President Muhammadu Buhari, on Sunday, departed the royal terminal of King AbdulAziz International Airport, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for Abuja, after attending the 14th summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Makkah.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the presidential aircraft, conveying the president and members of his entourage, left the Jeddah airport for Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at about 2:45pm local time.
Some senior officials of the Government of Saudi Arabia, led by the Deputy Governor of Mecca Province, Prince Abdullah Bin Bandar Bin Abdulaziz, were at the airport to bid the president farewell.
Also at the airport to bid President Buhari farewell were officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Saudi Arabia.
While in Saudi Arabia, the president participated in the OIC summit where he noted with delight the decision of the organisation to support the Inter-Basin Water Transfer project, aimed at recharging the Lake Chad.
According to the Nigerian leader, the shrinking of Lake Chad to about 10 per cent of its original size had adversely affected over 30 million livelihoods in the sub-region.
He further maintained that the shrinking had caused severe economic deprivation, fuelled illegal migration to Europe, caused displacement of communities and radicalisation of youth, forcing them to join the Boko Haram terrorist group.
President Buhari, during the summit, also thanked the organisation for its various interventions under the Special Programme for the Development of Africa and the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development.
According to him, the robust interventions of the various OIC institutions, particularly the IDB group, had been effective in such key sectors as trade and investment, agriculture, rural development and food security.
Since Nigeria joined the OIC in 1986, President Buhari has become the third Nigerian leader to attend its conference, after late President Umaru Yar’Adua and President Goodluck Jonathan. (NAN)
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