Nigerian state officials call on Rwanda parliament

Leaders from the Nigerian State of Kebbi wrapped up a week-long trip in Rwanda on Friday with a visit to the country’s women-dominated Parliament as they sought to learn from best practices on how to manage environment and empower women. The delegation of 14 officials, including lawmakers, policymakers, and civil servants was led by the Deputy Governor of Kebbi State, Alhaji Ibrahim Aliyu. Kebbi, one of the 36 states that make up Nigeria announced intentions to partner with Rwanda on improving environmental protection, solid minerals utilisation, and development of tourism. The Rwandan High Commissioner to Nigeria, Joseph Habineza, accompanied the Nigerians on their trip in Rwanda. He said Rwandan experts have pledged to help their Nigerian counterparts and that Kebbi State has specifically asked for expertise in the areas of agriculture, environment, mining, youth, women empowerment, and tourism. “We are going to sign an MoU and start exporting our services. We will start training their people either from here in Rwanda or in Nigeria. We have achieved a lot in Rwanda and we can share our expertise,” Habineza said in an interview. The visit of the Nigerian delegation to Rwanda was organised by Nigeria’s Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), a Federal Government plan that reinvests savings from the country’s petroleum products into programmes and initiatives that improve lives for Nigerians. Rwanda is increasingly seen as a place to borrow best practices after it turned around its economy following the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Among the country’s popular policies are the environmental protection measures that have banned polythene bags and encouraged massive tree planting, gender parity, the ease of doing business, and a zero tolerance to corruption. Leading the visiting delegation on a courtesy call to the Speaker of the Lower Chamber of Parliament, Kebbi’s Deputy Governor said his country and Rwanda “have a lot to share”. “Our people will come here and invest and we hope that Rwandans will go to Kebbi and the rest of Nigeria to invest,” Aliyu said. The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Donatille Mukabalisa, welcomed the Nigerians and encouraged them to invest in Rwanda, describing the country as a place where laws about doing business have been simplified. The Speaker also extended sympathy to the Nigerian families whose children were abducted last month by Boko Haram, a terrorist group in Chibok, in northern Nigeria. The group abducted 276 schoolgirls. “We share the pain,” Mukabalisa told the visiting Nigerians.

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Nigerian state officials call on Rwanda parliament