Nigeria, Ethiopia Sign Agreement on Visa Waiver, Defence Cooperation. Nigeria and Ethiopia wednesday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, signed an agreement to wave visas for holders of both countries’ diplomatic and official passports to ease travels by officials of the two countries and foster bilateral relations. The two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in defence.The agreements and the MoU were signed by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama and his Ethiopian counterpart, Gedu Andargachew in the presence of President Muhammadu Buhari and Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed.A statement by presidential spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, said the agreements were signed during Buhari’s state visit to the prime minister. Buhari had left Nigeria for Ethiopia on February 7, 2020 where he participated in the 33rd summit of the African Union (AU).According to the statement, Buhari in his earlier meeting with the Ethiopian prime minister, discussed ways of exploring new areas of collaboration to further enhance and expand Nigeria-Ethiopia bilateral cooperation for the mutual benefits of the two countries.While the visa waiver agreement, according to the statement, is expected to ease travels by officials of the two countries and foster bilateral relations, the MoU on defence cooperation was conceived to guarantee coordination of efforts in the fight against terrorism and secure peace and stability in their respective sub-regions, and in the overall African continent.
