By BASHIR ADEFAKA
President Muhammadu Buhari and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron have committed their two nations to working together to fight insecurity bedeviling the Lake Chad basin area and entire stretch of the Sahel region.
This was communicated in a statement issued in Paris a copy of which was sent to The DEFENDER by Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity.
Speaking at a bilateral meeting, at which he hosted the Nigerian leader on the sidelines of the Financing Africa Summit in Paris on Tuesday, President Macron pledged his steadfast support for Nigeria and its people as they confront the security challenges facing the country.
President Macron said the French government will absolutely be there on the side of Nigeria and it is willing to support with everything to assist the country to overcome the security threats.
He also pledged to support Nigeria in confronting the challenges faced with COVID-19 vaccines.
President Buhari, at the meeting, outlined the challenges all round facing the country as well as its neighbours and spoke about the steps he has taken to reignite response to the situation, which he said included the appointment of the new Service Chiefs.
The President expressed the willingness of Nigeria to work with France and all international partners to reign in the security challenges and thanked President Macron for agreeing to intensify the existing partnership with Nigeria.