The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Geoffrey Onyeama on the 19th May, 2016, made a working visit to the Institute. He was received on arrival by the Director General, Professor Bukar Bukarambe. The Honourable Minister was briefed by the Director- General on the mandate and activities of the Institute and also conducted him on a tour of the Institute’s various departments in the company of the Institute’s Directors.
The Honourable Minister had addressed members of staff of the Institute on President Mohammed Buhari’s Foreign policy direction; he argued that immediately after taking oath of office, President Buhari wasted no time in embarking on a high level diplomatic mission to the Lake Chad Countries to drum up support for the fight against insurgency that nearly overwhelmed his predecessor’s administration. Speaking further, he said that, worthy of note is that the president has not deviated from his three cardinal agenda (fight against insecurity, corruption, economy/job creation) even in his foreign policy implementation. In Conclusion, the Honourable Minister highlighted Nigeria’s expanding leadership role in Africa in particular and in the international community in general, has been a determining factor in Nigeria engagement with other countries. In fact, peace in Africa without substantial contribution by Nigeria is now inconceivable. This, too, is one of the bases of the relationships between Nigeria and other countries.
