Nigeria and Bulgaria Propose MoU on Defence Cooperation

The Minister of Defence Maj Gen Bashir Salihi Magashi (rtd) said actions and plans are been taken on defence cooperation to “carefully contextualise and conceptualise the draft documents” for the proposed Memorandum of Understanding, MoU between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of Bulgaria.

This was sequel to the courtesy visit of Bulgarian ambassador, Yanko V. Yordanov to the Ministry of Defence Headquarters Abuja, Nigeria.

General Magashi pointed out that the bilateral relation between Nigeria and Bulgaria Spanning over five decades is long enough to snowball into a stronger Defence Cooperation especially now that the country is confronting internal security threats being orchestrated by non – state actors.

He said although the time is ripe for the two Countries to emplace a workably robust MoU, there is however the need to fulfil all righteousness diplomatically to cross the Ts and dots in the legal document.

The Defence Minister who disclosed that the proposal is being transmitted to the Ministry of justice for perusal assured the Bulgarian Ambassador that the technical inputs of the Permanent Secretary Musa Istifanus is equally germane to the final draft of the MoU and pointed out that the director of the Joint Services Department Olu Mustapha will also do the needful expeditiously.

He, therefore, told his guest that the processes and procedures the documents are being subjected to are the required due diligence paths that will bring out the best in safeguarding the interests of the two cooperating nations.

On his part, the Bulgarian Ambassador, Yanko V. Yordanov thanked the Defence Minister for the bilateral talk which he said will culminate into the long-overdue significant signing of the Memorandum of Understanding that will deepen the existing exchange of Military training and explore other critical areas of Defence cooperations between the two countries.

He seized the opportunity of the courtesy visit to invite the Minister of Defence as a special guest to the forthcoming Military exhibitions coming up in Bulgaria by June next year.

He said lots of opportunities await both countries if the Nigerian Armed Forces participate in the invitational event that promises to showcase an array of new Military technologies and harvest of modern weaponry developed by the Bulgarian Armed forces.