Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has urged Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire to put necessary measures in place to stop irregular migration that exposes young people to danger in different countries.
He spoke on Saturday in Abidjan, the Ivorian capital, at the 2nd edition of the Nigeria-Cote d’Ivoire Bi-National Commission meeting, which he co-chaired with the Ivorian Prime Minister, Patrick Jerome Achi.
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Osinbajo said, “We should put in place arrangements that enable value addition within and between our countries so that we can create the much needed jobs for our young people and stem the irregular migration to other parts of the world where they are often mistreated and used for menial tasks.”
He said Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire must continue to build closer economic ties and integrate, especially within the ambit of regional integration agreements like ECOWAS and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), so as to create more jobs for its youths, while deepening bilateral ties.
Osinbajo, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Laolu Akande, extended President Muhammadu Buhari’s greetings and appreciation to Ivorian President, Alassane Ouattara, for his friendship and positive disposition towards strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries.
At the Bi-National Commission meeting, both countries signed a set of new Agreements which cover agriculture; digital economy; education; consular and immigration matters; and prevention of human trafficking, amongst other areas of collaboration.
In his own address earlier, the Ivorian Prime Minister said he was excited that both countries had agreed to reactivate the Bi-National Commission.
He said the meeting was an ideal platform to improve the quality of trade cooperation between both countries and the ECOWAS region, as it would also address common interests and challenges in areas of security, oil and energy, and terrorism among others.
