President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday called on African countries to become globally competitive and begin exporting finished products. The president made the call while speaking to the outgoing Ugandan High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Christopher Onyango Aparr, at the State House,
“Africa has reached a stage where we must stop exporting raw materials. Instead, we should work harder to become globally competitive, exporting finished products,” he said. The president said economic growth was necessary for political stability, adding that Nigeria was focused on building and strengthening mutually beneficial economic relations with Uganda and Africa. He commended Aparr for sustaining the warm brotherly relations between Nigeria and Uganda and wished him well in his next post.
Aparr thanked Jonathan for Nigeria’s assistance through the Technical Aid Corps as well as the strong bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the two countries. At a separate ceremony, Jonathan commended Turkey for assisting Nigeria in developing human capacity through the establishment of schools in the country. He made the commendation at an audience with the outgoing Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Ali Rifat Koksal, also in the state House.
“Human capacity development is critical for any nation’s growth, and we appreciate your help in establishing schools in Nigeria,” he said. Jonathan also acknowledged the building of a Turkish hospital in Abuja and said this cooperation was in the spirit of the relations among the D-8 group of nations. The D-8 group of nations was set up in 1997 to promote economic cooperation among the members — Nigeria, Turkey, Iran, Bangladesh, Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan.
