Dr. Seyed AliMohammad Mousavi, the D-8 Secretary-General, called on Mr. Chief Audu Ogbeh, Federal Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nigeria on 24 February 2016 at the latter’s office in Abuja.

The two interlocutors held a very fruitful and effective discussion in a cordial environment. Dr. Mousavi informed the Minister of the latest developments taking place within the Organization and conveyed that the Secretariat was working in full swing to implement the vision set by the Organization’s leaders. He updated the Minister with the outcome of 5th Agricultural Ministerial Meeting held in Istanbul in December 2014 and conveyed that the ‘Istanbul Initiative’ adopted in the Ministerial plenary outlined short and long term goals and strategies the D-8 Organization would pursue in order to achieve its objectives. He added that the Task Forces and Senior Officials must continue with their untiring efforts till the next Ministerial session. He invited the Minister to attend the 6th Ministerial session scheduled to be held in April 2016 in Islamabad and sought his support in furthering common agenda to consolidate the partnership among the Member States. 

Minister Ogbeh warmly welcomed the Secretary-General and assured him of all cooperation. He informed him of the latest policy developments within Nigeria and shared some success stories in different sub-sectors of Agricultural production and export. He mentioned that Nigeria had a great potential to tap into in terms of agricultural production and expressed keen interest in expanding the cooperation within the framework of D-8. He also noted that developing countries, in most instances, were not benefiting from global policies in different global platforms. He mentioned that D-8 could be a unique institution whereby a common voice could not only serve the purpose of its members but also strengthen its position in other global platforms in order to change the status from rule-followers to rule-makes. He assured that Nigeria would stand firm to strengthen the D-8 for common good. He hoped that next Ministerial session in Islamabad would be a unique opportunity to discuss and interact among Ministers about rural agriculture, food security, knowledge sharing, agro-based industries etc. He also hoped to attend the said meeting.