Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India on cooperation in the exploration and uses of outer space for economic purposes.
The agreement was signed by the two counties during a virtual meeting monitored in Abuja on Thursday.
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The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, signed the MoU on behalf of the Nigerian government while the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Amb. Abhay Thakur, signed on behalf of the government of India.
The signing ceremony was also witnessed by the Defence attaché of the Indian High Commission, Col. Saghih Dubey.
Speaking after the signing of the agreement, Dr. Onu said the MoU will strengthen the deep historic ties between both nations in terms of Socio-economic development, space exploration, environmental safety and trade.
He further said that the two nations had made relentless efforts in ensuring global peace, adding that “Nigeria and India share many historic ties, as both nations have been working closely to ensure global peace”.
The signing of the MOU is a right step in the right direction, as it would accelerate Nigeria’s economic transformation from a resource-based to a knowledge and innovation driven economy, Dr. Onu added.
Dr. Onu commended India for its tremendous feat and advancement in space exploration, adding that other developing countries looked up to India to achieve similar feat.
He reiterated Nigeria’s desire to make her economy competitive globally, by investing in space technology.
Dr. Onu said that both nations are poised to look for new areas in collaboration and development in peaceful uses of Outer Space Technology.
Dr. Onu further disclosed that Nigeria had developed and launched 4 Earth observation satellites (NigeriaSat-1, NigeriaSat-2, NigeriaSat-X and NigeriaEduSat-1) and 2 communications satellites (NigComSat-1 and NigComSat-1R).
Earlier, speaking through digital video link, the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, Shri V. Muraleedharan, said the MOU will be of mutual socio-economic benefits to both countries.
He commended the relationship between both nations, saying that Nigeria is India’s largest trading partner in Africa with a trade volume of $13.8 billion, adding that Nigeria provides 10% of the energy needs of India.
He said the historic event will further expand collaborations in agriculture, space technology, defence and further the advancement of global peace.
