From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Federal Government and the Federal Republic of Germany, yesterday, agreed to deepen cooperation in the fight against insecurity, energy transition, climate change and other areas.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, and his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, made the commitment on behalf of the governments of Nigeria and Germany during a bilateral meeting in Abuja.
Onyeama said the meeting was called to strengthen bilateral ties, people-to-people relations, partnership in the energy and economic sectors, tackle climate change, insecurity, and strengthen collaborations across all sectors.
He also said the meeting was happening at a time 22 pieces of artefacts were repatriated from Germany to Nigeria, which, he said, were not just of aesthetics value to the country, but deep cultural and spiritual importance to Nigeria.
Onyeama said: “Regarding energy transmission, it is something we want to see as the transition to fossil fuel by 2060.
“Hydrogen, of course, is one of the options and strategies that are still in place. And we are very opened to engaging with our partners such as Germany to further develop this.
“We have fully committed into climate action and it is a whole of government approach.
“You are coming in the context of the return of various artefacts that have been residing in Germany for a number of decades.
“We wish, first of all, to extend on behalf of the government of Nigeria and the people, our deep gratitude to your government for this gesture of return of these artefacts that have not just of aesthetic value to us, but deep cultural and spiritual importance to the people of Nigeria.
“We have strong economic cooperation between our two countries and as a country that is an oil and gas producing country, we have tried, as a government, to diversify our economy.”
Also, Baerbock said there were so many ways in which Nigeria and Germany, the European Union and African Union needed to strengthen collaborations for economic and mutual benefits.