A New Era of Nigeria-India Relations?
There is an opportunity for Nigeria to capitalize on the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nigeria to improve our bilateral relationship with India.
At the invitation of president Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India was in Abuja, Nigeria, on 16 and 17 November 2024. Arriving at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Modi was warmly received by the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, who presented Modi with the golden ‘Key to the City’ of Abuja, as a mark of honour and recognition.
The second day of Prime Minister Modi’s visit was nothing short of memorable for the Indian statesman at the Nigerian Presidential Villa. He was ushered into the State House by bagpipers. He was accorded red-carpet treatment, a 21-gun salute and the ceremonial guard of honour. A high point of Modi’s visit to the Villa was President Tinubu’s conferment of Nigeria’s second-highest national honour—the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON)—on the Indian prime minister. In the history of Nigeria’s bestowal of national honours, Modi is the second foreign dignitary to receive the GCON, the first being Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in 1969. Before leaving Abuja for Rio de Janeiro to attend the 19th G20 Summit, Modi delivered an electrifying address to elated nationals from the roughly 60,000-member Indian community in Nigeria.
What is the importance of Modi’s visit to Nigeria-India relations? Was Modi’s trip to Nigeria a calculated geostrategic move amidst United States, Russia and China’s great power tussles in Africa? What are the existing opportunities and challenges faced in the dynamics of Nigeria-India bilateral relations? These and other questions have been on the lips of many international affairs observers...
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