Meeting with First Lady of Nigeria Oluremi Tinubu

Belarus is very interested in expanding cooperation with Nigeria, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with First Lady of Nigeria Oluremi Tinubu in Minsk on 10 July. 

“It’s very good that you have come. This will be an interesting and very useful start in our cooperation. I would really like to hope that your visit will be followed by a visit by your country’s president and ministers, which could help give momentum to closer cooperation. We are very interested in your country and I think we will be useful to you. Please convey my best wishes to Mr. Bola Tinubu and tell him that we are ready to host him any time,” the Belarusian leader said.

“We are well-informed about your needs and capabilities. This is very important for us. And we can be of great help to you, the same way you can help us a lot in our development. We are ready to help you grow your manufacturing sector, agriculture and processing industry, most importantly food production. We are also ready to set up joint ventures in your country to produce various types of equipment,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko. 

He assured that Belarus can train specialists for Nigeria’s various needs, and would like to cooperate more closely in education. 

“I would ask you to convey to the president of Nigeria our request to arrange a visit of our foreign minister to your country to explore cooperation opportunities. There, in your capital city, at home, you will be able to decide on further contacts between specialists and government members of our countries. The plan to be agreed by our minister and your specialists will be strictly observed, including by me,” the President said.

The head of state also highlighted the importance of expanding contacts in culture and humanitarian matters: “It’s good that you have come to us, you will visit Slavianski Bazaar, see our Slavic culture, including Russian culture. Perhaps next year you will bring a piece of your culture here.”

Oluremi Tinubu thanked the President for the invitation and hospitality and conveyed best regards from her husband and President of Nigeria Bola Tinubu. “This is my first visit to Belarus. And I want to thank you for this very warm welcome. True, I thought it would be a short vacation. Yet, my visit turned out to be packed with events. The meetings that I had were very interesting,” said the First lady. 

She particularly mentioned fruitful discussions she had at the Belarusian Women's Union, the Education Ministry, and with Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly Natalya Kochanova.