The federal government of Nigeria announced, it has donated $1m to the Turkish government as a heartfelt condolence over the devastating earthquake that rocked the nation.
The support fund was conveyed to Turkey by a delegation of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) and other members of the delegation who were received by the Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister, Ambassador Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Ankara, the Turkish capital.
The visit followed on the heels of the tragic 7.8-magnitude earthquake on February 6, which resulted in the death of about 50,000 people, including former Chelsea and Ghanaian footballer, Christian Atsu.
The delegates also handed over Buhari’s letter of condolence as well as a Central Bank of Nigeria Promissory Note of $1,000,000 for onward transmission to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Meanwhile, the Turkish Minister of Foreign Afairs in his remarks, explained that President Erdoğan was unable to personally receive the delegation due to the exigencies of directly overseeing humanitarian efforts in the 11 quake-hit southern provinces of Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Sanliurfa, and Elazig.
The minister thanked Buhari, the government and people of Nigeria for their show of solidarity, financial, as well as material support to the Republic of Turkey in her trying times.
He noted that the First Lady of Nigeria, Hajiya Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, had earlier donated 10,000 blankets on behalf of the African First Ladies Forum to the humanitarian efforts in the country.
Çavuşoğlu told the Nigerian delegation that as of February 23, 2023, no fewer than 43,000 persons had been confirmed dead while 14 million people were affected in 11 provinces of the country. He added that the government had resolved to embark on rebuilding new cities with all associated infrastructure in all the locations of the disaster.
The minister, while wishing Nigeria successful and peaceful general elections, reiterated that in compliance with the country’s constitution, the Government of Türkiye was also committed to conducting its forthcoming general election scheduled to take place on June 18, 2023, despite the devastating effects of the earthquake.
