The federal government is set to strengthen its bilateral relationship with Turkiye, with special focus on tourism and trade.
The Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Hassan Hadejia, disclosed this Tuesday while receiving delegations from the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), the Turkish Turquaz Group and Afrosum Faith Tourism at the State House, Abuja.
This was contained in a press statement released by NCPC’s Head of Media and Public Relations, Celestine Toruka.
The statement read in part, “The renewed religious tourism initiative, championed by the NCPC and the Turkish Group, is expected to foster a robust relationship between Nigeria and Turkiye.
“Turkiye has a well-developed tourism industry, which is a sector that drives their economy. This makes it easy to arrange for a seamless pilgrimage exercise in Turkiye.”
In his remarks, the NCPC Executive Secretary, Bishop Stephen Adegbite, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima for their support “which has enabled the Commission to successfully airlift pilgrims to Israel and Jordan.”
He said, “I want to specially commend Mr. President and the vice- president for the opportunity given to me to superintendent over the affairs of the NCPC. We commenced the airlift of intending Christian pilgrims to Israel and Jordan for the 2024 Main Pilgrimage exercise on December 22, last year, and have successfully airlifted the last batch on March 20, 2025.”
Bishop Adegbite also emphasised the importance of exploring new Holy Sites worldwide, citing Turkiye as a tourism-friendly country with numerous Christian Holy Sites.
“Turkiye is a tourism-friendly country with no fanaticism. I have visited Turkiye on several occasions and can attest to the fact that there are lots of Christian Holy Sites in the country,” he said.
Speaking, the leader of the Turkish delegation, who is the Deputy Director General, Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Reghan Ozgir, said “this bilateral relationship would be the first time Nigerians would be visiting Turkiye on religious tourism.”
“Turkiye has developed its tourism industry over the years. In 2024 alone, over 52 million tourists visited Turkiye. We are ready to welcome Nigerian pilgrims and tourists,” he said.