The President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has stated his country’s readiness to partner with Nigeria in key economic areas.
He remarked when he received the First Lady of Nigeria, Oluremi Tinubu in his office in Belarus.
President Lukashenko highlighted some of the areas in which his country, Belarus is cooperating with Nigeria to include Agriculture, Food processing, Industry, and Education.
The President, who spoke through an interpreter pointed out that Mrs. Tinubu’s visit has further strengthened his administration’s resolve to enhance bilateral relations with Nigeria.
He noted that one key area they would be hoping to collaborate is on specialist training.
“We know your needs and we know the possibilities that you have. Let me underline that these possibilities are important and significant for us.
“We can render significant assistant to you and you can reciprocate for us.
“We are willing to explore deeper collaboration in the area of education with your country. Please ask President Bola Tinubu for the visit of our Minister of Foreign Affairs to your country so we can develop these areas of collaboration further,” he appealed.
Responding, the Nigerian First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu thanked the President for granting full scholarship to 20 Nigerian Students through the Renewed Hope Initiative.
She explained to President Lukashenko that the Renewed Hope Initiative is currently involved in empowering women, especially through the Women in Agriculture programme which is a way to improve food security and production in Nigeria.
She assured that Nigeria would also be reaching out further to the Republic of Belarus to see how the desired collaboration between the two nations would be pursued.
Earlier, the First Lady had met with the Belarusian Minister of Education, Andrey Ivanets who pointed out that currently, the Nigerian student population in Belarus is about 600.
Ivanets said the students who are studying in various fields are doing very well academically and that his Ministry looks forward to formalizing a bilateral agreement with Nigeria.
He also said the Belarusian government hopes to establish Specialists Training Centers in Nigeria.
Mrs. Tinubu, during the meeting, pointed out that the Work Experience programme of the Republic of Belarus is very commendable and would be explored by Nigeria.
During the First Lady’s visit, she also met with the Speaker of Belarus parliament Ms. Natalya Kochanova, and members of the Women’s Union of Belarus, including professionals from various sectors.
