Benin Republic Ready To Be Nigeria's 37th State– Foreign Affairs Minister

 

File Photo: Nigeria Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama speaks at the Oslo Humanitarian Conference on Nigeria and the Lake Chad Region in Oslo, Norway February 24, 2017

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said the President of Benin Republic, Patrice Talon, had expressed readiness for his country to be part of Nigeria.

Onyeama, who stated this shortly after a closed-door meeting with Beninoise Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Aurélien Agbenonci, said the Beninoise president made the offer when he visited President Muhammadu Buhari, a few weeks back.

"The President of Benin said as far as they are concerned, they want (not just saying it like that), but in reality, Benin should be the 37th state of Nigeria," he said, according to a report by DailyTrust.

"We should be one. They charged us to come together at the ministerial level, to work out a framework for a sustainable relationship."

Onyeama said during the visit, both presidents discussed agreements between the two countries on how to put the issue of smuggling to an end.

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