus to
\nfurther cooperation in direct procurement of military hardware on a
\ngovernment-to-government basis at a lower cost as well as training of
\nmilitary personnel and modernization of armed forces and renewal of
\ninfrastructure and equipment which President Putin promised to
\nundertake.<\/p>\n
On protracted issue of the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSCON,
\nIkot-Abasi, Akwa-Ibom State, President Buhari said that he had asked the
\nMinistry of Justice, “to submit a comprehensive report on the UC Russel
\n(the Russian owners of the plant) matter…I want to assure you that the
\naim of our reforms is to ensure such investments are concluded and
\nactualized in a professional and painless manner.”<\/p>\n
The two Presidents also addressed partnership in education and
\nagriculture. The Russia leader said they would give additional
\nscholarships to Nigerians.<\/p>\n
“We seek your Government’s support especially in the areas of wheat
\nproduction. Today, Nigeria produces less than one hundred thousand
\nmetric tons of wheat locally while our imports are projected to exceed
\nfive million tons in 2020.<\/p>\n
“We therefore need your support to bridge the deficit which will create
\njobs and save our foreign exchange for other important areas like
\nsecurity, defence and infrastructure,” President Buhari said.<\/p>\n
On this, President Putin promised to promote joint efforts, given his
\ncountry’s ranking as the current number one wheat producer in the world.<\/p>\n
“We can do a lot together,” Putin added.<\/p>\n
The Russian President said Nigeria should take advantage of Russia’s
\npotassium resources to advance President Buhari’s local fertiliser
\nproduction program. Putin promised his country’s support for the
\ngeological prospection of Nigeria’s solid minerals and gave assurances
\nof working with Nigeria and other African countries to secure and stop
\nthe incidents of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea as they did in securing
\nthe Somali coastal areas.<\/p>\n
President Putin expressed further determination to secure Nigeria and
\nthe rest of Africa from terrorists. He told President Buhari that 2,000
\nex-ISIS terrorists joined Boko Haram last year.<\/p>\n
In conclusion, President Buhari said:<\/p>\n
” to move forward, may I suggest that our countries organize the fifth
\nJoint Commission meeting to review and ratify all the agreements (about
\n40) contained in the Intergovernmental Nigeria-Russia Joint Commission
\non Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation Protocol of November
\n11, 2016.”<\/p>\n
President Putin agreed to the proposal.<\/p>\n
Both leaders emphasized the need for reform of United Nations Security
\nCouncil. President Buhari asked Russia to support Nigeria’s aspiration
\nfor a permanent membership of the council.<\/p>\n
President Muhammadu Buhari and Russian President, Vladimir Putin Wednesday in Sochi, Russia, agreed to put Nigeria-Russia relations on a fast track, and pursue the completion of partially completed and abandoned…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":70075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n