Nigeria Expects Russia's Help With Conflicts In Africa, Fighting Terrorism - Ambassador

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th December, 2021) As a major world power, Russia can play an important role in resolving conflicts in Africa and assisting Nigeria with the fight against terrorism, Nigerian Ambassador to Moscow Abdullahi Shehu told Sputnik in his first interview since taking office.

In November, the African Union's special envoy for the Horn of Africa and former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, visited Moscow to discuss tensions in the region with a focus on the intra-Ethiopian conflict.

"I believe the essence of his (Obasanjo's) visit was to reach out and explain what he has done so far as a mediator in the Horn of Africa with respect to the crisis that is going on there, so that he can seek for the understanding and cooperation of Russia in resolving the problems in that region," Shehu said, adding that the visit seemed to be a success, and a report on its results can be expected soon.

The instability in the Horn of Africa is a global problem and cannot be solved by one country, the diplomat stressed. He called for synergy and cooperation on the matter and noted that Russia, being a major world power, "has an important role to play in resolving conflicts in Africa."

Another global issue Russia can help Africa and Nigeria in particular deal with is terrorism, according to Shehu.

"Our expectation is that Russia will be able to extend such support and cooperation to Nigeria.

.. the negotiation is ongoing, whatever Nigeria needs, (it) will approach Russia to seek for its assistance in that regard," the ambassador said.

The two sides have already begun looking into cooperation on security, including in the private sector, Shehu noted. A Russian business delegation during a visit in November analyzed Nigeria's security needs "not only with respect to fiscal security problems like banditry, terrorism," but also in areas such as aviation security and urban planning, the diplomat said. Some companies have already showed willingness to launch joint projects in those areas, he added.

The diplomat also recalled that Nigeria and Russia signed a military and technical cooperation agreement in 2017, which was renewed this August.

"Now that agreement was renewed in August this year so we have a new military cooperation agreement, which consists of different components with respect to purchase and procurement of military equipment, provision of military training on both sides and also any other technical cooperation to address the security situation," he said.

The armed conflict between the rebels of the Tigray People's Liberation Front and the Ethiopian government has been going on for over a year. Since its beginning in November 2020, the civil conflict has claimed thousands of lives and displaced more than 2 million people.