EU and Nigeria Want to Boost Cooperation

Brdo pri Kranju, 20 May

Officials at an EU-Nigeria meeting agreed on Tuesday to boost ties between the African country and the 27-member bloc. Nigeria would like to improve above all cultural ties and cooperation in energy security, Nigerian Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe told the press.

Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, who headed the EU delegation, said that the EU should "clearly pay a lot of attention to Africa."
A long time passed since the last troika meeting, but Rupel said the EU was very ambitious in trying to establish an atmosphere conductive of dialogue, exchange and cooperation with Nigeria and the entire African Union.
Africa is especially prone to issues like the build-up of light weapons, as it is one of the continents most affected by weapon trafficking.
African coastal countries could also become affected by the consequences of climate change, so the Nigerian delegation stressed that the EU, being one of the biggest polluters, should contribute considerably to solving the problem.
The ministers touched on energy security in which the views of the EU and Nigeria are somewhat different, as Nigeria is an important oil exporter. However, the global problem remains the same for all and both the EU and Nigeria are aware of issues regarding energy security and pollution, according to Rupel.
"The EU adopted and upgraded its principles regarding energy policy, while in Africa they do not have have such detailed and long-term plans due to their oil supplies and are calmer," Rupel said.
Yet Maduekwe retorted that Africa was concerned about the problems associated with the reduction of fossil fuel supplies and the search for alternative energy sources.
"We are concerned that the remedy used in addressing this challenge the remedy would cause a collateral illness and that the side-effect would be even worse then the original problem," he said.
Maduekwe stressed that the world needed to find biofuels which would not be based on food crops, as the food crisis was escalating not only in Africa but also in more developed countries. He believes that the world should turn to sun and wind for alternative energy sources.
Nigeria would like to contribute to energy production from renewables, because in the opposite case, its industrialisation would take the same course as those of India and China, who are both becoming one of the biggest oil consumers in the world.
Maduekwe, who believes that the way to energy stability is through partnership, invited European companies to invest in renewables in Nigeria.
The talks also touched on terrorism and the role of intercultural dialogue in fighting the causes of terrorism.
Maduekwe said that the modern Africa is a result of European imagination, culture, science, technology and trade. Africans feel like they are a part of Europe, he said and added that good relations with Europe were very appreciated.
Maduekwe expressed the dissatisfaction of Nigerian citizens about problems they face when travelling and Rupel promised further talks regarding the issue.
Rupel said that Nigeria was doing a good job regarding human rights issues, given that the EU standards were somewhat different from Nigeria's, and welcomed the country's

EU and Nigeria Want to Boost Cooperation

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