Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, on Tuesday, hosted the European Union delegation led by the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr Gautier Mignot, at his private residence in Ibadan.
The meeting was structured to strengthen long-term bilateral collaboration between the Oyo State Government and the European Union across critical growth sectors, specifically agricultural development, primary education, and the institutional fight against gender-based violence.
The discussions advanced into a closed-door private session between the Governor and the Ambassador, focused heavily on expanding smallholder crop yields and engineering systemic solutions to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on regional food security.
To fast-track these objectives, the European Union delegation expressed strong interest in injecting technical support into the state’s dairy value chain and partnering with domestic agencies to fully optimise the commercial potential of its extensive cocoa plantations.
The meeting featured human development and administrative officials from both sides.
Present at the talks were the Head of the Human Development Section of the European Union in Nigeria, Professor Leila Mathieu; the Governor’s Adviser on Agribusiness and International Cooperation, Mr Debo Akande; and the Executive Assistant on Administration, Reverend Idowu Ogedengbe.
Speaking with journalists after the session, Ambassador Mignot emphasised that the European Union’s Global Gateway strategy will continually prioritise targeted development programmes that empower young people and protect vulnerable women.
Oyo State remains a vital hub for agricultural processing and cocoa production within the West African sub-region. Governor Makinde’s administration has actively sought international partnerships to transition traditional farming into high-margin agribusiness models.
The state government aims to secure external investments for rural education infrastructure and enhance the capacity of local safe spaces and judicial frameworks designed to rapidly address and curb gender-based violence across rural and urban communities.
Source: Almond934fm
Image Credit: Inside Oyo
