Nigeria, Indonesia Move To Deepen Defence Cooperation

Federal Government of Nigeria and the government of the Federal Republic of Indonesia on Tuesday signed letter of intent to deepen bilateral defence cooperation.

A statement by the special assistant to the minister of defence on media and publicity, Mohammad Abdulkadri, said the letter aims at promoting defence cooperation in accordance with the prevailing laws and regulations of the two countries.

The permanent secretary, Ministry of Defence, Dr Ibrahim Abubakar Kana, represented the minister of defence, Maj Gen Bashir Salihi Magashi(rtd) and signed for Nigeria while the Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Hustra Harahap, signed for Indonesia.

“The objective of the letter of intent according to the parties is aimed at promoting defence cooperation in accordance with the prevailing laws and regulation of the two countries” he said.  

The two parties “affirmed to maintain principle of mutual respect, fairness and reciprocity.”

 “The areas of cooperation contained in the letter of intent include, exchange of high-ranking operational officials, promotion of education and training as well as promotion of defence industries and intelligence sharing,” he added.

Kana said the signing of the letter of intent which has articles one to three opened a new vista of hope in strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

He assured the five-man Indonesian delegation that Nigeria is poised to drive the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two countries.

The Indonesia Ambassador to Nigeria Dr Hustra Harahap thanked the minister for the platform provided to sign the letter of intent. He assured Nigeria of his country’s commitment to abide by the articles contained in the signed document.