Nigeria’s fight against terrorism has received a major boost from the Russian government following a pledge to end the activities of Boko Haram.
According to a statement, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister, Sergey Lavrov gave the reassurance in Moscow, Russia during an official meeting with his counterpart from Nigeria, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama.
He said his country will continue to support Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram.
The Russian minister told journalists at a joint briefing with his Nigerian counterpart shortly after the meeting, that Russia was prepared to improve military cooperation with Nigeria and also support steps put in place by the government of Nigeria in the fight against terrorism.
He said, “We will continue to support steps taken by Nigerian government in the fight against Boko Haram.”
Russia, he stressed will continue to cooperate with Nigeria in the fight against terrorism.
The minister further revealed that Russian government was consistently promoting solutions to African problems and, “we want to eliminate instability in the African continent.”
He also stressed that the problems in Africa and other troubled region can only be fully resolved through inclusive dialogue.
He said, “We have exchanged opinions on issues not only in Nigeria but also Syria, Libya and Middle East. Solutions to the problems of in these areas can only be achieved through inclusive dialogue.”
He also commended the role Nigeria was playing to ensure peace and stability in the continent and the entire world.
On other areas of agreement reached at the meeting, Lavrov said Russia will be working with Nigeria to speed up economic and political agreement between both nations.
“We have agreed that we should speed up processes on political and economic agreement,” he said.
On global politics, the minister said his country and Nigeria will be working together on all issues that concern both nations.
“We discussed regional and global agenda. We have agreed to coordinate our efforts within the United Nations on mutually beneficial issues,” he said.
Onyeama in his briefing noted that the activities of the Boko Haram or other form of terrorism is no longer Nigeria’s challenge but a global scourge.
He however told his guest that the military had degraded the capacity of the terrorist group.
Russia, he said had provided military hardware and training in the efforts to end the activities of the terrorist group.
On piracy, Nigeria Foreign Affairs minister said the current administration had done a lot to end the scourge, and called for the support of government of Russia, especially in the gulf of Guinea.
On UN reform, Onyeama said both countries agreed that there was a lot still to be done.
Onyeama said both countries will be meeting at a later date this year in Moscow to further the discussions on economic and political cooperation.
He also commended Russia for educating over 10,000 Nigerian students, saying that in 2017 alone, 110 Nigerians benefited under the Russian scholarship programme.
He stressed that Russia had played a very big role in increasing the human capacity of Nigeria.
