- By Halimah Olamide
Indian Defence Minister, Mr. Rajnath Singh is to lead the delegation to attend the inauguration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Nigeria’s 16th President. His appointment was made by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi who described Singh’s delegation as a “high level delegation.” This is just as representatives of other countries arrive Nigeria today ahead of Monday’s historical event.
The news of Singh’s delegation was broken via a statement the Indian High Commission in Nigeria issued yesterday
The statement explained that the visit of Mr. Rajnath Singh “reflects the growing bilateral relations between India and Nigeria and signifies India’s commitment to strengthening ties with Nigeria.
“Singh is accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising senior officials from the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of External Affairs of India. Singh is the senior most Minister in the Government of India.”
The statement insisted that sending such a senior Minister to Nigeria as a Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of India reflects India’s commitment to the deep-rooted bilateral relations with Nigeria.
The statement revealed that during his stay in Abuja, Singh is scheduled to attend the inauguration ceremony, and convey warm wishes and felicitations from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the President-elect.
The statement added: “It is significant that given special relations with Nigeria, the Government of India has invited Nigeria as a guest county to participate in all the G20 meetings during her G20 Presidency in 2023.
“Singh is expected to have a special message to the President-elect of Nigeria regarding the G20. The G20 summit, 2023 will be held in New Delhi on 9-10 Sep 2023 with the Heads of States of the member countries & Invited guest Countries.
“As India continues to enhance its engagements in Africa, the visit of Defence Minister Singh to Abuja marks a significant step in deepening the bilateral relationship between India and Nigeria, setting the stage for a new chapter of cooperation and partnership between the two nations.” It was gathered that the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, via a memo from the Ministry of Aviation had been instructed to be prepared for the arrival of the special envoys who are arriving from Saturday through Sunday. Among those expected to have arrive the delegation from Canada with that of the United Kingdom arriving today (Sunday). All appear set for the inauguration of Nigeria’s 16th president who takes oath of office on Monday. NPO Reported earlier that the US President, Joe Biden had assigned the Secretary of State, Anthony Bliken to lead the US delegation to attend the ceremony.