Hon Yakubu Doga­ra, seeks India’s support for Nigeria`s Security Council bid

Speaker, House of Represen­tatives, Hon Yakubu Doga­ra, has pleaded with In­dia to support Nigeria`s bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

The Speaker made the appeal when he received in audience, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. A. R. Gha­nashyam, on Friday. He said relations between the two countries dated back to pre-independence Ni­geria.

Nigeria and India have been bidding for a perma­nent seat on the UN secu­rity council which has five members.

Dogara submitted that Nigeria and India can play significant roles in reforming the UN secu­rity council as they bid for permanent seats

He said India is now the number one importer of Nigeria`s crude oil sur­passing the United States of America.

The Speaker revealed that as at December 2013, total trade volume be­tween the two countries stood at $17 billion which underscores the level of economic engagements between Nigeria and In­dia.

He however, decried medical tourism by Ni­gerians to India which he said should be discour­aged by establishing stan­dard and well-equipped Indian hospitals in Nige­ria.

The Speaker urged the envoy to invite India`s investors to come to Ni­geria and establish stan­dard hospitals and explore other investment opportu­nities.

India, according to the Speaker, has advanced in areas as ICT, agriculture and energy and that it can help Nigeria in developing its potentials.

The Speaker also advo­cated the establishment of Nigeria-India Parliamen­tary friendship groups.

Responding, the Indian High Commissioner, Mr. Mr. A.R . Ghanashyam, said his country places great importance to its re­lations with Nigeria.

The High Commission­er disclosed that in the last three decades, four Afri­can leaders were invited as special guests of honour during Indian national day celebrations, two of whom were former Nigerians leaders, Shehu shagari and Olusegun Obasanjo.

He said India has now moved from being the world`s largest democracy to one of the finest and ex­pressed hope that Nigeria is gradually reforming its democracy.