Call for Zim, Nigeria  to revive economic ties
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President Mugabe meets outgoing Nigerian ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Mamman Nuhu who had called to bid him farewell at his Munhumutapa Offices in Harare yesterday. (Picture by Justin Mutenda)

Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter
Outgoing Nigerian ambassador Mamman Nuhu yesterday bade farewell to President Mugabe at his Munhumutapa Offices where he expressed the need to strengthen economic ties between Harare and Abuja.Speaking to journalists after a closed door meeting with the President, Mr Nuhu said nothing much had been happening on the economic front between Zimbabwe and Nigeria.

In this regard, Mr Nuhu said the Permanent Joint Commission between the two countries should be resuscitated and be the gateway to economic success.

“We have the Zimbabwe-Nigeria Joint Commission and we are starting from there,” he said.

“It is quite some time since the Joint Commission met, but I have the assurance that it will meet soon. From the economic point of view, yes, there is much to be done. There is not much economic activity between the two countries and I know we can do better than what we have done so far. We are trying to get the bilateral services agreement to be operationalised.”

Mr Nuhu hailed the support that he received from Zimbabwean authorities during his tour of duty.

He said during their meeting, the President recalled the historical relations that existed between Zimbabwe and Nigeria and conveyed a message of goodwill to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.

Nigeria, Mr Nuhu said, had made great strides in containing the militant group Boko Haram which is terrorising people in his country.

“A lot has been achieved lately,” he said. “Initially, the problem we had was that of the group spreading all over the place, but after the conference in Paris on security in Nigeria we secured the full cooperation of our neighbours Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

“They have also amassed troops on the other side of the borders, so right now we are in the process of cornering the Boko Haram insurgents and in the last two weeks very important arrests have been made of the prime movers of the Boko Haram.”

Mr Nuhu said the Nigerian government knew where the more than 200 captured Nigerian girls were being kept. He ruled out a military option to rescue them because they were being used as human shields by the insurgents. Mr Nuhu said the world over, it was difficult to deal with terrorism without international support.

“No country has succeeded in sorting out terrorism on its own,” he said. “You need international cooperation and that we have now from all over the world and that is why we are making the headway we are making now.”

Mr Nuhu said although the Nigerian government was not aware of Boko Haram’s source of funding, he admitted that the group had a lot of resources.

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