Photo Caption
Somalian Ambassador to Nigeria, HE Jamal Mohammed Barrow presenting a gift to the FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike (right) during his visit to the FCTA on Thursday
By Ignatius Ushie
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike has pledged the commitment of the FCT Administration to making the FCT more comfortable for its guests, especially Foreign Missions.
In a statement made available to Transport Day in Abuja, the FCT Minister made the pledge when he received the Ambassador of Somalia to Nigeria, His Excellency, Jamal Mohammed Barrow who paid him a courtesy visit in his office on Thursday, December 14, 2023.
The FCT Minister, who also assured of the support and cooperation of the FCT Administration for Foreign Missions, equally promised to approve the request for land allocation to enable the construction of the Somali Chancery in Abuja.
According to him, “We are here to make things comfortable for our guests. Whatever you think that FCT will do, do not hesitate to let us know. We are always willing to cooperate with our guests, particularly foreign missions.
“We will immediately call for the file so that you can have your parcel of land to be able to build your own chancery. I can assure you that after this discussion, I will call for the file so that you can have it approved and start building your Chancery”, he added
The FCT Minister, while noting that Nigeria and Somalia share a similar history of civil wars, also pledged the readiness of the FCT Administration to pass on its city development experiences to Somalia as the country seeks to develop its capital city of Mogadishu.
Also responding to the invitation by the Envoy to visit the city of Mogadishu in order to have a better experience of how it looks, the FCT Minister assured that he will make time to visit the city.
The Minister said, “Mogadishu is a city, the capital of Somalia. We would also love to have the experience of how the city looks like. So, it is our belief that we will work out the arrangement to see how we can share things and pass on experiences in terms of development of cities.”
Speaking earlier, Ambassador Mohammed Barrow, said his visit to the FCTA was aimed at seeking the support and cooperation of the FCT Administration in developing the city of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
The Ambassador explained that Somalia, having shifted from the unitary system of government to federalism, following its prolonged periods of conflicts, sees Nigeria as the best role model, with similar experiences.
The Ambassador therefore expressed the desire of Somalia to leverage the experience of the FCT in developing the capital of city Mogadishu and called for the support of the FCT Administration.
Present during the visit were, the SSA to the Minister on Legal and Multilateral Cooperation, Barrister Benedict Daudu, General Counsel, Barrister Salman Dako, SSA on land and Urban and Regional Development, Michael Chinda, and Secretary for Economic Planning, Revenue Generation and PPP, Mr Charles Elechi.
