President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in New York thanked the Hashemite
Kingdom of Jordan for its support to Nigeria’s campaign against
terrorism and insurgency with the donation of military hardware and
pledge to further supply helicopters.
Speaking during a bilateral meeting with King Abdullah II shortly
after his address to the 72nd Session of the United Nations General
Assembly, the President said the very expensive donation of about 200
Armoured Fighting Vehicles “reflects true concern for Nigeria’s security
situation and genuine goodwill towards a friendly nation.
President Buhari also reassured King Abdullah of Nigeria’s commitment
towards the proposed Aqaba Process with countries in the region as well
as Nigeria’s willingness to play a leading role in bringing together
countries in the West African sub-region into this collective security
arrangement.
The President pledged Nigeria’s continued desire for enhanced bilateral ties with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The Jordanian King had earlier informed the Nigerian President that
his Government was in the process of opening an embassy in Abuja in the
next few months, and appreciated the support being extended to his
country by the Nigerian government in this regard.
He told President Buhari that his National Security Adviser would
soon be working out the finer details of the Aqaba Process with his
Nigerian counterpart.
President Buhari was accompanied to the bilateral meeting, the third
of its kind since the inception of the current administration, by the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, the National Security
Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), and Nigeria’s
Permanent
Representative to the United Nations, Professor Tijjani Bande.
It would be recalled that soon after President Buhari took office in
2015, the Jordanian King had offered a hand of friendship, cooperation
and support for Nigeria in its fight against terrorism and insurgency.
This resulted in the National Security Adviser undertaking two visits to
Jordan to follow up on issues previously discussed with the King, and
the donation of military hardware and pledge of further support.
These gestures are aimed at enhancing Nigeria’s operational
capabilities in the fight against terror both within the country and the
Lake Chad Basin which affects neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger
where the Multinational Joint Task Force is engaging the Boko Haram
insurgents and terrorists.
The National Security Adviser’s second trip to Jordan on the
invitation of the King in January 2016 to attend the 3rd Aqaba Process,
also resulted in a renewed commitment between the two countries to
consider multilateral action in confronting the menace of terrorism by
replicating the Aqaba arrangement which the Kingdom of Jordan has with
East African countries battling protracted terrorist menace.
Nigeria has agreed to work with countries in the region on a similar
arrangement with Jordan. It is anticipated that the first Aqaba Process
for Nigeria and sister countries within the sub-region with Jordan will
be held in late November or early December 2017.