The federal government has called on Israel to grant Nigerians who had stayed in the country for five years without criminal records citizenship.
Magnus Eze, a media aide to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, said in a statement on Sunday that Ojukwu made the request when she met with the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria and Permanent Representative to ECOWAS, Michael Freeman, in Abuja.
The statement said the Minister highlighted that Nigeria contributes significantly to religious tourism in Israel, hence her call.
Ojukwu also said: “Israel is reputable in areas of security and counter-terrorism. We look forward to taking it beyond bilateral relations. We would want Nigeria to benefit from Israel’s technology, especially in the area of food security.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is working diligently to improve the life of the poorest of the poor. The target of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs is working to ensure that the poverty-stricken have access to food and other humanitarian services.
“So, we hope that we can get to learn more about the drip irrigation technology. You know that rice is a staple food here, so we are open to embracing any technology that will make us have rice in large volumes.
“We are asking for some joint commission where we can use it to drive and assess our bilateral relations.
Earlier, Ambassador Freeman stated that Israel and Nigeria have had a very interesting diplomatic history, putting the Nigeria-Israel volume of trade at $250 million before the Hamas conflict and expressed the enthusiasm that it would improve, going forward.
The Israeli envoy said: “There is an opportunity for a very strong relationship with Nigeria. We’re looking for how we can build strong bilateral relations in agriculture, water management, education and health.
“With drip irrigation technology, we can grow rice anywhere. By next week, I will display that by planting rice on our farm at the embassy. We hope that Nigeria will take advantage of this advanced technology for rice production.
Ambassador Freeman further said that Israel would be happy to have a high-level dialogue with Nigeria.
