Amb. Cakil: Making Turkey, Nigeria relationship work

Turkey and Nigeria have always enjoyed good political relations. After Nigeria’s independence in 1960, Turkey opened an Embassy in Lagos, then capital of Nigeria, in August 1962. Following the proclamation of Abuja as the new capital in 1991, the Turkish Embassy moved to Abuja in 2001. However, at no time has the diplomatic relation between […]

Turkey and Nigeria have always enjoyed good political relations. After Nigeria’s independence in 1960, Turkey opened an Embassy in Lagos, then capital of Nigeria, in August 1962. Following the proclamation of Abuja as the new capital in 1991, the Turkish Embassy moved to Abuja in 2001. However, at no time has the diplomatic relation between Nigeria and Turkey been put to test than the era of the current envoy, His Excellency, Hakan Cakil.

Nigeria-Turkey relation came on the firing line, when the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Hakan Cakil, called on the Nigerian government to close 17 Turkish schools in Nigeria for their alleged links with a movement his government says was involved in the July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey and the alleged detention of fifty Nigerian students in turkey, accused of having links with the Fethullah Gulen movement, as part of post-coup crack-down.

This was compounded by the dilemma of how to handle the Turkish investments in Nigeria, said to have links with Fethullah Gulen movement which was a tipping point in the diplomatic relation between the two regional giants.

However, Cakil proved, by every stretch of imagination, that he is an ambassador extraordinaire. First, he engaged the Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, especially, the minister, Geoffrey Onyeama. Cakil also went further to engage the office of the senior special assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Matters, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa. This open-door policy led to the quick resolution of the impasse. And at every given opportunity, the ambassador takes time to explain to journalists the true state of affairs of the diplomatic relation between Nigeria and Turkey.

Following the raging controversies on the fate of the fifty Nigerian students purportedly arrested by the Turkish authority, Cakil arranged for an assessment visit for the president of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Comrade Aruna Kadiri, to Turkey. This, he explained, will give the NANS president ample opportunity to interact with Nigerian students in our country; know about their welfare and substantiate the veracity of the ‘fifty students’ detention claims.

The report from NANS visitation team said, “While in the country, Kadiri and his entourage held series of meetings and were told by both management and Nigerian students that after the failed coup in Turkey the government decided to shut down fifteen (15) universities suspected to be owned by the opposition group who masterminded the failed coup.

“The closure affected several Nigerian nationals schooling in Turkey. However, the government has absolved all the students into various schools of their choice without any additional charges.”

Beyond granting scholarship to Nigerian students affected by the shutting-down of some Fetullah Gulen institutions in Turkey, the envoy  noted that in his effort to strengthen ties with Nigeria on education, 29 students were granted scholarship to study in Turkey this academic session and that efforts are ongoing to increase the number to 60 in 2017.

On the economic co-operations, the Turkish envoy said he has been exerting every effort to increase Turkey’s relations with Nigeria in every field, adding “We have major areas of cooperation which included economic cooperation. Nigeria is one of Turkey’s most important providers of natural gas, even as we are importing lots of energy from Nigeria. Secondly, we are importing substantial amount of crude oil from Nigeria, and palm oil. Approximately 70 Turkish companies are operating in Nigeria…between the 2nd and 3rd of November, there will be Turkey/Africa business forum, Nigeria will be attending.”

Cakil has since his mission to Nigeria deepened his country’s relation beyond the Nigerian government with some states governors. Such Diplomatic acumen has led to trade agreements and friendship between some state government in Nigeria and Turkey government and private sector.

For instance, Kano State governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje recently led a powerful delegation to the Turkish Ambassador in Abuja to woo Turkish Airline to resume flight to Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA). Ganduje also informed the ambassador that his administration is willing to expand the existing relationship between Turkey and Kano, especially in area of agriculture where Kano State has already sent 60 youths to learn artificial insemination and are back in the state.

Beyond economic cooperation, the Nigerian and Turkey also collaborates in the area of defence, according to the ambassador, “we are planning exchange of visits between our military and other security agencies to boost our bilateral relations in the field of security and defence.”  Turkey has been producing 60 per cent of its defence products by itself and the country is willing to share its expertise and know-how with Nigeria especially in the area of counter-insurgency.

Furthermore, Turkey and Nigeria maintain good political relations. Both countries have political will to further improve bilateral relations in all fields. Both countries are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Developing Eight (D-8) and they maintain close cooperation in international organisations.

To further solidify the relationship, Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made an official visit to Nigeria in March this year in which the Turkey-Nigeria Business Forum was organized.

In the field of education, Turkey has provided 8 undergraduate/graduate scholarships to Nigeria within the Turkish Government Scholarship Programme between 2015 and 2016.

And finally Turkish Airlines have started direct flights between Istanbul and Lagos in July 2006 (7 flights per week), Istanbul and Kano (4 flights per week), Istanbul and Abuja in March 2015 (5 flights per week).

 

 

 

Yakubu wrote this piece from Abuja.