Nigeria, Turkey Seal Nine Agreements on Bilateral Ties

Nigeria and Turkey on Tuesday formalised nine bilateral agreements aimed at enhancing diplomatic, economic and strategic collaboration, as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu continued his state visit to the Middle Eastern nation.

President Tinubu signed the agreements alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with ministers from both countries present, following a bilateral meeting held in Ankara.

Tinubu’s Special Assistant on Social Media, Olusegun Dada, confirmed that the agreements were officially exchanged after the high-level talks.

The agreements span several sectors, including defence, trade, education, diaspora affairs and social development.

They include cooperation on diaspora policy; defence collaboration; a joint declaration establishing the economy and trade joint committee (JETCO); an agreement on halal quality infrastructure; and cooperation in higher education.

Other accords cover cooperation in media and communication; education collaboration; partnership between Turkey’s ministry of foreign affairs and diplomacy academy and Nigeria’s foreign ministry and foreign affairs academy; as well as cooperation between Turkey’s ministry of social services and Nigeria’s ministry of women affairs and social development.

According to Turkish media reports, the media and communication agreement seeks to promote the exchange of information, expertise and best practices between both countries.

The agreement also provides for joint seminars, workshops, training programmes and reciprocal visits for officials and experts in the broadcasting and communication sectors, and will remain valid for an initial period of three years.

Speaking during a joint press conference with President Tinubu, President Erdoğan stated that Turkey is targeting a $5bn trade volume with Nigeria.

He disclosed that talks on expanding trade and economic cooperation between both nations were already underway.

Erdoğan described Nigeria as Turkey’s key partner in Africa and reaffirmed Ankara’s commitment to strengthening engagement across critical sectors.