The Spanish government has vowed to support Nigeria in its efforts to tackle the nation’s escalating insecurity.
This was revealed on Thursday in Abuja, when Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares led a delegation to Nigerian Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama.
Albares stated that the focus of his first visit will be on fostering bilateral and economic cooperation and promised that the current ties between the two nations would be strengthened.
The Spanish minister commended the efforts so far by the Federal government in curbing insecurity, stating that it is ready to extend a helping hand to address the root causes of insecurity.
He said “Nigeria is one of the great regional actors, the first economy of the continent and an absolute pillar to ECOWAS. My visit is to give a new impetus to the relationship that is already strong and restate the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Spain in which five Memorandum of Understandings were signed and three treaties on judicial cooperation. Thanks to the Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs as the visit was a success.
“My visit today, firstly, is on bilateral cooperation in which we have been working successfully. The economic field and cooperation is the absolute centre of our relationship. Spain is one of the best clients of Nigeria in the world. Very specifically, we are the second client of Nigeria in the world. We have been one of the largest clients in gas and petroleum for a long time. We want to continue to strengthen that energy relationship but the bilateral relationship is getting deeper. Most aspects have been covered.
“Security, is a common challenge to Nigeria and as a country, we want to offer our support to Nigeria in this challenge. We want to express officially our solidarity with Nigeria in the fight against terrorism. We commend Nigeria’s efforts in the fight against violence and terrorism and at the same time, we want to help Nigeria address the root causes of these conflicts. We are improving our relationship for the interests of the two countries in many other fields.”
In response, the minister of foreign affairs of Nigeria expressed appreciation for his counterpart and promised that their nations would keep cooperating, particularly in the field of the economy.
Onyeama said, “We are very close and deep economic partners. Nigeria is one of the primary suppliers of oil and gas and petroleum to Spain. We want to diversify our economic cooperation. Spain is a big player in the European Union and globally, so we want to see increased trade. We are particularly delighted as you spoke on insecurity. Not just military security but food security.
“Spain is a huge investor in Africa in the agricultural sector. Food security and agriculture are major priorities of the Nigerian government. We are delighted to see the cooperation in that area.
“We are delighted in the cooperation that we have in addressing insurgency and terrorism in the Sahel. We will continue to work together alongside the global community to address the security challenges we are facing in our sub-region.”