Daniel Bwala, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on policy communication, says the president’s visit to Turkey is strategic and driven by concrete national interests.
On Monday, Tinubu arrived in Turkey on a state visit aimed
at strengthening bilateral relations.
Speaking to journalists in Ankara, capital of Turkey, Bwala
said the trip was at the behest of the Turkish government.
He said the trip reflects Tinubu’s influence as a former
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) leader and Nigeria’s
standing on the African continent.
“No, it’s not another trip. It’s a strategic trip,” Bwala
said.
“First of all, it’s an invitation by this government,
because of course you know the President of Nigeria was a leader of ECOWAS.
He’s a person of influence in Africa.”
Bwala said Nigeria’s “recent progress” on the economy,
security and politics fronts add extra layers to the visit.
“With the exceptional breakthrough that we’re having in all
fields in Nigeria — in the economy, in the area of security, politics, and all
that — the president showed up today for the state visit,” he said.
“We’re looking to the programme probably starting from
tomorrow.
“We’ll look at those areas of possibilities that the two
parties are going to explore, especially in the area of defence, security, and
the economy.”
Bwala said ministers responsible for the relevant sectors
accompanied the president to facilitate talks.
“In fact, we have the ministers of the various fields that
we intend to have bilateral talks on,” he said.
“They are also on this trip and ready to go.”
Speaking on Nigeria’s growing engagement with Middle Eastern
countries, Bwala referenced Tinubu’s recent diplomatic success with the United
Arab Emirates (UAE).
“The president is a very influential leader that world
leaders know,” Bwala said.
“That’s because of the personality and the leadership that
the president brings on board.”
He said Turkey’s strength in security and defence align with
Nigeria’s needs.
“Historically, they are good in the area of security. They
also have the capacity to produce weapons that are key and critical to what we
need,” he added.
“If you look at the Turkey-Nigeria relationship over the
years, you will see investment by the Turkish people and the Turkish government
in Nigeria.
“You will also see the value Nigerian people and the
Nigerian government have brought to the Republic of Turkey.”
The presidential aide also described the visit as a meeting
anchored on shared interests with expected tangible outcomes.
“So this is a shared meeting for shared interests. It is
also a meeting that we’re looking to, at the end of the day, give you
information on the deliverables that will come out of it,” he said.
“You can see when the president came, the excitement around
this place. People are showing excitement about the prospects of what will be
discussed tomorrow.”
Bwala added that details of agreements and focus areas would
be made public after deliberations.
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