The Minister of Defence, retired Major General Bashir Salihi Magashi has restated the commitment of the Nigerian Armed Forces to defend the territorial integrity of the country against the Forces fueling insecurity.
The Minister of Defence stated this when he received the Canadian high Commissioner to Nigeria Nicholas Simard, who was on a courtesy call at the Ministry of Defence Headquarters Abuja.
A statement by the Special Assistant to the Minister of Defence on Media and Publicity, Mohammad Abdulkadri said, the minister while lauding the decades of Military bilateral Cooperations between Nigeria and Canada, said the ties progressively and sustenably culminated into the formation of the Bi- National Commission in April 2012.
General Magashi pointed out that both countries were now reaping the dividends of symbiotic diplomatic ties on win-win basis and listed the areas of common concerns to end violent extremism in the country, the supports of Canada to entrenching stable, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria as parts of the diplomatic gains.
Moving forward, the Defence Minister told the Canadian High Commissioner to assist in driving national aspirations and request for transfer of technology from Canada to boost the capabilities of the Defence Industrial Corporation of Nigeria, DICON, towards looking inward for the productions of more sophisticated Military weapons and hardwares.
The acting High Commissioner of Canada to Nigeria Nicholas Simard, who assumed duty six months ago described Nigeria as a strategic partner with Canada especially in thematic areas of combating insecurity, Joint Military trainings and advocacy for protection of human rights.
Nigeria established diplomatic relations with Canada two years after her independence in 1960, precisely in 1962.
He said it is also on record that both countries have Membership of Commonwealth, Global Counter-terrorism Forum and World Trade Organisation in common.
Lateefah Ibrahim
