Nigeria’s FM speaks to media about his government’s domestic plans and global approach.
Doha, Qatar — Israel must stop its war on Gaza, and the world needs to drop its “double standards” over the killings in the besieged enclave, Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar told media.
Tuggar was visiting Qatar as part of a delegation led by Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Nigeria and Qatar signed a series of memorandums of understanding and discussed potential collaboration in sectors such as energy, trade, labour, agriculture and more.
The visit came at a time when Nigeria faces mounting economic and social challenges with armed attacks proliferating and an inflation rate at 30 percent.
Yet Nigeria, with a population of more than 200 million people and Africa’s largest economy, is also eyeing a greater role in regional and global affairs.
Tinubu leads the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) established in 1975. The bloc faces an uncertain future with Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso announcing in late January they are quitting the regional grouping.
media sat down with Tuggar in Doha to learn more about what the government has in store for Africa’s largest economy.
media: Over the past week, there have been many meetings between Qatari and Nigerian officials. What are some of the key agreements and partnerships that have been made?
Yusuf Tuggar: Qatar has this Arabic concept of the word “irth” which is legacy, or inheritance. Nigeria is here to forge a common irth, legacy, inheritance with Qatar. They’re both major gas producers and if they work closely together, they can establish or expand further their market share.
And then of course, Qatar is also strong in services, airports. We have so many airports that are in existence that are underutilised that can be turned readily into cargo airports. We’ve got ports, we need more ports to be developed.
media: What are some of the upcoming gas projects?
Tuggar: There are several ongoing gas projects in Nigeria that we hope Qatar can invest in. We have so many opportunities for floating LNG projects. We’ve got an LNG plant that has run out of gas that is right next to us in Equatorial Guinea. All it needs is a pipeline, to pipe Nigerian gas to Equatorial Guinea and Bob’s your uncle. This is something that Qatar can take advantage of.
We have a Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline that is in the making to supply 15 African countries with gas and it can go on to Europe. I know Europe is looking to phase out gas but let’s work with the reality. The reality right now is that gas is still in demand.
We have a trans-Saharan gas pipeline. The leg of the pipeline within Nigeria has gone very far, it’s almost completed and it’s supposed to deliver gas all the way to Algeria. And you throw in Algerian gas and it can go all the way into Europe. These are all projects that are ongoing that Qatar can be a part of when it comes to gas.
But we’re not just looking at gas, we’re looking at agriculture, the health sector. All the relevant ministers are here; we’re looking at metals refining for rare earths; Nigeria is rich in lithium. This is something that can be taken advantage of.
media: Regarding the biggest conflict in the world right now, in Gaza more than 30,000 people have been killed. What are your thoughts on this?
But this carnage is completely out of hand and totally unacceptable. There is no way to explain the double standards; it has to stop.
media: Regarding the war in Ukraine, the US and EU have been pressuring other countries to join in on sanctions against Russia. Nigeria has maintained a neutral, non-aligned stance. How difficult or easy has it been to maintain this stance?
Tuggar: [The non-aligned stance] has been the policy of the state of Nigeria since its inception, since it was created in 1960. Nigeria was part of the non-aligned movement and has remained so and at the moment we’re currently practicing what is now referred to as strategic autonomy.
We get along with all countries, and we’re not the only country that has that policy. Nigeria has always been an independent sovereign nation. So we are not compelled to follow any other country’s lead. We do what is right for our people, what’s in the interest of our people.
We get along famously with both of them [the US and Russia]. They also don’t have a problem with us being autonomous, being an independent country, with the freedom to maintain relations with all nations.
media: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have announced they’re leaving ECOWAS. Is there maybe a need to reinvent ECOWAS in any way?
Tuggar: No, there isn’t. There’s a process [for leaving] and it takes about a year. It’s one thing to pronounce that you’ve left, it’s another to really disengage from ECOWAS itself because every citizen of ECOWAS carries a passport. (An ECOWAS passport guarantees visa-free travel within the bloc). We’re waiting to see if they’re even going to print the passports which is going to cost millions of dollars.
We’re talking about 30 percent of, let’s say, Cote d’Ivoire, coming from Burkina Faso, and Mali, which means they would need new residencies or they will have to leave Cote d’Ivoire and the same thing with Nigeriens in Nigeria, in several other places. So it’s not as simple as it’s made out to be. The process of them leaving takes a lot more than just a simple pronouncement and there are certain procedures that have to be followed.
ECOWAS has shown clearly that there’s no bellicosity towards those countries because sanctions were removed out of humanitarian considerations. Fasting during Ramadan is coming up, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as the Chairman of ECOWAS, heads of state and government pushed for the removal of sanctions. The ECOWAS leaders endorsed it and the sanctions have been removed, borders have been opened.
There’s no compulsion in the membership of ECOWAS, it’s up to the regimes in those countries to make a decision. ECOWAS is a union of a community of people and the emphasis is on the community, on the people, on the citizens.
media: In Nigeria, between 40 and 45 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. How does the government plan for economic growth and to address the issue of poverty?
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