By FORTUNE ABANG

Nigeria and the Republic of Angola have signed two agreements aimed at combating illicit production, manufacture and trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychological substances and their precursors, as well as cultural cooperation and exchange.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday by Dr. Magnus Eze, Special Assistant on Communication and New Media, Office of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

The statement is against the backdrop of the signing of the agreement by Amb. Odumegwu-Ojukwu and her Angolan counterpart, Amb. Domingos Lopes, the Angolan Secretary of State for International Cooperation, during the Fifth Session of Nigeria-Angola Bilateral Economic Joint Commission in Luanda, from Sept. 9 to Sept.12, 2025.

According to her, the Nigerian government facilitates a landmark twinning agreement on socio-economic and cultural development between Bayelsa and Namibe, a province of Angola.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu said, “It also midwifed another economic cooperation deal between Nasarawa State and the Angolan province of Bengo.

“Our meeting in the last three days was not only to reflect on the state of our bilateral relations, also to identify new areas of cooperation in keeping with our collective desire to enhance partnership for a better future.

“We deserve to achieve sustainable economic growth, job creation, people-to-people contact and poverty reduction for our peoples.

“Our joint commission provides good framework to develop strategies with a view to strengthening and broadening our bilateral relations.”

She explained that the agreements signed between Bayelsa and the Province of Namibe in Angola were in the areas of cooperation.

She said that such signaled the collective desire to promote economic, political, cultural, social, educational and scientific cooperation.

This, according to her, marks strategic partnership between both countries to boost economic growth and create employment opportunities, thus making a contribution in the fight against poverty and underdevelopment in the two countries.

“In negotiations, no side gets completely what it wants or desires.

“Therefore, what we have in the document before us is a measure of the shared responsibilities our two countries owe each other, as we move our relationship to the next level.

“Let me on behalf of Nigerian government assure the Republic of Angola that we will deploy the necessary political will in the implementation of the content of the document, as it is in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

“We also expect the same from the Republic of Angola to sustain the level of relationship in the interest of our two nations,” she added.

She identified other agreements reached to include visa waivers, simplified customs procedures and preferential cargo lanes; economic diversification on non-oil sectors, trade facilitation, promotion of indigenous oil services firms in engineering, fabrication, and logistics.

Also, were off shore projects and the need to pursue upstream services and deepen partnership between the two countries, gas to power exploration, LNG trading and swaps, ports and transport upgrades, warehousing and inter-land links, amongst other things.

The event featured signing of sister-cities twinning agreement between Gov. Douye Diri of Bayelsa and his Namibe Province counterpart, Dr. Archer Mangueira, and 28-Memoranda of Understanding. (NAN)