James
Duddridge, United Kingdom’s minister for Africa, says the security and
stability of Nigeria matter to his country.
Speaking
on Friday after a series of meetings with government officials, agencies,
business leaders and civil society groups, Duddridge said the UK-Nigeria
relationship matters to both countries, especially in strengthening trade and
investment cooperation.
Accompanied
by Helen Grant, UK prime minister’s special envoy for girls’ education and trade
envoy to Nigeria, Duddridge’s visit to the country featured high-level
discussions with Ibrahim Gambari, chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari;
Senate President Ahmed Lawan; Geoffrey Onyeama, foreign minister; Jean-Claude
Brou, president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
commission, as well as governors of Kaduna, Jigawa, Lagos and Edo states.
Duddridge
also visited Apapa seaport, where he took a tour of a terminal and met with
officials of agencies to discuss law enforcement and trade facilitation between
the UK and Nigeria.
During the
four-day visit, the UK minister covered a wide range of issues, including human
rights, girls’ education, and electoral reform.
There were
also discussions on how the UK can work in partnership with Nigeria to address
insecurity and support economic development as the world builds back better
from COVID-19.
“The
UK-Nigeria relationship matters to both countries. Over four days, we have
covered a wide range of issues, including how best to strengthen trade and
investment cooperation, how to get and keep more girls in school, and how to
work more closely together on global challenges such as COVID-19 and on climate
change ahead of COP26,” Duddridge said.
“I also heard from Nigerian civil society the
importance of delivering electoral reform and addressing human rights concerns.
“Nigerian
stability and security matters to the UK. We want to work with Nigeria to
improve both, and encourage all in the country to work together to promote
peace and unity.”
On her
part, Grant noted that the meetings afforded her the opportunity to enhance
macro-economic reform and promote new trade and investment opportunities for
the UK through support to British businesses that want to invest in Nigeria.
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