During a visit to Russia, Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, said that the country intends to pursue an independent policy and that it wishes to join the BRICS.
Nigeria intends to apply to become a member of the BRICS, after carrying out the necessary internal procedures, said the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, in an interview with Sputnik. Yusuf Tuggar arrived in Moscow, on Wednesday (6), for an official visit.
“We intend to do this. As I said, Nigeria has a deliberative democratic system, so there is usually a lot of involvement from various interest groups, different internal bodies, before such action is implemented,” Tuggar said.
The minister highlighted the importance of the presence of Kashim Shettima, vice-president of Nigeria, at the 2023 BRICS summit in South Africa.
“We are very interested in this and we look forward to it with the greatest interest”, highlighted the Nigerian Foreign Minister. Tuggar also stressed that Nigeria will not succumb to external pressure from the West regarding cooperation with Russia. “You need to understand one thing: Nigeria is not the kind of country that succumbs to pressure.
We have had this opinion since the beginning. Since independence in 1960, we have joined the Non-Aligned Movement.
We are doing what we think is right for us as a country and no one is dictating anything to us,” said Tuggar in response to a question from Sputnik about whether the country is under pressure from the West because of its cooperation with Moscow.