The Nigerian Government and the Government of Denmark, have renewed their commitments to fight piracy and other security challenges in the Gulf of Guinea.
The two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding MOUs to further seal the commitments.
The signing between the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, and the Foreign Minister of Denmark, Mr Jeppe Kofod, took place in New York, United States, on the sidelines of the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Mr. Kofod said, “Denmark is ready to strengthen its cooperation with all countries around the Gulf of Guinea and deploy resources to fight piracy in the region.”
He also said; “Denmark wants to collaborate with all countries in the Gulf of Guinea to fight the root cause of piracy…As a maritime country, Denmark is occupied with safe travel for its seafarers and its ships.”
“As a maritime nation like Nigeria, we are very occupied with safe travel at sea for our seafarers, for our ships. So, that is why we are investing heavily in this,” Kofod said.
On his part, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, said “the relationship between Nigeria and Denmark is excellent and waxing stronger especially in the area of humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced people in the Northern part of Nigeria to ease.”
Onyeama also said, apart from the Gulf of Guinea, Denmark has been very supportive in the area of humanitarian assistance in the Northeast regarding the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
“Nigeria is trying to diversify it’s economy and attract more investments. We are ready to continue working with Denmark to expand its trade relations between Nigeria and Denmark.
“We are working on Agriculture to support Nigerian farmers to be more sedentary in ranching and milk production to Internationally compete with other farmers in the world , ” the Minister explained.
Onyeama further described the bilateral relations between Nigeria and Denmark as a win-win situation, and Nigeria is looking for more investments into the country.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
