by Kingseyi Wed Jul 18, 2018 8:00 pmPresident Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday
concluded a successful Official Visit to the
Netherlands, meeting with Nigerian Embassy
staff, before departing for home.
At a meeting with the embassy staff and their
families, the President thanked them for being
worthy ambassadors.
President Buhari in a bilateral meeting
with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mr
Mark Rutte in The Hague on 16th July
2018
While in the Netherlands, on Tuesday, July 17,
2018, President Buhari had delivered the
keynote address at the 20th anniversary of the
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,
where he canvassed support for ICC with
jurisdiction over serious cases of corruption and
illicit financial flows by state actors.
The President used the occasion of his speech
at the Solemn Hearing to commemorate the 20th
anniversary of the Rome Statute of the ICC, to
assure the international community of a free, fair
and peaceful 2019 general elections in Nigeria.
The President also assured that under his watch
the tragic incidents that characterized the 2011
general elections, necessitating preliminary
investigations by the ICC, will not happen again
in Nigeria.
President Buhari, accompanied by Governor
Simon Lalong of Plateau State; Governor
Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State,the Group
Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, the
Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority
(NPA), Hadiza Bala-Usman and other top
government officials, toured the Port of
Rotterdam and the Shell Refinery Pernis,
Hoogvliet, a borough of Rotterdam, Netherlands.
He also met with Shell CEO and discussions
focused on investments in deep water and gas
projects in Nigeria.
At the Binnenhof on Monday, July 17, 2018, the
President had met with Prime Minister Mark
Rutte of the Netherlands and the two leaders
restated their commitment to growing trade
partnership between Nigeria and the
Netherlands.
During the talks, Rutte described Nigeria as the
Netherlands’ most important trading partner,
noting that in the field of modern agriculture
there are opportunities for Dutch companies and
knowledge institutes.
The two leaders also discussed issues related to
the fight against insurgency in the North East,
climate change, particularly the shrinkage of
Lake Chad, economic cooperation, the fight
against corruption and a range of other issues of
mutual interest.
President Buhari welcomed the interest of the
Dutch Prime Minister on Lake Chad and
commitment to establish a technical committee
to work with the Nigerian side on the best
approach to address the issue of the receding
Lake.
In pursuit of one of the cardinal themes of his
administration, President Buhari also met with
over 20 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Dutch-
owned companies. The President assured them
of a secure Nigeria, where their investments
would be safe, and yield handsome returns.
“Stability was the first thing in our campaigns.
You have to secure a country first, before you
can efficiently manage it. Before businesses can
thrive, security is paramount. That is why we lay
so much emphasis on securing the country.
“After security, our next emphasis is reviving
the economy, and then, fighting corruption,” the
President said.
He commended the many Dutch-owned
companies operating in Nigeria for dealing fairly,
noting that with many of them, “the relationship
dates back more than two generations, and it is
now almost a blood relationship rather than
commercial.”
In the course of his three-day Official Visit, the
President on Monday, July 16, 2018, met with
members of Nigerians in Diaspora Organization
(NIDO), the Netherlands Chapter.
He lauded them for their professional and
intellectual achievements and contributions to
the development of their motherland.
“I am pleased with the quality of people I am
seeing. You are high quality people.
Congratulations on your personal achievements,”
he said.
Among those who met President Buhari were
Julius Nnamdi Nwankpa, Chairman NIDO, Dr
Mustapha Gidado, a specialist in tuberculosis,
having oversight over management of the
disease in 22 countries, Lola Visser Mabogunje,
a performance monitoring expert, Dr Peter
Ngene, a research scientist and Assistant
Professor at Utrecht University, Engineer
Cornelius Obot, a software expert, and Toyin
Loyo, an artist and culture enthusiast of
international repute.
On the sidelines of the President’s visit, the
Nigerian Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama and
his Dutch Counterpart, Stef Blok signed a
Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral
consultations at Schedeldoekshaven, The Hague.
The MOU aims to promote and facilitate relations
between Nigeria and the Netherlands, in the key
thematic areas of security, trade, investment,
agriculture, political dialogue and education.
With the signing of the MOU, Nigeria and
Netherlands have agreed to deepen and expand
bilateral cooperation in these areas; and senior
officials from both countries will meet at least
once every year to assess the progress on
mutual benefits.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Audu Ogbeh led a presidential
delegation on a visit to Greenhouse Horticulture
in Bleiswijk, one of the experimental
greenhouses of Wageningen University and
Research (WUR), the Netherlands.
Some of the Dutch most advanced greenhouses
are in Bleiswijk and operated by WUR widely
regarded as the world’s top agricultural research
institution.
The Netherlands is the second largest exporter
of food, second only to the United States.
Other members of the Presidential delegation
that visited the Research center are Governor
Simon Lalong of Plateau State, Governor
Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, the
Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment,
Aisha Abubakar and the National Security
Adviser, Major-General Babagana Monguno
(retd).
In the course of the visit, the Nigerian delegation
interacted with Nigerian postgraduate students
studying in WUR. Out of 5,900 MSc students
studying at Wageningen University, 106 are from
Africa of which 9 are from Nigeria. Wageningen
University has 13 Nigerian Ph.D. candidates, out
of 2,200 candidates, 300 of them from Africa.
concluded a successful Official Visit to the
Netherlands, meeting with Nigerian Embassy
staff, before departing for home.
