The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has called for sustained cooperation between Nigeria and India in the areas of information technology, agriculture and health, to improve the economy of both countries.
The Speaker made the call at a meeting on Friday with the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Ajjampur Ghanasyham, held at the National Assembly’s complex in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
Dogara also requested for a more flexible visa policy from India for Nigeria business owners, to further boost the trade volume between both countries which is currently in the region of 17 billion Naira in 2014.
The Speaker lauded the recent boost in the trade relations which had seen Nigeria becoming the largest supplier of crude oil to India, displacing Saudi Arabia, which resulted in more earnings for Nigeria.
The meeting was one of its kind that the Speaker had held with foreign envoys aimed at forging better ties.
In one of such meetings with a Canadian envoy, Dogara sought support from the Canadian government in the re-development of Nigeria’s devastated north-east.
Since he was elected the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dogara had stressed the need for more infrastructural development in Nigeria’s troubled north-east, urging Nigerians to keep praying for the country.
He said: “I will urge that we continue with prayers for Nigeria. If Nigeria will be exalted, it will be on the account of righteousness.
“With prayers there is nothing that cannot be achieved as a nation, as it is the promise of God that He will listen to the prayers of His people and that the word of God is “eternal and immutable.
“We need prayers from all Nigerians. When you continue to pray for your leaders for righteousness to rein in the affairs of the nation, definitely, Nigeria will be exalted and it will reflect on our citizens”.