Nigerian President first to arrive for G-20 summit, to meet Rajnath for shoring up New Delhi-Abuja military ties

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the first Head of State to arrive in India for the G-20 Summit, is due to meet Rajnath Singh Wednesday evening as the two nations work on heralding a new era of defence and security cooperation.

In May, Singh spent three days in Nigeria – the first-ever visit of an Indian Defence Minister to the West African nation – to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Tinubu.

As reported by IndiaNarrative.com then, Singh’s visit to Abuja marked yet another effort from India to deepen its outreach to the African continent.

It also took forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of utilising India’s current G20 presidency to give resonance to the voice of the Global South and spotlighted New Delhi’s commitment to regional unity under the Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) initiative.

Quite significantly, the top leadership of important Defence Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) accompanied Singh on the trip and held meetings with the representatives from the Nigerian industry and the Armed Forces to identify the equipment and platforms, through which the Indian defence industry can support the country’s requirements.

Nigeria has been grappling with a serious challenge from Islamic terror outfits, including ISIS-West Africa (ISIS-WA) and Boko Haram (BH), especially in its northeast region, for a long time now.

Late Tuesday evening, just 90 minutes after his arrival in the Indian capital following a 15-hour journey, Tinubu headed straight into a top-level investment meeting with Prakash Hinduja, the Chairman and CEO of the Hinduja Group of Companies, a conglomerate with a total asset portfolio exceeding $100 billion US Dollars.

The Nigerian President made it clear that he is in India with one focus: attracting investments to Nigeria with lucrative opportunities for investors, but most essentially, jobs for Nigerians and new revenue opportunities for Nigeria’s federal and sub-national governments.

“We are here for business. I am here to personally assure our friends and investors that there is no bottleneck that I will not break. Nigeria will become one of the most conducive places on earth to make good profits and create lasting jobs. With my support, there is nothing standing in your way of enjoying the unrivaled opportunities presented by our massive market and the ingenious, and hardworking nature of the Nigerian people. We are open for business,” Tinubu assured.

Interestingly, Nigeria’s Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) is scheduled to deliver its judgement in petitions filed against the outcome of the 2023 presidential election, later Wednesday.

Opposition parties and their candidates – Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) – are challenging Tinubu’s election.

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