At a meeting with the embassy staff and their
families, the President thanked them for being
worthy ambassadors.
President Buhari in a bilateral meeting
with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mr
Mark Rutte in The Hague on 16th July
2018
While in the Netherlands, on Tuesday, July 17,
2018, President Buhari had delivered the
keynote address at the 20th anniversary of the
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,
where he canvassed support for ICC with
jurisdiction over serious cases of corruption and
illicit financial flows by state actors.
The President used the occasion of his speech
at the Solemn Hearing to commemorate the 20th
anniversary of the Rome Statute of the ICC, to
assure the international community of a free, fair
and peaceful 2019 general elections in Nigeria.
The President also assured that under his watch
the tragic incidents that characterized the 2011
general elections, necessitating preliminary
investigations by the ICC, will not happen again
in Nigeria.
President Buhari, accompanied by Governor
Simon Lalong of Plateau State; Governor
Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State,the Group
Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, the
Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority
(NPA), Hadiza Bala-Usman and other top
government officials, toured the Port of
Rotterdam and the Shell Refinery Pernis,
Hoogvliet, a borough of Rotterdam, Netherlands.
He also met with Shell CEO and discussions
focused on investments in deep water and gas
projects in Nigeria.
At the Binnenhof on Monday, July 17, 2018, the
President had met with Prime Minister Mark
Rutte of the Netherlands and the two leaders
restated their commitment to growing trade
partnership between Nigeria and the
Netherlands.
During the talks, Rutte described Nigeria as the
Netherlands’ most important trading partner,
noting that in the field of modern agriculture
there are opportunities for Dutch companies and
knowledge institutes.
The two leaders also discussed issues related to
the fight against insurgency in the North East,
climate change, particularly the shrinkage of
Lake Chad, economic cooperation, the fight
against corruption and a range of other issues of
mutual interest.
President Buhari welcomed the interest of the
Dutch Prime Minister on Lake Chad and
commitment to establish a technical committee
to work with the Nigerian side on the best
approach to address the issue of the receding
Lake.
In pursuit of one of the cardinal themes of his
administration, President Buhari also met with
over 20 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Dutch-
owned companies. The President assured them
of a secure Nigeria, where their investments
would be safe, and yield handsome returns.
“Stability was the first thing in our campaigns.
You have to secure a country first, before you
can efficiently manage it. Before businesses can
thrive, security is paramount. That is why we lay
so much emphasis on securing the country.
“After security, our next emphasis is reviving
the economy, and then, fighting corruption,” the
President said.
He commended the many Dutch-owned
companies operating in Nigeria for dealing fairly,
noting that with many of them, “the relationship
dates back more than two generations, and it is
now almost a blood relationship rather than
commercial.”
In the course of his three-day Official Visit, the
President on Monday, July 16, 2018, met with
members of Nigerians in Diaspora Organization
(NIDO), the Netherlands Chapter.
He lauded them for their professional and
intellectual achievements and contributions to
the development of their motherland.
“I am pleased with the quality of people I am
seeing. You are high quality people.
Congratulations on your personal achievements,”
he said.
Among those who met President Buhari were
Julius Nnamdi Nwankpa, Chairman NIDO, Dr
Mustapha Gidado, a specialist in tuberculosis,
having oversight over management of the
disease in 22 countries, Lola Visser Mabogunje,
a performance monitoring expert, Dr Peter
Ngene, a research scientist and Assistant
Professor at Utrecht University, Engineer
Cornelius Obot, a software expert, and Toyin
Loyo, an artist and culture enthusiast of
international repute.
On the sidelines of the President’s visit, the
Nigerian Foreign Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama and
his Dutch Counterpart, Stef Blok signed a
Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral
consultations at Schedeldoekshaven, The Hague.
The MOU aims to promote and facilitate relations
between Nigeria and the Netherlands, in the key
thematic areas of security, trade, investment,
agriculture, political dialogue and education.
With the signing of the MOU, Nigeria and
Netherlands have agreed to deepen and expand
bilateral cooperation in these areas; and senior
officials from both countries will meet at least
once every year to assess the progress on
mutual benefits.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Audu Ogbeh led a presidential
delegation on a visit to Greenhouse Horticulture
in Bleiswijk, one of the experimental
greenhouses of Wageningen University and
Research (WUR), the Netherlands.
Some of the Dutch most advanced greenhouses
are in Bleiswijk and operated by WUR widely
regarded as the world’s top agricultural research
institution.
The Netherlands is the second largest exporter
of food, second only to the United States.
Other members of the Presidential delegation
that visited the Research center are Governor
Simon Lalong of Plateau State, Governor
Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, the
Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment,
Aisha Abubakar and the National Security
Adviser, Major-General Babagana Monguno
(retd).
In the course of the visit, the Nigerian delegation
interacted with Nigerian postgraduate students
studying in WUR. Out of 5,900 MSc students
studying at Wageningen University, 106 are from
Africa of which 9 are from Nigeria. Wageningen
University has 13 Nigerian Ph.D. candidates, out
of 2,200 candidates, 300 of them from Africa.
