The first Polish President to visit Nigeria in 60 years, Andrzej Duda, has held talks with President Muhammadu Buhari to explore ways of strengthening bilateral cooperation between his country and Nigeria, especially in the area of food security and energy.
He was received on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja by Buhari leading to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on agriculture, while both leaders pledged their willingness to enlarge the fields of economic cooperation in the energy and manufacturing sectors.
Nigeria and Poland established diplomatic relations in 1961 but Tuesday’s visit was the first time a leader of the European country would be in Nigeria since then.
Addressing a joint press conference with the visiting Head of State, President Buhari said Nigeria is gratified by the existing fruitful cooperation with Poland in the fields of maritime, education and defence.
On agriculture, which is one of the priority areas of the Nigerian government, the President said cooperation in this area will be a win-win for the two countries, especially in the context of global food insecurity occasioned by the conflict in Ukraine.
He noted that in view of the numerous global challenges, Nigeria would like to develop new mechanisms for cooperation including regular strategic dialogues and political consultations to cover not only bilateral relations but also to address regional and international issues.
“Our cooperation in education has a long history and we wish to encourage the extension of that cooperation to the sharing of knowledge and experience between our educational institutions in areas such as science and technology as well as Information and Communication Technology, in order to help drive innovation in our countries in this competitive global knowledge economy,” the Nigerian leader said.
Describing the two-day visit of the Polish President as significant, underscoring the cordial relations that exist between both countries, President Buhari commended the efforts of the Government of Poland in providing assistance to the large number of refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, including a significant number of Nigerians.
“I also wish to express our sincere gratitude for the kind and generous support extended during our government’s evacuation of our fleeing nationals.
“We also appreciate greatly the opportunity given to some of our nationals to remain in Poland to continue with their studies.
“As regards trade relations, we would like to see an increase in the level of trade, as it remains relatively low in spite of the long period of relations between our two countries,’’ he said.
President Buhari welcomed the hosting of a Dialogue that will bring together various members of the business sectors of Nigeria and Poland, during the State Visit, adding that it is an excellent initiative to increase the level of trade between both countries.
Duda said Nigeria was the only African country Poland has signed an agreement of strategic dialogue with, which includes the MoU on agriculture cooperation.
“What was pivotal in our conversation today both in our tete-a-tete as well as the plenary session was how to provide food and energy security.
“It is important to us to strengthen the relations between Poland and Nigeria and the MOU we have signed is very important for the future of both nations on food security,’’ the Polish president said through an interpreter.
On energy security, he lauded the delivery of liquefied natural gas to Poland from Nigeria, as well as shipments of crude oil.
“We want to further this cooperation and we want to increase the supplies from Nigeria to Poland and in this way we want to contribute to the development of economic cooperation between the two countries,” he said.
President Duda noted that Nigeria and Poland have enjoyed excellent bilateral relations in the last 60 years, buoyed at the people-to-people level by the presence of many Nigerians at Polish higher institutions of learning as well as the input of Polish engineers and scientists in the building of infrastructure in Nigeria.
He added: “I want to stress very strongly that this is an honour both to me and to the entire Polish delegation, as this is the very first official visit paid by the President of Poland to the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 60 years. And that is since the time that we established our diplomatic relations. And for that very reason, this is a truly important visit to me. And once again, let me stress, is a huge honour, Your Excellency.
“It’s a pleasure for me to have known Mr President Buhari for a couple of years now, because we first met in Cabo Vita in Poland in December 2018, On the occasion of the COPE 24 conference that I had the opportunity and the pleasure to host, Mr. president of Nigeria.
“However, today, speaking very concretely, we talked about furthering and deepening the relations between our two countries. And also a point of importance that I wish to stress is that Nigeria is the only African country with which Poland has signed an agreement on Strategic Dialogue.
“And actually a very good part of this strategic dialogue is the memorandum of cooperation in the area of agriculture that we have just signed a couple of minutes ago. It is an immensely important piece of document, especially in light of the food security crisis that is faced right now. And not only by Nigeria but also by the entire African continent.
“And the 10 most pivotal aspects that we raised in our conversation today are both in our private tet-a-tet meeting with Mr President, as well as during the plenary session was how to provide food security and energy security nowadays. Both of these topics, of course, stem from the situation that we are faced with today in Europe and to be more precise in our part of Europe. That is the aftermath of the Russian aggression and the war in Ukraine.”
On the need to strengthen relations, the Polish President stated: “And that is why it’s so important to us to further strengthen the relations between Poland and Nigeria right now. And one element is strengthening these relations is the memorandum that we have signed today.
“It is very important for the future of our relations, but also for the future of the food security in Nigeria and at large. It can also contribute to the modernization and increase the efficiency of the Nigerian economy and Nigerian agriculture but it also can serve as a vehicle for sharing experiences.
“Speaking about the energy security dimension. So the talks that we’ve had today are essential from the perspective of supplying both LNG gas as well as oil to Poland and to the European Union.
“And speaking about those natural resources Nigeria is indeed very wealthy. And I want also want to add that the first is applies of the LNG gas to our LNG gas terminal from Nigeria had already happened, just like the import of crude oil performed by our oil company Latos. Those shipments did happen in recent years. And that means well for the future because we do want to further develop this cooperation, we want to increase the supplies from Nigeria to Poland. And in this way, we also want to contribute to the development of economic relations between both our countries.
“I do hope that we are going to see some fruits in this field that I have already mentioned in the course of the political talks, but also I do hope that we will see a very fruitful outcome of the meeting that will be hosted today by myself. The meeting brings together representatives of business sectors, both from Poland and Nigeria.”
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