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President Buhari in a handshake with King Mohammed VI
Nigeria and the Kingdom of Morocco have so far signed seven out of the eight listed bilateral agreements, Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity has said.
Adesina stated this while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the bilateral meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and the Moroccan King, Mohammed VI, in Abuja on Friday.
According to him, the eighth agreement, Memorandum of Understanding Between Group Credit Agricole and NIRSAL, will be signed at a later date due to the absence of one of the signatories.
“Eight bilateral agreements and the agreements are as follows; one is the Agreement Between OCP and Dangote Group to develop fertilizer business in Nigeria; two, Cooperation Agreement in Strengthening the local blending capabilities and Agriculture Eco-System Agreement, the third agreement is on the Exemption of Visas for Diplomatic and Official Service Passport.
Number four Bilateral Air Service Agreement Between Morocco and Nigeria; five Agreement on Marine Fisheries Cooperation; six Agreement in the field of Agriculture, seven Memorandum of understanding between growth credit Agricole and NIRSAL and eight Agreement Between Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy and its Nigerian counterpart
Those were the bilateral agreements signed. Actually, seven were signed because one of the signatories for one of the agreements was not around,’’ he said.
Adesina stated that the Agreement on fertilizer was meant for food security, employment generation as well as address the problem of rural-urban migration in the country.
He disclosed that the presentations made by the representative of the OCP of Morocco and Alhaji Aliko Dangote, during the meeting, indicated that more than two million tonnes of customised fertilizer would be imported from Morocco in the next three years.
“More than two million tonnes of fertilizer are to be sent here in the next three years before the fertilizer plant to be built by Dangote in Lekki area goes into operation. And when that plant goes into operation there will be local capacity up to three million tonnes of fertilizer in a year – that will create a lot of jobs and efforts will be made to ensure that it is very safe because it is going to be customised,’’ he added.
Gov. Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa, who participated in the signing of the fertilizer agreement, expressed the hope that fertilizer would be sold to farmers in Nigeria at cheaper rates.
He stated that 250,000 fresh employment opportunities would be created as a result of the new fertilizer agreement.
“Two agreements were signed. One was that of Aliko Dangote for Joint Venture with OCP Morocco on complete fertilizer development for Nigeria and Africa sub-region. The second agreement is with Fertilizer Producers Association of Nigeria, FEPAN and OCP of Morocco on quick intervention in supply prospects and development of fertilizer where the company is planning to blend about millions of tons of fertilizer this year to be sold to farmers at affordable price,’’ he added.
The visiting Moroccan King Mohammed VI is being hosted to a State Dinner by President Muhammadu at the Presidential Villa.