•Pegs volume of trade at €31.8bn

From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has said that Europe still remains Nigeria’s highest trading partner.

Tuggar who spoke when he received in audience, the Chairman and Members of the European Union Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs in Abuja, also said figures may vary, but the volume of trade is not less than €31.8 billion.

The immediate past Nigerian Ambassador to Germany further said the relationship between Nigeria and the European Union or between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union is one that is very important to security, economy and development as a whole.

Tuggar stated that it was for that reason that Nigeria became the 77th shareholder of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development recently.

He added that there were several areas of collaboration between the European Union and Nigeria,  recalling that President Bola Tinubu emphasised food security as his number one priority.

“Because we are a nation of 230 million people, we are expected to become 400 million by the year 2050. So we are in a race against time to create as many jobs as possible to feed that population, ensure that population is healthy,” Tuggar told the visiting European Union Parliamentarians.

The minister also said beyond that, as a leader in the West African region and on the African continent, Nigeria also had the burden of responsibility to ensure the integration of markets in the region, on the African continent and for Africa as a whole to develop.

“And we have a lot of lessons to learn from the European Union that incidentally also, it is still talking about how to integrate more.

“It gives us hope and it is clearly a model that we seek to emulate and we are rest assured here to do whatever that is necessary to strengthen those ties, the existing ties and to continue to work and to collaborate with the European Union,” Tuggar further said.

Also speaking, the leader of the delegation and Chair of the European Union Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, David McAllister, said they were in Nigeria to understand better, the recent developments in Africa.

McAllister also said Nigeria is a strategic partner to Europe, adding that the European Union Parliament and Nigeria maintain a longstanding partnership built on political dialogue, shared values and regional cooperation.

He further said not only that Nigeria is considered as a strategic partner for the European Union, but because Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria is also a major regional political and economic power in West Africa.