NUST Institute of Policy Studies roundtable webinar on Pakistan-Nigeria relations: Avenues of Cooperation
NUST Institute of Policy Studies (NIPS) held the high-level roundtable webinar on Pakistan-Nigeria relations on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, to discuss in depth the prospect of bilateral cooperation in collaboration with Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA). The roundtable webinar, moderated by Brig (Retd) Amir Yaqub, Director NIPS, and Professor Eghosa Osaghae, Director General (NIIA), was arranged as part of the NIPS Roundtable Series that invites notable national and international experts and institutions to speak in detail on topics of high contemporary relevance to a diverse audience of statesmen, serving and former senior defence officials, business leaders, veteran diplomats, experts, scholars, and students.
Speaking on the occassion, Nasir Ali Shah Bhukhari, industrialist and educationist, Chairman KASB bank, highlighted the similarities between the two countries. He called both countries as twin brothers with similar growth trajectory, direction of trade and with very vibrant overseas Diasporas. He emphasized the immense potential of trade between the two counties, especially in pharmaceuticals. Pakistani businesses are very interested in involving in Nigerian development. Established of banking channels is area of utmost importance, Nigerian banks are operating all over Africa and if they open their doors to Pakistani investors in Africa both countries can joint venture in different areas. The other important relationship could be in energy sector. Pakistan needs energy support and Nigeria is an exporter of energy and can help Pakistan in LNG agreements. There is need to have special agreements in certain areas with quotas which will help both countries.
Professor Efem Ubi, Senior Research Fellow and Head, Division of International Economic Relations at NIIA spoke on Nigeria-Pakistan Cooperation in an Epoch of Global Uncertainty. The global recession because of the pandemic can be felt in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Many states are unable to meet the requirements of their citizens. Many global south economies are subject to international shocks and industrialization is crucial for their development. Currency depreciation is also another big issue and it adds to the uncertainties about future. Moreover, China has become a huge player in international development and her presence cannot be overlooked. Climate change, global islamophobia are huge issues which resonate with Pakistani premier as well and we must address these issues on global level to work for a better future.
Ms Aisha Khan, CEO Mountain and Glacier Organization and environmentalist, with extensive work experience in the development sector emphasized that Climate change is a larger than life crisis and it is worldwide concern. The two strategies we have is adaptation and mitigation. Climate change has many dimensions which will impact both countries. The Paris Agreement anchors climate commitments. The Nationally Determined Commitments (NDC) are very vital in global efforts. The CO2 measurements are not going down and unsurprisingly, Pakistan and Nigeria contribute close to nothing to global emissions, 1 percent and 1.01 percent respectively. The NDC are voluntary commitments, Pakistan contributes 405MTCO2 and Nigeria 500MTCO2 and both countries do not have carbon tax and trading system. Both countries share a lot on human security issues and one of the impacts of climate change is food security. Both countries can collaborate in disaster risk reduction, food security, water security, energy, and investment in human capital, promotion of science and technology and sharing adaptation and mitigation approaches.
Mr Vincent Ibonye, a research fellow at NIIA, talked about the strategic agenda for the future of Nigeria-Pakistan Cooperation. He touched on the global trade tussle between US and China, and Nigeria can certainly get closer to China as Pakistan enjoys cordial relations with China.
The participants also shared their comments and questions to add more depth to the discussion session and made it more intellectually stimulating. It was unanimously agreed upon that there are many potential avenues for cooperation between the two countries and concerted efforts must be put in to reap mutual benefits.
In his closing remarks, Professor Eghosa Osaghae, Director General (NIIA), said that this is only the first of the sessions, and we look forward to more specialized expertise based engagements to work on our relationship. Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan, Principal NUST School of Social Sciences and Humanities and Director General NIPS, shared similar sentiments. He reiterated that both countries have a lot in common and both have great resources to develop and the lack of leadership has derailed their development. Pakistan and Nigeria are members of D-8 which is projected to have more GDP than EU by 2030. There is enormous potential in strengthening bilateral relations leading with military equipment’s trade, research cooperation, student and faculty exchanges. We look forward to more engagements with NIIA on different avenues.