Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will today begin a week-long visit to Saudi Arabia and Qatar to discuss the dwindling oil price and how they could be shored up.
Buhari, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, will be accompanied by a high-powered Federal Government delegation, including the Minister of State (Petroleum) and Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.
The President will first travel to Riyadh for talks tomorrow with King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and senior officials of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The statement said ongoing efforts by Nigeria and other members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to achieve greater stability in the price of crude oil exports are expected to be high on the agenda of discussions between President Buhari and the Saudi Monarch.
Crude oil prices and market stability will also be on the front burner when President Buhari goes to Doha on Saturdayfor talkson Sunday with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
The President is also scheduled to meet with leading Saudi and Qatari businessmen in Riyadh and Doha, and invite them to support his administration's efforts to revamp the Nigerian economy by taking advantage of the great investment opportunities currently available in Nigeria's mining, agriculture, power supply, infrastructure, transportation, communications and other sectors.
President Buhari's other engagements in Saudi Arabia include meetings with heads of international financial organisations and multilateral associations.
Before going to Doha, the President will also visit Medina and Mecca to pray for greater peace, prosperity and progress in Nigeria.
By Augustine Ehikioya
Source: The Nation
