Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Nigeria has no plan to make the neighbouring Benin Republic its 37th state.
The Ministry stated this in a statement on Saturday titled, ‘Republic of Benin Is Not Aspiring To Be Part Of Nigeria’ and which was signed by the ministry’s spokesman, Ferdinand Nwonye.
The statement read, “The attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been drawn to misleading reports in the media that the Republic of Benin is aspiring to be the 37th State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama in the presence of his counterpart from the Republic of Benin granted a Press Interview after a fruitful meeting between the Ministerial delegation from both countries and stated there ‘…the President of Benin Republic said he would like the relations between the two countries to be so close as if Benin was the 37th State of Nigeria’.
“The Federal Republic of Nigeria has no territorial ambition and has never aspired to make Benin or any country as part of Nigeria.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs was therefore quoted out of context and the general public should kindly disregard the wrong information.”
Benin Republic got its independence from France on December 11, 1958, about two years before Nigeria’s independence on October 1, 1960.
Both Nigeria and Benin are strategic economic partners as traders from both countries transact businesses fluidly at the Seme-Badagry corridor, which has become one of the most popular borders for trans-regional economic exchanges.
Due to proximity, the two countries also share certain similarities like culture, religion and tribe. Some cross-marriages have also occurred between citizens of both countries.