Secretary-General Paid a Maiden Visit to Nigeria

The D-8 Secretary-General, Ambassador Dato’ Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari paid his maiden visit to Nigeria from 16th to 19th December, 2018. During the visit, he met with the Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, H.E. Mr. Geoffrey ONYEAMA; the Permanent Secretary and D-8 Commissioner, H. E Ambassador Mustapha Lawal Sulaiman; the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac F.Adewole; the Minister of Education, Mr. Adamu Adamu; the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Mr. Lai Mohammed; the Minister of State Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika; the Vice President of the Federal Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Nigeria, Mr. Anene Johnson Somadina and the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr. Bayo Onanuga .

The Secretary-General congratulated the good work of the Government of Nigeria and conveyed his wishes for its success in future. During the meetings, the discussions were held in positive and constructive manner. The Secretary-General explained the new approach and the initiatives that he has introduced and updated the dignitaries on the implementation of the decisions of the 9th D-8 Summit and informed them on the current activities of the Organization. The Nigerian officials warmly welcomed all the new initiatives and gave their full support to the Secretary-General for their implementation. They also assured the Secretary-General of their commitment to the Organization.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed the need for the Organization to finalize the agreed instruments such as D-8PTA, D-8 Visa and Customs agreement as soon as possible in order to be able to reach our desired goals. He also informed that under the leadership of the Honorable President of the Republic of Nigeria, H E. Mr. Muhammadu Buhari, the government is fully committed to giving full support to the D-8 organization for Economic Cooperation.

On his part, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and D-8 Commissioner appreciated the Secretary-General’s efforts and vision and assured him of his full support. He also hosted a dinner in honour of the Secretary-General, During the dinner, he mentioned that after 21 years of establishment, we should move forward and implement all our agreed instruments. He shared the views of the Secretary-General on empowering the Private Sector of the Member States and welcomed the all his private Sector led initiatives including the finalization of the Statue of the D-8 Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The Minister of Health, H. E Prof. Isaac F. Adewole lend his full support to the new initiative called D-8 Health Partnership and assured that the Government of Nigeria will allocate the state of the art facility to host the D-8 Health Partnership Secretariat in Abuja. The Secretary-General appreciated the Honourable Minister for his gesture and informed him about the appointment of his special adviser on Health, Dr. Ado J.G. Muhammad who will lead the activities of the D-8 Health partnership. The Minister praised the efforts of the Secretary-General and gave his full support to the successful implementation of the agenda of the Secretary-General.

The Federal Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, H.E Mr. Lai MOHAMMED, warmly welcomes the Secretary-General to his Office in Abuja. During discussions, he briefed the Secretary-General regarding Nigeria’s new approach to development administration, including ambitious infrastructural development which is the key to promote tourism activities in any country. He also briefed the Secretary-General of the government’s pro Tourism policies and requested the D-8 Member States to share their experiences and expertise with Nigeria in order to help in the development of this very important sector. The Secretary-General briefed him about the new approach of establishing direct contact with the Stake holders and asked his help regarding the newly introduced initiatives such as D-8 Designated airports and D-8 Tourism and travel mart and also informed him that the Government of Malaysia is planning to organize the Second D-8 Ministerial meeting on Tourism in 2019 in which the Member States will possibly adopt the comprehensive strategy on Tourism. The Honorable Minister welcomes the Secretary-Generals ideas and assured his full support in the implementation of his initiatives.

The Secretary-General also called on the Minister of Education of Nigeria, H.E Mr. Adamu Adamu at his office in Abuja, the discussions held during the meeting were constructive and result oriented. The Secretary-General informed the minister of his new initiatives, especially his decision to introduce intellectuality in the work of the Organization. The Secretary-General appreciated the Minister for his unalloyed support for the establishment of the D-8 International University in Hamadan, Iran and requested Nigeria to participate in the graduate student’s sponsorship programme of the university which was accepted by the Minister. The Secretary-General also updated him on his new initiative of D-8 Network of Pioneers for Research and Innovation (D-8 NPRI) and again thanked the Minister for his support for the initiative and nomination of three prominent Nigerian universities to be part of the project. The Honorable Minister commended the efforts of the Secretary-General and his vision to equip the Organization with intellectuality and assured him of his commitment and support for all the initiatives taken by the Secretary-General.

The Honorable Minister of State of Aviation, H.E Senator Hadi Sirika welcomed the Secretary-General along with his delegation to his office. The meeting was conducted in a fruitful manner. The Secretary-General informed the Minister of the activities of the Organization and his new initiatives including the D-8 Industrial Parks, D-8 Designated Airports and D-8 Airports Association. The Honourable Minister praises the efforts of the Secretary General and assured him of his commitment and support to the progressive agenda of the Secretary-General. To this end, he offered Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja as the second D-8 Designated Airport.

The Secretary-General also met with the Managing Director and the Chief Executive Officer of the News Agency of Nigeria, Mr. Bayo Onanuga. The Secretary General briefed him on the activities of the Organization and asked for his support in publicizing the activities of the Organization. Mr. Onanuga assured the Secretary-General of his commitment and lend his full support to the Organization. He also proposed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the D-8 Organization to further strengthen the cooperation between the two institutions.

The Secretary-General also met with the Vice President of the Abuja Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Anene Johnson Somadina along with his team. The brain storming session was held on how to make the D-8 Chambers of Commerce and Industry (D-8CCI) forum more effective and beneficial. He assured the Secretary-General of the Chamber’s commitment to the D-8 and informed the Secretary-General that the Chamber want to actively participate in the activities of the D-8 CCI and also gave his full support to the Secretary-General’s private sector led initiatives, including the D-8 Industrial park.

Mr. Somadina said that Nigeria is open for investment to the world and the Chamber is ready to provide full support to all investors from the D-8 Member States. He also welcomed investment and technology transfer proposals from the Member States. To this end, he requested the Secretary-General’s action on the implementation of the agreed instruments of D-8, especially the D-8 Visa Agreement. He stressed that the Member States should implement the Visa agreement in its true spirit as this will ultimately help to increase the share of the intra trade among Member States. At this juncture, the Secretary-General appreciated the positive gestures of the Vice President towards the Organization and assured of his commitment to take the necessary step to get the Member States to implement the agreed D-8 Instruments.