Poland seeks increased Nigeria support for supply of gas, crude oil

By Cross Udo
President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, yesterday called on the Nigerian government to increase the supply of LNG gas as well as oil to Poland and the European Union.

Duda made the appeal when he met with President Muhammadu Buhari on a state visit at the presidential villa, Abuja.

He noted that Nigeria, being rich in oil and gas, should further increase the supplies from Nigeria to Poland.

In a joint press conference with the visiting Head of State, President Buhari said Nigeria is gratified by the existing fruitful cooperation with Poland in the fields of maritime, education, and defence.

On agriculture, which is one of the priority areas of the Nigerian government, President Buhari said cooperation in this area will be a win-win for the two countries, especially in the context of global food insecurity occasioned by the conflict in Ukraine.

The Nigerian leader said due to the numerous global challenges, his country would like to develop new mechanisms for cooperation including regular strategic dialogues and political consultations to cover not only bilateral relations but also address regional and international issues.

According to him, ‘‘Our cooperation in education has a long history and we wish to encourage the extension of that cooperation to the sharing of knowledge and experience between our educational institutions in areas such as science and technology as well as Information and Communication Technology, to help drive innovation in our countries in this competitive global knowledge economy.”

Describing the two-day visit of the Polish President as significant, underscoring the cordial relations that exist between both countries, President Buhari commended the efforts of the Government of Poland in assisting the large number of refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, including a significant number of Nigerians.

He said, ‘‘I also wish to express our sincere gratitude for the kind and generous support extended during our government’s evacuation of our fleeing nationals.

“We also appreciate greatly the opportunity given to some of our nationals to remain in Poland to continue with their studies.

“As regards trade relations, we would like to see an increase in the level of trade, as it remains relatively low despite the long period of relations between our two countries.”

He welcomed the hosting of a Dialogue that will bring together various members of the business sectors of Nigeria and Poland, during the State Visit, adding that it is an excellent initiative to increase the level of trade between both countries.

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Duda’s visit is the first by a Polish leader to Nigeria since the establishment of diplomatic relations between both countries in 1961.

Nigeria and Poland also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Agriculture, while pledging their willingness to enlarge the fields of economic cooperation in the energy and manufacturing sectors.

Duda described the agreement as necessary in the light of the food security crisis in the aftermath of the Russian aggression and the war in Ukraine which he adds is unjustified

He said, “And for that very reason, this is a truly important visit to me. And once again, let me stress, is a huge honour, Your Excellency.”

Duda, speaking very concretely, said both countries talked about furthering and deepening the relations between the two countries.

He further stressed that “Nigeria is the only African country with which Poland has signed an agreement on Strategic Dialogue. And actually, a very good part of this strategic dialogue is the memorandum of cooperation in the area of agriculture that we have just signed a couple of minutes ago.

“It is an immensely important piece of document, especially in the light of the food security crisis that is faced right now. And not only by Nigeria but also by the entire African continent.

“And the 10 most pivotal aspects that we raised in our conversation today both in our private tet-a-tet meeting with Mr. President, as well as during the plenary session was how to provide food security and energy security nowadays.

“Both of these topics, of course, stem from the situation that we are faced with today in Europe and to be more precise in our part of Europe. That is the aftermath of the Russian aggression and the war in Ukraine.

“And the Russian aggression against Ukraine, which is unjustified, has sparked off a very serious food crisis and a very serious energy crisis.

“As the country that is also a member of the United Nations, it is so important to support Ukraine in its export of grain and food products out of the country. But it’s equally a burden to us to provide our support to Africa and in particular to our partners’ country, that is Nigeria.

“And that is why it’s so important to us to further strengthen the relations between Poland and Nigeria right now. And one element in strengthening that relationship is the memorandum that we have signed today.

“It is very important for the future of our relations, but also for the future of the food security in Nigeria and at large. It can also contribute to the modernization and increasing the efficiency of the Nigerian economy and Nigerian agriculture but it also can serve as a vehicle for sharing experiences.”

Speaking about the energy security dimension, Duda said the talks held were essential from the perspective of supplying both LNG gas as well as oil to Poland and the European Union.

“And speaking about those natural resources, Nigeria is indeed very wealthy. And I want to also add that the first is applies of the LNG gas to our LNG gas terminal from Nigeria had already happened, just like the import of crude oil performed by our oil company Latos.

“Those shipments did happen in recent years. And that means well for the future because we do want to further develop this cooperation, we want to increase the supplies from Nigeria to Poland. And by this way, we also want to contribute to the development of economic relations between both our countries,” he said.

He expressed hope that the political talks will yield a very fruitful outcome in the meeting that he will have with representatives of business sectors, both from Poland and Nigeria.

He underlined that over the last 60 years, “we have been able to establish very good relations, bilateral relations and contacts between Poland and Nigeria, on the people two people level. And that has happened due to many Nigerians studying in Poland, but also due to this case of Polish scientists and also due to the input of Polish engineers in the building of infrastructure in Nigeria.

“I do believe that these good people-to-people relations will also spill over to other fields. And they will contribute to the development of the economic relations between both our countries which are so immensely important nowadays.”