H.E. Mr. Kalla Ankourao, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, African Integration and Nigerians Abroad, Republic of Niger, together with H.E. Ms. Salou Adama Gazibo, Ambassador of Niger in Turkey, paid a visit to IRCICA Director General Prof. Dr. Halit Eren on 17 August 2017. The delegation accompanying the Minister was comprised of; Ms. Insa Nouhour, Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister, and Mr. Abdil Karim Ali Lansari, Advisor to the Prime Minister. After the welcoming meeting at the Directorate General, the Director General guided the guests to the hall where plates of award-winning calligraphies from competitions organized by IRCICA were on display. Then, the Director General guided the guests to the library, where he showed them some major publications of IRCICA. Among the subjects of mutual interest were the aim of promoting research and publications on the history of Islamic civilization in West Africa, and particularly the follow-up of the international symposium on “Islamic History and Civilization in West Africa” that was jointly organized by IRCICA and the University of Niamey on 14-15 March 2019.
As a pleasant coincidence, another official visit took place around the same time: H.E. Ms. Nabeela F. Tunis, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Sierra Leone, and her delegation were welcomed by the Director General and guided to the conference hall, where the two ministers joined together for the remaining parts of their visits.
H.E. Mr. Ankourao wrote his impressions in the Visitors’ Book: “While touring the offices and halls of this superb structure, I discover, with the greatest pleasure, all the richness of the Islamic civilization and its glory on five continents. The writings are so impressive that they are placed, I believe, as best ones in the world. All my thanks for the remarkable work which is being done in these places. Its results will undoubtedly be of benefit to our children and our grand-children”.
