Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, says the President of Benin Republic, Patrice Talon, has requested to that his country is ready to be 37th State in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Onyeama said Talon had already open talks with President Muhammadu Buhari to that effect.
Daily Trust reports that the Nigerian minister disclosed this after a closed-door meeting with Beninoise Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Aurélien Agbenonci.
He said the Beninoise president gave the offer when he visited President Muhammadu Buhari, a few weeks back.
“The President of Benin said as far as they are concerned, they want (not just saying it like that) but in reality, Benin should be the 37th state of Nigeria,” he said.
“We should really be one. They charged us to come together at ministerial level, to work out a framework for a sustainable relationship.”
Onyeama said, at the visit, both presidents discussed agreements between the two countries on how to put the issue of smuggling to an end, once and for all, as a follow up to the presidents’ meeting.
