The Senate Thursday sought for robust collaboration between Nigeria and Germany on security and power.
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, made the demand while having in audience, the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Annette Gunther, who paid him courtesy visit .
According to Akpabio, such collaboration between the two countries , would enhance the socio-political development of Nigeria.
“We are looking for partnership and guidance from Germany in the area of security and power generation. There is no doubt that we enjoy a very robust relationship with Germany and I see a much better relationship between Nigeria and Germany under your tenure as the Ambassador,” he said.
Akpabio stated further that Nigeria wants to improve on the existing relationship between her and Germany.
“We are taking the security in Nigeria very seriously and we believe that with more companies coming in to establish here, and creating more employment opportunities, a lot of our youths would be gainfully employed.
“We also want to implore Germany to take more active part in resolving most of the war in the crises prone areas, such as the Ukraine and Russia imbroglio and the current very bad situation in the Gaza.
“We also have a problem of infiltration from other countries. We require assistance from Germany in the area of security because when we had the Boko Haram issues in the North East, it might not have escalated to level it did, if we had the support of major players like Germany and others.
“It was very difficult for us to get support from America at that time, maybe due to what they read on social media concerning us. If the developed countries stop listening to social media, they would be willing to assist developing countries,” he added.
He however lamented that the recent decision of Germany to deport illegal Nigerians back to the country numbering 12 thousand is something the country must look into because of its security implication.
He said as a result of the current political situation in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, almost every black person in Germany, would claim to be a Nigerian because they don’t want to return to crises prone countries.”
Earlier the German Ambassador in her speech, said she was honoured to be received by the Senate President and his colleagues, assuring his hosts, of the commitment of Germany to assisting Nigeria to overcome its security and power challenges.
“We are honoured to be here today. Nigeria and Germany being the largest economies and population in their respective continents, needs to come together in their peoples’ interest. Nigeria is Germany’s second largest trading partner in sub-Sahara Africa,” she said.
