Minister of foreign Affairs, Gbenga
Ashiru, says Nigeria will not abandon the responsibility of protecting its
citizens abroad, reiterating the charge that Nigerian embassies and high
commissions have the task of caring for Nigerians living in other countries.
The minister, in an interview with
the HMFA Sun newspaper, in the wake of Saudi
Arabia’s stance not to allow some Nigerian women perform this year’s Hajj,
pointed out the importance of respecting the laws of host countries by
Nigerians.
He said, “Part of our policy thrust
is fair and decent treatment of Nigerians wherever they may be. We did make a
pronouncement on it in our inaugural outing with principal envoys accredited to
Nigeria. We wish to reiterate it here that at all given opportunities, we made
practical our pronouncements.
“We will continue to insist that
Nigerians be accorded respect and treated with dignity. Our charge to the
ambassadors and high commissions is that the welfare of Nigerians in Diaspora
must be taken seriously. However, as we strive to protect and promote the
interests of our compatriots abroad, we also reiterate to them the imperative
to be law abiding in their places of abode.”
While explaining the nation’s present
foreign policy, Ashiru said challenges and priorities at given times always
dictate the position of government.
“We have a foreign policy template on
which we base the pursuit of our national interests. From one successive
administration to another, emphases have always differed.
“Nigeria’s foreign policy road map
now is economic diplomacy. We’re aiming at using diplomacy to attract
investments into Nigeria in a manner that will complement President Goodluck
Jonathan’s transformation agenda.”
Ashiru added that the joint
commissions’ policy and Bi-National Commissions were designed to attain the
objectives of national development, saying the gains have brought tremendous
progress to Nigeria’s agricultural and energy researches.
He said, “We have BNCs with South
Africa, Algeria, US, Canada, Germany. The BNC with Germany has given rise to
investment inflows in energy research and power, re-forestation, emission
control and capacity building for research in solar energy for universities.
“We also have the 65 million 30MW
Kiri Dam Project in Adamawa, the 50 million 20MW Yola Solar Power Station and
the Gombe Coal Power Station.”
The 450MW National Independent Power
Project in Geregu Power Station with the phase two in Ajaokuta and the Pilot
Solar Power Plants for Universities of Ibadan, Lagos, Sokoto and Bayelsa,
according to Ashiru, are other gains of the BNC.
“There is also the $40m inflow from a
Kenya-based US agricultural outfit, for rice farming in Taraba State. Other
countries such as Mexico have also invested heavily in agric-business in
Nigeria,” he added.
On the call by the Senate for Nigeria
to revisit the ceding of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, Ashiru said Nigeria
would seek peaceful means of approaching the issue and respect international
law and treaty.
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