The German government has committed €150 million to ensure total eradication of polio in Nigeria, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Tiwatope Elias-Fatile, has said.
Elias-Fatile stated this at a news conference on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 in Abuja.
“The German government and Nigeria have signed three bilateral agreements which are Government Agreement on Technical Cooperation in 2016, Government Agreement on Financial Cooperation in 2016, Financing and Project Agreement on Polio Eradication.
“Notable issues in the agreements were the German Government’s commitment of the sum of €120 million to ensure the total eradication of polio in the country.”
He said it also included the new agreement on polio involvement of financial commitment of €10 million which would be increased to €29.9 million by the German government in line with the agreement.
He added that a delegation from the Japanese Parliament, had visited Nigeria to assess the level of cooperation between Japan and Nigeria, most importantly, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Official Development Assistance(ODA).
He said that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, received the delegation in Abuja on behalf of the Federal Government.
“The purpose of the visit by the Japanese delegation, which also met with the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, he said, was to know the extent to which Japan had achieved successes in the West African Coast with regards to ODA.
“From the meeting, what was clear was that they were really satisfied that Nigeria was benefitting sincerely from it.
“The minister mentioned the issue of infrastructure development, power and manufacturing and they also talked about the need for whatever Japan can do to support Nigeria on job creation and to forge greater partnership with each other,” Elias-Fatile said.
On the economic front, Elias-Fatile said the Minister of Foreign Affairs initiated Economic Diplomacy Initiative for Nigeria.
He said that, following the development, officers of the ministry were currently undergoing training to see how the ministry could key into the initiative.
He added that trainers from Netherlands were facilitated by the Embassy of Netherlands in Nigeria, which is in line with the concept of e-diplomacy.
By Isaac Aregbesola
