President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio has called on the Government of Saudi Arabia to assist Nigeria in the fight against insurgency and trans-border terrorism, through the sharing of intelligence, assuring that Nigeria’s intelligence community is ever ready to cooperate with them.
Akpabio made the call while receiving in courtesy, members of the Saudi Arabia/ Nigeria Parliamentary Friendship Group, led by Dr Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Salamah, in his office on Thursday.
A release by the Special Assistant On Media to the Senate President, Mr Jackson Udom, quoted him as saying, “Let me welcome you to the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We are very delighted to receive you here. Nigeria as a country, has a very strong diplomatic relationship with Saudi Arabia since 1961.”
“Nigeria as a country needs a lot of assistance from the Saudi Arabian Government in the area of security. We can only overcome insecurity and trans-border terrorism through the sharing of intelligence and I can assure you that the Nigerian security architecture is also ready to cooperate with you.”
Akpabio noted that “if you provide intelligence that would aid the fight against insurgency, you would have succeeded in making the world a safe and peaceful place for all of us to live in because insecurity in any part of the world is insecurity everywhere in the world.”
Speaking further, Akpabio stated that “our relationship today, has gone beyond pilgrimages and oil because Nigerians are now studying and working in Saudi Arabia in various spheres of human endeavours. The mutual economic ties and benefits are worth commending, especially in the aviation sector. I congratulate you and the government of Saudi Arabia on the stability of your economic policies that have brought about prosperity in Saudi Arabia.”
Akpabio specifically appreciated the Saudi Arabian Government on its Vision 3030 on women’s rights and a major economic transformation in the entertainment and tourism sectors.
“Strategically, you are very important to the world in the Gulf of Guinea and if Saudi Arabia is not stable, the entire area of the Gulf of Guinea will not be stable. Anything you do for Nigeria is not for Nigeria alone, it is for the entire black race and that is why our bilateral relationship must be encouraged.
“In your search for economic partners, I want you to take Nigeria as a major partner. We solicit more investments from you in the areas of Oil, Gas and ICT. We would be happy for your collaboration of relationship with OPEC because if you assist OPEC, you are helping Nigeria and the black race to secure and prevent the influx of immigrants,” he stated.
Earlier in his speech, the leader of the delegation, Dr Al- Salamah stated that their visit to Nigeria and particularly, the Senate was aimed at further strengthening its age-long bilateral relationship with Nigeria and to look for more ways of collaboration and assistance in the overall interest of the two countries.
“We are here today to find out areas of future collaborations in terms of bilateral agreements. Nigeria is one of our very strategic partners. Nigeria is very important to Saudi Arabia. We are very proud of its people, government and culture. We are looking forward to seeing Nigeria become a very prosperous country in the area of commerce, economy and political relationship,” he declared.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
