Unity
By Ismail Abdulaziz
Mr Assem Hanafi, Egyptian Ambassador to Nigeria, said that Egypt would continue to strengthen African unity through peace and cooperation.
He stated this when he receive students and teachers from the Good Shepherd School on Friday in Abuja.
Hanafi said that this would be achieved through the fostering of friendship and education of the youths on the long relations that exist between Nigeria and Egypt over time.
Egypt and Nigeria have enjoyed cordial and friendly relations since 1961 when the diplomatic relations were established as testament to the excellent relationship between the late President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and the first Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello..
Hanafi said the keen interest and knowledge of Egypt by the visiting student was encouraging, adding that such should continue in the interest of the African.
‘’I will encourage you to embrace good education which is the bedrock of any development and progress. Through you Nigeria and Egypt relation will continue to wax stronger.
‘’I also want you to enrich yourselves and contribute towards the development of Nigeria and Africa as a whole,’’ he said.
Egypt is now chairing the African Union after
The Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi took up his chairmanship of the 55-member African Union (AU) at its 32nd ordinary session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in February 2019.
Ahead of the summit, el-Sissi ha set out his priorities for the year as building bridges in support of African cultural events and cooperating with partners regionally and internationally.
Others priorities included peace and security, with a focus on post-conflict reconstruction, Institutional and financial reform of the AU, expediting the CFTA free trade agreement and infrastructure projects as well as providing employment opportunities, increasing the return of African youth, developing manufacturing, agriculture and fishing.
In the last four years, Egypt has presented a successful model in fighting terrorism as well as keeping stability and peace on its land in spite of the huge challenges it has witnessed since 2011.
This has been an inspiring experience for the entire international community, which is in need of concerted efforts to eliminate terrorism and establish stability and peace.