Relations between

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, primarily based on their roles as oil exporting nations, are cooperative and sturdy. Both are members of the

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, ) is a cartel of countries. Founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela), it has, since 1965, been headquart ...

, the African Union, and other multilateral organizations.

History

In 1975, Nigeria was a driving force within the

Organisation of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...

(OAU) to recognize the legitimacy of the new Angolan regime. During the 1980s and 1990s, the countries' economic interests were linked to different Western powers, preventing them from forming significant alliances. The Angolan government arrested Henry Okah, the spokesman of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), the largest rebel group in Nigeria, in September 2007 on

arms trafficking Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small arm ...

charges. Okah had tried to board a plane at

Luanda Luanda () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major Angola#Economy, industrial, Angola#Culture, cultural and Angola#Demographics, urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atl ...

airport bound for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

when authorities apprehended him. Angola and Nigeria have not signed an

extradition Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdi ...

treaty, partly because Nigeria still uses

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

and Angolan law forbids extraditing suspects to nations in which they may face the punishment of death. Angolan President

José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was the president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and president of the People's Movement for ...

agreed to extradite Okah on 21 November, but his lawyers asked the government to reconsider. In January 2008, Attorney General João Maria de Sousa said the Angolan government had not yet decided whether it would extradite Okah. Okah was finally extradited on 15 February 2008.

Economic relations

In 2008, Angola took Nigeria's place as Africa's top oil producer. The Angolan Community in Nigeria (CAN) was created in 2009 by the Angolan embassy in Nigeria. Trade between Angola and Nigeria was worth US$2 million in 2016. Nigerian exports to Angola amounted to US$442,000 and Angolan exports to Nigeria amounted to US$1.56 million.

References

Bilateral relations of Nigeria

{{Bilateralrelations-stub

History

Economic relations

See also

References