Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, has explained that the FCT Administration would partner with the Republic of Italy on sustainable city tourism and agricultural development.
Wike said this when the Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Stefano Leo, visited him in his office in Abuja on Friday.
He said that he would personally visit the ambassador to discuss areas of mutual benefits for the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of Italy.
The minister particularly identified the development of Abuja as a sustainable city as one of the areas of interest, including tourism and agricultural development.
“You know very well that Abuja has a very good landscape for agriculture and tourism development,” he said.
The minister explained that the publication of the names of embassies and commissions owing ground rent in the FCT was not targeted at anybody, but to improve Internally Generated Revenue, IGR.
According to him, the IGR will be utilised for development of the city.
He assured the ambassador that the FCT Administration would make the environment comfortable for embassies and commissions to carry out their activities and for businesses to thrive.
Earlier, Leo said that he was in the minister’s office to congratulate and wish him well.
He recalled how impressed he was when he visited Rivers in 2022, and expressed optimism that the minister would do better than he did as a governor.
“Having you here in Abuja means we can continue our very good cooperation. I will be glad to host you at the Embassy,” he said.
He said that Italy was at the forefront of tourism, adding that the country had huge plans to support sustainable city development and new ideas for green city in the FCT.
“It will be a pleasure to follow your ideas to strengthen cooperation with you,” the ambassador said.