Your Excellency, welcome to Nigeria. May we possess a peep in foundation and your person and what could have enlightened your trip at this time to Nigeria?

The primary purpose of my visit is really to pay homage to the good relationship between our nations. Which is very important to me to boost even closer friendship between Germany and Nigeria. For Germany, Nigeria is an important political and business partner as the most populous nation in Africa and an economical heavyweight.

Naturally, I am not unaware your nation also faces great challenges, specifically foreign terrorism, flight and displacement, and poverty reduction. These and representatives and politicians of the civil society will play a role in my own talks in Abuja. I also wish to pay homage to the accomplishments of the United Nations and aid organisations, which work to support hundreds of tens of thousands of internally. From whom I would like to learn regarding the interfaith dialogue in your country, I am eagerly anticipating my meeting with representatives of the various spiritual groups. And I anticipate giving a speech in the seat of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and to meeting Nigerians from the worlds of business and culture in Lagos. Incidentally, a high-ranking German business delegation is following me.


Another extremely important reason for my visit is to honour the recent democratic handover of power in your state. I come from East Germany, the GDR - that's, the section of our nation that has been under communist rule and was democratic or not free. As a Protestant minister, I supported the civil rights movement in the GDR, which was particularly prominent in church groups. We fought for the rule of law, democracy, liberty and human rights in 1989 - and achieved them after nearly 40 years of repression and too little freedom. This really is why my visit to your youthful democracy is also a thing that means a great deal to me on an individual level.

Others or German companies with German affiliations that do business in Nigeria have tended to boom causing what some analysts see as a relationship which is skewed in favour of Germany, or an imbalance in trade does the German government trust to assist correct this?

An imbalance in our trade connections to the disadvantage in Nigeria? That's really not what I will see. The figures tell another story. Nigeria is Germany's second-largest trading partner in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the German economy imports far more from Nigeria than it exports there.

In the advent of the current management, there was enthusiasm from the German government, among many industrialised nations to help in fighting terrorism, insurgency, and its own likes in Nigeria. In concrete terms, how has Germany helped?

The violence perpetrated by Islamist fundamentalists is becoming a worldwide threat. In Nigeria, terrorism comes in the shape of Boko Haram, which poses a threat to security, independence, democracy and human rights. Politically, Germany stands side by side with you in the struggle against this.

A unified response that is globally is required by a global challenge like terrorism. As a member of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS, Germany is, hence, also giving military resources to the struggle against the IS organisation that is terrorist. The German government is supporting the development of effective operational measures to fight terrorism on the international level and is involved in international anti-terrorism initiatives in organisations such as the United Nations, the European Union, NATO as well as the OSCE. We are taking a comprehensive strategy. If you want to battle terrorism and violent extremism forever and efficiently, we additionally need to deal with its economic, social and political causes and also to strengthen human rights and rule of law structures.

A lot of the criticism against the German government accepting refugees from other nations, especially from the Middle-East has come from among Germans, what efforts are being made to assure the citizens the inflow of refugees is not going to have the negative impacts they dread?

Fortunately, most Germans continue to take a nuanced view of the refugee issue. Many German citizens are still ready to aid people in need of protection, including war refugees from Syria. But people in Germany are also talking about the fact that we cannot take in everyone who would want to come and stay in our nation. The large quantities of refugees is a reason for anxiety to part of the population. And politicians are increasingly taking note of those matters. Incidentally, the intense public debate that we're presently conducting reveals that quite many Germans do not only say "no" to taking in refugees. Nevertheless, rather several people fear as regards our ability to assist, that we are simply accomplishing a limit. Because of this, German politicians are working very hard and on many levels both to decrease the amount of refugees also to incorporate those in our nation into German society. The latter can only be reached if Europeans work collectively. Beyond that, coping with flight and handling the reasons why people flee - such as war poverty and climate change - is a task for the international community.

Nevertheless, it's still essential for Nigeria to diversify its market, if I see things correctly. German companies can play a role in this - not least because they've been showing increasing fascination with the Nigerian market. This is often seen only in the German business people who are accompanying me on my visit to your state. Some German firms have already started producing in Nigeria and are investing in staff training, so we can certainly say that there is a fresh dynamism in our economic relationships. But if we desire to expand these connections, the conditions for foreign investors must enhance further. This includes improving infrastructure adhering to contracts and working to set a dependable government.

What attempts is the German government making to help Nigeria with poverty reduction?

As regards development cooperation Nigeria can be a significant partner country for Germany. Just lately, our governments further intensified their collaboration. The projects focus on handling the intense poverty faced by large amounts of men and women in Nigeria and on giving low-income groups new opportunities. As the Federal President, I do not belong to the authorities, so I would simply want to mention a number of examples of our development co-operation. These comprise support in setting up the Development Bank of Nigeria, along with agricultural and environmental endeavors geared toward increasing agricultural productivity and food security. There are also joint educational and training projects funded by Germany, like the Safe Schools Initiative targeted at empowering young people in regions that are rather dangerous to attend school. Our governments are also working closely on sustainable economic development and in the energy sector.

A special initiative for refugees to support internally displaced persons as well as the host communities is a brand new development. Germany will support this initiative for five years by providing capital of 13 million euros, this year. However, I'm especially happy that so many German citizens who live in Nigeria are committed to fighting poverty and constantly finding ways to help.