Ivoirien leader gets honorary citizenship of Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari and his Ivoirien counterpart, Alassane
Ouattara, have met to strengthen ties and democracy in Togo and Liberia.
Addressing State House Correspondents after their closed-door meeting in
Abuja yesterday, Ouattara acknowledged Nigeria’s role in the West Africa
sub-region and the entire African continent.
“It is a great honour and privilege to be in Abuja to see my brother and
exchange views with him on the bilateral relations between Nigeria and Cote d’
Ivoire and to see how our sovereign nation is doing and also, we had the
opportunity to exchange views on major issues on the continent and the world.
“I will like to thank President Buhari for his invitation. I had
expressed the wish to come and see him, we had been in touch and I came to tell
him that we are very happy that he is back in good health.
“This is important not only for Nigeria but for the whole of West Africa
and our continent. We pray God that his health continues to be strengthened and
be better for him to lead our sub-region.
“The leadership of Nigeria is quite important to all of us which is
something that is obvious but I think it needs to be said.
“President Buhari has shown a great leadership with the fight against
Boko Haram insurgents, insecurity in the sub-region and also on economic
matters. I expressed to him the fact as an economist and having worked in
Nigeria many years ago, I am impressed by the measures which have been
implemented to lift Nigeria out of recession,” he said.
The Ivoirien leader added: “We also discussed the situation in Togo and
Liberia. We have a consensus on how we should go about to strengthen democracy
in our sub-region.”
He disclosed that Buhari will be attending the AU/European meeting in
Abidjan November ending. However, President Ouattara has received a honorary
citizenship of Abuja.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhhammad Musa
Bello, conferred the award on him in Abuja. Bello, who made the presentation on
behalf of President Buhari, noted the offer carries all rights and privileges.
He said the recognition was an attestation to the strong friendship and
cordial relationship between the people of Nigeria and Cote d’ Ivoire
Ouattara, who received the key to the City of Abuja, asked the minister
to convey his sincere appreciation to the President for the kind gesture.
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