Nigerian Foreign Minister Youssef Tougar reached out to his Libyan counterpart, Abdulhadi Al-Haweej, to express regret over recent events affecting Libya’s national football team, assuring that there was no ill intent on the part of the Nigerian government.
Soldecanarias.net / Adeje
The Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mr. Youssef Tougar, officially apologized to the government and people of Libya through a phone call made to Libya’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr. Abdulhadi Al-Haweej. This gesture followed an unfortunate incident involving Libya’s national football team in recent days.
During the conversation, the Nigerian Minister expressed his deep regret over the incident, clarifying that it was unintentional and did not reflect the Nigerian government’s stance towards Libya. «What happened was not deliberate, and we deeply regret any inconvenience caused to the Libyan national team,» Tougar stated.
The minister also emphasized the historical and deep relations between both nations, referring to the Libyan people as «genuine individuals» and paying homage to Omar Al-Mokhtar, a Libyan national hero, as a symbolic gesture of respect and admiration for Libya.
For his part, Dr. Abdulhadi Al-Haweej, Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs, accepted the Nigerian government’s apology and assured that all necessary technical and logistical support had been provided to the Libyan crew and aircraft to ensure their safety and facilitate their return. Al-Haweej emphasized that this incident would not harm the strong bilateral relations between the two countries, highlighting the importance of preventing «external factors» from interfering or deteriorating the fraternal ties that Nigeria and Libya have historically shared.
Both ministers agreed on the need to maintain close cooperation and not allow isolated incidents, or third parties, to weaken the relationship between their nations. «It is crucial that we do not allow external actors to create tensions between us,» Al-Haweej concluded.
The dialogue between the ministers reflects the commitment of both governments to move past any misunderstandings and continue working together for their mutual interests, demonstrating the maturity of the diplomatic relations between Nigeria and Libya.
