The governments of Nigeria and Poland have agreed to cooperate on two critical areas of food and energy security, which have been worsened by the Russia-Ukraine war.
This was the highpoint of the visit of Polish president, Andrzej Duda, to Nigeria.
The visit is the first by a Polish leader in the last 60 years since both countries established diplomatic relations.
While President Muhammed Buhari signed for Nigeria, his Polish counterpart signed for his country, at a ceremony held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Duda,who spoke through an interpreter, described the agreement as necessary in the light of the food security crisis in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
He pointed out that Nigeria, being rich in gas, will ensure a steady increase in the supply of LNG and oil from Nigeria to Poland and the European Union.
The Polish president reiterated that Nigeria is the only African country with which Poland has signed an agreement on strategic dialogue and a good part of this strategic dialogue was the just signed memorandum of cooperation in the area of agriculture.
“As the country that is also a member of the United Nations, it is so important to support Ukraine in its export of grain and food products out of the country. But it’s equally a burden to us to provide our support to Africa and in particular to our partner country, that is Nigeria.
“And that is why it’s so important to us to further strengthen the relations between Poland and Nigeria right now,” he stated.
On the energy security dimension, Duda said the talks held were essential from the perspective of supplying both LNG gas as well as oil to Poland and the European Union.
On his part, Buhari thanked the Polish government for opening its arms to Nigerian students whose studies were truncated by the Russia-Ukraine crisis; offering them opportunities for continued education.
He noted that both countries have reached agreements to increase collaboration in agriculture, energy and defence.
