By Francis Etuko
Abuja (Precise Post) – President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan has asked for support from the government of India towards combating poverty in Nigeria and lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.
Lawan made the appeal when he played host to the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Abhau Thakur when he visited him in his office on Monday.
The Senate President said, “presently this administration is working towards taking 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years.
“We have this challenge. We believe India has done well in the area of poverty alleviation and we won’t mind getting some of the tips on how we can enhance our approaches to poverty alleviation and make the efforts of government more efficient.
“The government is doing quite a lot in so many areas to address the needs of Nigerians, but of course it will be a long haul.
“If you have to take out 100 million people out of poverty it means you have to have strategic and sustained institutions and efforts to address the needs of the people, and we are determined to do that”.
“This is what we share in common. You also have your challenges in Kashmir region. Your experiences will definitely help us in the fight against insecurity, particularly the insurgency in the North East”, he said.
The Senate President also applauded the setting up of the joint working group between India and Nigeria and urged the two countries to ensure that the initiative worked for their mutual benefit.
The Senate President advocated collaboration between the parliaments of India and Nigeria.
“The two parliaments – Parliament of India and Parliament of Nigeria – may be different, there are a lot of things to learn from each other”. He said
“I believe that we should have a joint parliamentary friendship group, that we are able to establish relationship instead of a one-off visit,” Lawan said.
The senate president used the occasion to commend the Indian government for training the Nigerian security agencies in the area of fighting insurgency and terrorism.
