By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has called on the German Government to collaborate with its Nigerian counterpart in the areas of security and electricity to enhance the socio-political development of the country.
Akpabio made the call when he led some of his colleagues and to receive in his office, the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Annette Gunther, in his office on Wednesday.
This was contained in a statement by the Special Assistant to the Senate President on Media, Mr Jackson Udom.
Akpabio said, “We are looking for partnership and guidance from Germany in the area of security and power generation. There is no doubt that we enjoy a very robust relationship with Germany and I see a much better relationship between Nigeria and Germany under your tenure as the Ambassador.
“Nigeria wants to improve on the existing relationship between us, and the Nigerian Parliament would be very glad to join the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to improve on that relationship.
“Anything we need to do in terms of legalizing or in terms of legislation to make most of the policies and programmes that you are embarking on with the government possible would be done. We want more German companies to join those that are already here.
“We are taking the security in Nigeria very seriously and we believe that with more companies coming in to establish here, and creating more employment opportunities, a lot of our youths would be gainfully employed.
“We also want to implore Germany to take a more active part in resolving most of the war in the crisis-prone areas, such as the Ukraine and Russia imbroglio and the current very bad situation in Gaza.
“We also have a problem of infiltration from other countries. We require assistance from Germany in the area of security. This is because when we had the Boko Haram issues in the North East, it might not have escalated to the level it did if we had the support of major players like Germany and others.
“It was very difficult for us to get support from America at that time, maybe due to what they read on social media concerning us. If the developed countries stop listening to social media, they would be willing to assist developing countries,” he declared.
“The recent decision of Germany to deport illegal Nigerians back to the country numbering 12 thousand is something you have to look into for us, because of its security implications.
“As a result of the current political situation in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, almost every black person in Germany, would claim to be a Nigerian because they don’t want to return to crises-prone countries.
“Dumping 12,000 illegal immigrants in Nigeria would lead to the escalation of insecurity in the country. There is, therefore, the need for your country to allow our immigration officers to assess, who exactly is a Nigerian amongst them.
“If they allow them in here, without any kith and kin and they have to survive, the result would be nothing but militancy or insecurity.”
The German Envoy said she was honoured to be received by the Senate President and his colleagues, assuring his hosts, of the commitment of Germany to assisting Nigeria to overcome its security and power challenges.
Gunther said, “We are honoured to be here today. Nigeria and Germany being the largest economies and populations in their respective continents, need to come together in their peoples’ interest. Nigeria is Germany’s second-largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa.
“The Siemens’ energy project is often mentioned by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and I hope this may be our small contribution to improving electricity in the country. Germany is very active in so many areas like climate change and energy, she stressed.
The security situation in Nigeria, she noted, “is worrisome to Germany as well as Nigeria.”
She added, “We have taken that up already because it is the most important prerequisite for socio-economic development, peace, and human development.
“The security sector support reform is also where Germany is deeply involved. Over the years, we have spent quite a lot of money and we are very happy to see that going well under the leadership of the National Security Adviser,” Gunther stated.
