President Muhammadu Buhari will today depart for Istanbul, Turkey to attend the ninth summit of the Developing 8 (D-8).
Femi Adesina, the president’s spokesman, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.
This is just as he signed the University of Petroleum Resources Bill with a pledge to continue to support the socio-economic development of the Niger Delta region.
“In Ankara, the president will have a tete-a-tete with his Turkish counterpart while delegations from both countries will hold discussions in various fields including defence cooperation, security, educational and migration issues,” the statement read.
“He will also visit the grand national assembly of the Republic of Turkey in Ankara where he will meet with the Speaker, Ismail Kahraman.
“While in Istanbul, the Turkish commercial centre, President Buhari will use the occasion of the D-8 summit to bolster warm and growing ties across a broad range of areas of cooperation with leaders of the D8-member countries, namely Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan and Turkey.”
He said the summit, with the theme: ‘Expanding opportunities through cooperation’, will among other things, focus on cooperation in the areas of agriculture, trade, transport and energy.
“During the ninth summit of the D-8, which will also mark the 20th anniversary of the organisation established to improve the developing countries’ positions in the world economy, the president will highlight the significant show of confidence in Nigeria’s business environment and economy,” Adesina said.
“He will also affirm Nigeria’s resolve to work with D-8 member-countries on many key areas, including peace and security, economy and trade.
“At the end of the Summit, the heads of state and government will adopt a communiqué, also known as the ‘Istanbul Declaration’.”
While signing the bill to establish the University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta into law at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Buhari said the Federal Government was committed to supporting Niger Delta region to achieve socio-economic development.
He appealed to communities in the region to strive for peace through dialogue in resolving all conflicts not only among them, but also with business entities and authorities.
With the signing of the bill into law, the path has now been cleared for establishment of the specialised university in the Niger Delta.
The institution will be charged with training and research in petroleum technologies.
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