H.E. PROF. ABDULLAHI SHEHU DELIVERED A LECTURE AT THE SAINT PETERSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY, SAINT PETERSBURG, 11TH NOVEMBER, 2022
On Friday, 11th November, 2022 the Head of Mission, H.E. Professor Abdullahi SHEHU, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the Russian Federation with concurrent Accreditation to the Republic of Belarus, delivered a lecture to the Congress of Researchers in International Relations, on the topic “Nigeria’s Relations with Russia: Prospects and Opportunities”. The lecture was organized by the School of International Relations, Saint Petersburg State University.
Ambassador SHEHU highlighted five key areas that characterized Nigeria’s relationship with Russia as follows:
1. The leadership role Nigeria played in the decolonization of African countries which saw the independence of many countries and Nigeria’s continued commitment in ensuring peace and security in Africa by sustaining its peacekeeping role, not only in West Africa but also the entire region as seen in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia-Eritrea.
2.Three major landmarks that spotlighted Nigeria’s relations with the former USSR including: the political and military support given to Nigeria which assisted in ending her civil war in 1970, collaboration between Nigeria and the Soviet Union to build the moribund Ajaokuta Steel company and Nigeria’s foreign policy of non-alignment during the cold war;
3. Nigeria’s recognition of the Russian Federation in 1991 after the collapse of Soviet Union and the cordial relations that have been existing ever since;
4. The increased volume of trade between Nigeria and Russia from $8.6 million to $39.1 million over the period of 28 years and the incremental value of the Russian investment from less than $10 million to $1.02 billion in 24 years; and
5. On preparations for 2nd Africa-Russia Summit, he opined that it is a political decision to be taken at the highest level and that activities regarding the summit have to await that decision.
The lecture was followed by an interactive session between Ambassador Shehu and the Congress and was moderated by Mr. Dmitry N. Baryshnikov (PhD in Political Science), Vice-Dean, School of International Relations.
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Moscow-Russian Federation
12th November, 2022
