Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Navis, Terence Michael Drew on Thursday met with President Bola Tinubu at the State House.
Addressing journalists after the meeting, Terence Drew who described his visit to Nigeria as homecoming, commended President Tinubu for his openness and collaboration.
He said: “It’s always a pleasure for me to be here in Nigeria. I was here last year around this time, and I’m back again, and I want to thank His Excellency, the President, who has been so gracious as a host. He has always welcomed me with open arms and others from the CARICOM, we are members of the African Union as well. We are the sixth region.
“So I want to thank him for his leadership. I want to thank him for his collaboration, and I want to thank him for his openness.
“His collaboration has been tremendous. It has had a tremendous impact on the development and advancement of the Caribbean, coming from Nigeria, which is a significant country in the African continent and in the world, this has been very progressive and important to us. So I want to express my sincerest gratitude to the President and the government and people of this great country.
“This is our people, our people in Saint Kitts and Nevis fundamentally, came from Calabar, here in Nigeria. Yes, so I always say we have come back home. So it’s always a pleasure to be back.”
Speaking specifically on area of collaboration with Nigeria, he listed cultural exchange and food security.
“So specifically, we discussed multiple things in terms of cultural exchange. We also discussed educational opportunities; matters to do with food security and in the agricultural space; as well as overall development and collaboration between the Caribbean and the African continent and Nigeria specifically, to advance our global issues together. So I think there are concrete things that we are taking away, thus far.
“I’ll give you something that is important. A lot of Nigerians have studied in my country, and they are doctors here today, and we had a contingent of doctors who went to Saint Kitts and Nevis, already, we are seeing some tangible benefits with respect to our collaboration, and now we are taking it to the next level, which we have agreed to.
“So there will be a special envoy to Saint Kitts and Nevis, and of course, we would have a special envoy here to further the collaboration and make sure that the tangible benefits for both Saint Kitts and Nevis and the wider CARICOM and for Nigeria and the wider African continent.“