By Emmanuel OGBECHE
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and Special Envoy of President Muhammadu Buhari to the Republic of Türkiye, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, has delivered $1 million support from Nigeria and a condolence message following the February 6th earthquake that hit the country.
Bello was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye, Ambassador Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the capital, Ankara.
He was accompanied on the mission by the Nigerian Ambassador to Türkiye, Malam Ismail Abba Yusuf.
A statement by Abubakar Sani, Senior Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister on Saturday, quoted the Special Envoy as saying that President Buhari was unable to personally pay a condolence visit to Türkiye due to the General Elections in Nigeria that held February 25th, 2023.
He conveyed the president’s heartfelt condolences on behalf of the Government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the Government and people of Türkiye, over the devastating earthquake.
The Special Envoy also handed over Mr. President’s Letter of Condolence as well as a Central Bank of Nigeria Promissory Note of USD $1,000,000.00 (one million United States dollars), for onward transmission to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
He said the token was a donation by the Government of Nigeria to support the ongoing humanitarian efforts in cushioning the effects of the tragic earthquake.
The Türkiye Minister of Foreign Afairs in his remarks, explained that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was unable to personally receive the Special Envoy due to exigencies of directly overseeing humanitarian efforts in the eleven (11) quake-hit southern provinces of the country – Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig.
The minister thanked President Muhammadu Buhari, the Government and people of Nigeria for their show of solidarity, financial as well as material support to the Republic of Türkiye in her trying times.
He noted that the First Lady of Nigeria, Hajiya Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, had earlier donated ten thousand (10,000) blankets on behalf of African First Ladies Forum to the ongoing Humanitarian efforts in the country.
Ambassador Çavuşoğlu told the Special Envoy that no fewer than forty-three thousand (43,000) persons have been confirmed dead while 14 million (fourteen million) people were affected in eleven (11) provinces of the Country.
He added that the government has resolved to embark on rebuilding new cities with all associated infrastructure in all the locations of the disaster.
