The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, has called for stronger diplomatic ties between Nigeria and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, especially educational exchange programmes.

Speaker Abbas,  made the request while hosting the new Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Nigeria, Yousef bin Mohammed Al-Balawi, in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to Abbas, diplomatic ties between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia date back to 1961, describing  it as “extremely, very historic.”

The Speaker specifically called for scholarship offers to Nigerians through their representatives at the National Assembly, noting that members are direct representatives of their constituents.

He pointed out that opportunities should also go to Nigerians through the parliament, which has direct contacts with Nigerians at the grassroots.

He said, “I also want to commend your country for supporting a lot of Nigerians on education in particular. So many of our accomplished clerics and scholars in Nigeria can attribute their foundation and success educationally to the scholarships that Saudi Arabia has been giving to our students over the past 40 years; just the way the Algerian Government has also kick-started a pioneering initiative of looking at the Nigerian Parliament as a distinct opportunity for collaboration, as against the Executive arm alone.”

The Speaker recalled being in Algeria about six months ago, where it was agreed that scholarships offered to Nigeria by Algeria would go to both the Executive and the Legislative arms of the government. 

He said, “We are happy to inform you that through that particular understanding, over 200 scholarship slots are under the process of being given to the Nigerian Parliament to also support their (members’) people at the grassroots. 

“So, we hope in the coming years or months of your being here in Nigeria, you will initiate the same kind of initiative, where support for education—scholarships—will not just be purely done at the level of the Ministry of External Affairs but also at the parliamentary level, which is a separate arm of the government that is more representative of the people.”

Speaker Abbas draws a comparison between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, noting that the African country has a large Muslim population while the Arabian country is the Islamic capital of the world. He also noted that both countries are oil producers while they are leaders and regional powerhouses in their respective continents.

Speaker Abbas added: “So, I believe that cooperation and collaboration between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia will make what I usually call a win-win for the two countries. It will be a mutually beneficial relationship that will benefit Saudi Arabia as well as Nigeria. Push for Nigeria and Saudi Arabia to have more economic, political, and social opportunities that will impact our two countries.”

He said, “Our people have been relating with Saudi Arabia for over 800 years. That is why today, you find a lot of Nigerian-Saudis who were born and brought up—maybe two to five generations—by Nigerians living there. And most of them only know that they are from Nigeria, but they don’t even know which part of Nigeria or state they come from because of the distance—the long years of being part of Saudi society.”

He added, “So, we are really very happy with the way the Saudi Arabian Government has been accommodating Nigerians over the past centuries, particularly with the creation of our diplomatic relationship from as far back as 1961. Saudi remains one of the key countries in the world that Nigeria cherishes and is very supportive of, and it will continue to see bilateral relationships taking place because we have so many things in common.”

Earlier, Ambassador Al-Balawi said the visit to Speaker Abbas was to know “what we can do together,” noting that Saudi Arabia and Nigeria have had bilateral relationships for deveral decades. He therefore called for more engagements between both countries.

Ambassador Al-Balawi assured that he was ready to do everything diplomatically right within his power to enhance the relationship between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.