Dr. Betta Edu (L) and the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Hidayet Bayraktar, putting heads together on strategic humanitarian issues.
The Turkish government has expressed its readiness to partner with Nigeria through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation in the areas of social protection and emergency responses.
Already, both countries are set to sign an agreement early next year on development cooperation and disaster management.
Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Hidayet Bayraktar, made this known during a courtesy call on the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu in her office in Abuja.
In a press release on Wednesday by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Minister, Rasheed Olanrewaju Zubair, the Turkish envoy described Nigeria as a rising star in Africa, saying it was important that his country and Nigeria collaborate on humanitarian crisis management, emergency response efforts, and poverty eradication infrastructures.
“As you know, we have a very good relationship with Nigeria, and especially we see Nigeria as the rising star in Africa.
“We want to have two agreements to be signed very early next year, one on the development Cooperation area and the other one on the humanitarian disaster area, which will also involve the Turkish disaster management authority and NEMA of Nigeria.
“This will tremendously help, especially in the areas of floods or natural disasters. In the field of the development corporation, we will have the kind of sustainable development projects that we can help Nigeria in the areas of humanitarian and emergency response management as well, “the Ambassador said.
Responding, Dr Edu expressed delight at the Turkish government’s willingness to partner with her ministry on social protection, humanitarian and emergency response strategies, saying both countries would benefit immensely from the synergy.
Her words: “We are grateful to the Turkish Ambassador and his team for this partnership, we have spoken very elaborately on the Turkish Development Cooperation, which would help partner with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to see how they can invest in social protection, support education, promote health and other social protection factors in the country.
“We would very early in January after all the documentation has been completed, sign an agreement with the Turkish Government on Development Cooperation and of course disaster management.
“This will help us in setting up a proper humanitarian and disaster management system in Nigeria. All of these will be brought to the fore from the agreements which we will sign”
Continuing, the Minister disclosed the Turkish government’s willingness “to open an office for the Turkish Development Cooperation in Nigeria after the agreements have been signed and from this office they can directly reach out, through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, to the different states in the country.
“So we are very positive that very early next year in January, we can get all of these signed both in Turkey and back in Nigeria, and we can begin immediate implementation.
“This will help us to tackle humanitarian crises well as well as grapple with emergency responses and tackle poverty through the various development cooperation initiatives that we will be working on with the ministry”
The Turkish Ambassador was in the company of Imdat Karakoram, the Deputy Chief of Mission, at the Republic of Turkey.
