Nigeria, Ethiopia rekindle bilateral ties

Nigeria and Ethiopia have rekindled their bilateral ties  and have resolved to  further work toward ensuring  mutual progress and  prosperity  for  both countries.

Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama,  disclosed this to newsmen at the end of a bilateral meeting with his Ethiopian counterpart, Dr Workneh Gebe.

He spoke  on the sidelines  of the 31st Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the 29th AU Summit in Addis Asaba. The minister  said there was need for the two countries to continue to support each other and share experience on managing ethnic diversity.

Onyeama said areas of discourse  between the two countries included  cooperation in  defence, politics, economy as well as  consular and multilateral matters.

The minister solicited the support and cooperation of Ethiopia  as Nigeria assumed the position of the  Chairman of the AU Peace and Security Council  on Saturday.

Nigeria and Ethiopia have  long-standing relations even before Nigeria became independent in October, 1960. Ethiopia opened its  embassy in Lagos in 1961 and  both countries have common interests in the consolidation of their bilateral relations.

The two most populous countries in Africa with a combined population of well over 200 million  are multi-ethnic and multi-religious.

Nigeria and Ethiopia signed an agreement in June 2000 to provide teachers for various universities and high schools in Ethiopia. Since then,  Ethiopia had  been the leading beneficiary of Nigeria’s  Technical Aid Corps teachers, an excellent example of South/South relations.