Nigeria will soon expand its diplomatic relations with Ukraine — Osinbajo

Abuja – The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), has said that Nigeria will soon expand its diplomatic relation with Ukraine.

He made the remark on Friday in Abuja when received Dr Valerii Aleksandruk, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Nigeria at State House.

“Very soon we will be signing outstanding bilateral agreements,’’ the VP said, while expressing Nigeria’s gratitude for the scholarship the Ukrainian government award to Nigerian students..

The VP told the ambassador that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was interested in partnering Ukraine in agriculture and steel development.

He said that Nigeria looked forward to the establishment of bi-national commission with Ukraine to boost the relationship between the two countries in various fields.

Osinbajo thanked the Ukrainian government for its assistance to Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram terrorist group, saying
“we hope for more cooperation until we put down the evil of terrorism.’’

The Ukrainian envoy told state House correspondents at the end of his meeting with Osinbajo that his country was ready to transfer its technology for the advancement of Nigeria.

“Ukraine is a very developed and indusrialised country.

“The potential and technological achievements of Ukraine can be utilised for the development of infrastructure projects, renewable energy projects, building generating facilities and distribution networks in Nigeria, ’’ Aleksandruk said.

He said that his country provide assistance to Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram through the supply of military equipment and ammunition.

Aleksandruk said that he had useful discussion with the Vice President especially in the area of education where Nigeria had close to 5,000 students studying various courses in Ukraine.

The envoy said: “we discussed a lot of areas but the most promising area is in education

“We have almost 5,000 Nigerian students in Ukraine and we are thinking of adding more.

“We are talking about Science and other couple of agreements to lay solid foundation for development in these areas.

“Also very promising is cooperation in trade and economic investment, military and other areas,’’

In a related development, the executive of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) led by its National President, Mr Samson Ugwoke, paid a courtesy visit to VP Osinbajo and held useful discussions with him.