Canada will help Nigeria tackle insecurity, Payette tells Buhari

Canadian Governor-General Julie Payette yesterday told President Muhammadu Buhari that her country will assist Nigeria in addressing the insecurity challenges bedevilling it.

Speaking to State House Correspondents after a meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, she said Nigeria was an important regional power and influential centre of arts and culture, assuring that Canada would cement their trade relations for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

“We have many common interests in education, innovation, trade, culture and sports. At the height of our relationship are the ties between our people and they are on the rise with more than 10, 000 Nigerian students studying currently in Canada; the most in any sub-Saharan African country,” she said.

She said Nigeria was Canada’s largest trade partner in Africa the bilateral relations, adding that the number of Canadian companies doing business in Nigeria has significantly increased.

Earlier, President Buhari told the visiting Governor General that Nigeria’s democracy was steadily improving with deeper understanding of the culture and tenets among the people, and strengthening of the institutions that guarantee free and fair elections.

The president said the bilateral relations with Canada will continue to be improved considering the huge interest of the country in Nigeria and growing economic ties, with many Nigerians schooling and working in the country.

President Buhari said Canada played a brotherly role in helping displaced persons in the North East following Boko Haram insurgency.