Nigeria and Poland established diplomatic relations in the 1960s. Since then, both countries have enjoyed good political relations. It is significant to highlight that bilateral relations between Nigeria and Poland have been marked by mutual cooperation and support for each other in the international fora. On its part, Poland regards Nigeria as one of its most important partners in Africa, south of the Sahara.
It must however, be noted that since 1989, after the end of the Communist rule, successive Polish government have pursued foreign policy objectives, which have tended to relegate to a distant background, relations with African countries. Policy leaders since 1989 have consistently pursued the objectives of moving closer to Europe and the USA by striving to join NATO and the EU. Poland joined NATO in 1999.
What marks Poland out as an important and strategic partner remains her resilience in handling difficult and challenging national situations in times past. Today, she has managed to come back from the brink of extinction with the Russian and German invasions to become a strong and united country with the fastest growing economy in Europe. Hence, it is Mission’s considered opinion that constructively engaging Poland should be of political and economic interest to Nigeria as things stands today.
Just as Nigeria embarked on economic diplomacy in the late 80s and early 90s, so is Poland refocusing its foreign policy objectives on economic issues. For Nigeria, therefore, the main thrust of its relations with Poland should be political and economic. Poland is keen to activate her bilateral relations with selected African countries having enormous economic potentials like Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, Egypt and Namibia. In this connection, Poland is now seeking better collaboration towards strengthening political and economic relations with Nigeria.
Happily, in June 2012, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Political Consultations with her Polish counterpart to raise the level of bilateral relations between the two countries. The MOU amongst others, mandated the Foreign Ministries of Poland and Nigeria to hold Political Consultations on bilateral relations, regional and international issues of common interest at the level of Senior officials once a year in each other’s capitals(viz Warsaw & Abuja). It is therefore Mission’s conviction that other useful working framework should flow from that MOU.
