FG Urged to Follow-Up On Saudi, Qatar Bilateral Agreements

Think Nigeria First Initiative, a socio-cultural organisation has advised the Federal government to ensure that the various agreements signed between Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Qatar during the recent visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to the two countries are duly implemented to the later.

Director General of the group, Alhaji Abubakar Tsanni who stated this during an interaction with journalists in Abuja said Nigeria would benefit immensely if the Memoranda of Understanding reached are followed to logical conclusion.

Tsanni said that the outcome of the visit would impact positively on the economic development of the country if given the necessary attention especially at this time the nation is faced with financial conundrum.

He noted that the Chairman of the Council of the Saudi Arabian Chambers of Commerce and Industry had pointed agriculture as a very important area of investment in Nigeria for its members, who were already in Brazil, the United States of America and Sudan with huge farms. They have declared their willing to invest in Nigeria, Dr Abdulrahman Al Zamil said that the Saudis were the leading investors in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya and Ethiopia

He commended Buhari's call for member states of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cooperate with non-member states and find a common ground to stabilise the crude oil market.

"As a concerned citizen, I am very glad that President Buhari invited prospective Qatari investors to take advantage of the abundant opportunities in Nigeria and invest in the key areas of energy, agriculture, real estate development, banking and finance. Of course, he also assured prospective investors that his government would protect their persons and investment", Tsanni said.

He also observed that, during the visit to Qatar, the delegations from Nigeria and Qatar formalized two bilateral agreements to boost economic cooperation between both nations.

"The current market situation in the industry which has seen oil prices plummet by 70 percent since mid-2014 does not benefit any oil exporting country."

He quoted President Buhari as saying, 'As members of OPEC and Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), our relations in the areas of oil and gas, which our two nations heavily rely on, need to be enhanced and coordinated for the benefit of our people.

The current market situation in the oil industry is unsustainable and totally unacceptable. We must cooperate both within and outside our respective organisations to find a common ground to stabilise the market, which will be beneficial to our nations.'