President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja called on Qatar to invest in Nigeria’s sectors including petroleum, power, aviation, agriculture and railways so as to uplift the quality of life of Nigerians.
Mr Femi Adesina, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, disclosed this in a statement issued after the closed door meeting between President Buhari and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-thani, at State House, Abuja, on Tuesday.
The presidential aide revealed that also on the front burners was the recharge of Lake Chad with water from the Congo Basin, so as to grant succour to the more than 30 million people adversely affected by the shrinking of the lake over the years.
“We invite you to invest in our refineries, pipelines, power sector, aviation, agriculture, education, and many others, so that you can have your management here to oversee the investment. We need your expertise,” President Buhari said.
On the receding Lake Chad, he said of the over 30 million people affected, more than half were in Nigeria, and it has contributed greatly to illegal migration, as innumerable youths dare the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea, in order to find safer shores in Europe. A large number die in the process.
He said: “We need help with the recharge of Lake Chad, as it is not a project that the concerned countries can handle alone,
“Recharging the lake will bring back fishing, farming, animal husbandry, and the youths won’t be attracted by insurgency or illegal migration.
“We want Qatar to be involved because of the humanitarian nature of the endeavour.’’
Sheikh Hamad Al-thani said he was honoured and happy to be in Nigeria for the first time, stressing that it was a reciprocal visit to the one paid to Qatar in 2016 by President Buhari.
According to him, the relationship between our countries is very good. We just have to build on it.
“We share a lot of similarities in different areas. We need to enhance bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
“We are willing to do a lot more with Nigeria, and will continue to work on investment opportunities of mutual benefit,” he added.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Emir, who was on one-day official visit to Nigeria, has since returned to Qatar.(NAN)
