President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has restated Nigeria’s call for an immediate ceasefire and the pursuit of a peaceful resolution to the Israel-Palestine war.
The president stated this on Friday while speaking at the Saudi-Africa Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Fighting has raged since Islamist group Hamas raided the Gaza border with Israel, killed 1,400 people and seized about 240 hostages according to Israeli officials.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel retaliated with an aerial bombing and ground offensive that the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said had killed more than 10,500 people, many of them children.
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International calls for a ceasefire have mounted, as have protests, including one at the weekend which targeted the White House.
However, Israel has agreed to a daily four-hour pause in northern Gaza to let civilians flee, the White House said Thursday, even as President Joe Biden said there was no chance of a full ceasefire.
Speaking on the summit, President Tinubu, who assured potential investors that their investments were safe in Nigeria, said Nigeria was ready for business while reassuring them of some of the world’s highest returns on investment.
The president said Nigeria was desirous of enhancing collaboration with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on combating terrorist organisations such as Boko Haram, ISWAP, and other violent extremist groups which had been terrorising the Lake Chad and Sahel regions.
“Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have always enjoyed a special relationship at both the bilateral and multilateral levels. Within the past six decades, our bilateral cooperation, which was initially hajj-centric, has witnessed diversification to cover a number of areas of common interest. It is delightful to note the presence in this great Kingdom of a large number of our compatriots and professionals, including highly-skilled medical practitioners and professional football players.
“As members of several international organizations including the UN, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the International Energy Forum, the G77, the Islamic Development Bank, the Digital Cooperation Organization among others, our two nations have effectively used these and other platforms to enhance close interaction and coordination. I am confident that our joint positive disposition within these platforms will continue to be demonstrated as we seek to advance our mutual interests.
“Nigeria, like the Kingdom, is diversifying her economy away from oil dependence to promote sustainable development. My administration has undertaken bold economic reforms by removing wasteful subsidies on petroleum and the merging of our foreign exchange market, among other incentives aimed at improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
“I also wish to assure all potential Saudi investors of the safety of their investments based on the sanctity of the rule of law and good returns on their investments in the largest economy in Africa. In this regard, the benefit attached to the early inauguration of the Nigeria-Saudi Business Council cannot be over-emphasized,” the President said in a statement by his spokeman, Ajuri Ngelale.
President Tinubu thanked the Kingdom for the various humanitarian interventions in Nigeria through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre.
Speaking on climate change and how it affected Africa, President Tinubu said the menace had led to an expedited rate of desertification and incessant flooding in Nigeria and many other countries of Africa.
He commended the efforts of the Kingdom for its various initiatives to fight the effects of climate change, adding that Nigeria was working on a number of initiatives to fight the effects of climate change and energy poverty.
“Recently, we launched a data-driven Energy Transition Plan which sets forth a clear carbon reduction policy and targets net-zero emissions by the year 2060 while also setting out our plans for industrialization using new energy systems and universal access to modern energy services.
“Mr. Chairman, let me also take this opportunity to reiterate Nigeria’s full support for the Kingdom’s bids to host the 2030 World Expo in Riyadh and the 2034 FIFA Senior Men’sWorld Cup, the latter of which is now all but guaranteed to succeed,” the president said.
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