Yoweri Museveni the president of Uganda has announced that Nigeria has promised to help Uganda manage their oil resources, since Nigeria is highly experienced in petroleum exploitation. This follows reports confirming that Nigeria has offered to assist Uganda establish a petroleum institute solely for the extraction of oil.
The agreement was however reached in Abuja following a meeting with Nigerian leader Umaru Musa Yar’Adua over bilateral issues.
President Museveni who is in Nigeria on a four-day working visit also said that a Nigerian airline will begin operating between Entebbe and Abuja and that a joint commission would be set up to discuss ways of enhancing trade between both countries.
According to President Yar’Adua, the meeting was meant to renew bilateral relations between Uganda and Nigeria, which he said, has existed since independence.
During the question session from the press, the Nigerian President when asked about the details of the discussion with his Ugandan counterpart, said that they talked mostly about the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Southern Sudan, the global economic crisis and the need for Africa to address the challenge as a single bloc.
The Nigerian president also indicated that Nigeria was training a battalion to join African peacekeepers in Somalia. Their deployment, he said, was delayed to allow them be re-trained and equipped appropriately.
When asked about the state of African development, president Museveni of Uganda said that the export of unprocessed raw materials to the developed world was one of the problems affecting development of the continent.
He also stressed that education is crucial for the development of the continent.
The Ugandan delegation to the talks included ministers Sam Kutesa (foreign affairs), Dr. Ezra Suruma (finance), Daudi Migereko (energy), Janat Mukwaya (trade and tourism) and John Byabagambi (works).The Nigerian side included Vice-President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
