Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has agreed to consider a request from Ethiopia for more university teachers from his country, his spokeswoman Oluremi Oyo said on Tuesday.

The president made the pledge in the capital Abuja when he received the outgoing Ethiopian ambassador in Nigeria Yohannes Guinda-Ginbi, Oyo said in a statement.

The statement quoted the president as telling the outgoing ambassador that the request would be considered under the Technical Aid Corp (TAC), through which the country was assisting sister African and Caribbean countries.

The outgoing ambassador said that his country was making a fresh request for 671 university lecturers in addition to the 31 already serving there. He was quoted as saying that the additional request was to cater for the new universities being opened.

Obasanjo also said that the country would send "some experts on cassava" to assist Ethiopia, which had suffered food shortages as a result of incessant drought.

Obasanjo said that Nigeria had "very good relations" with Ethiopia and stressed the need for all African countries to do "a critical self-analysis if we are to get to where we should be."

He suggested that the two countries improve trade relations with each other with Nigeria buying meat and leather products in exchange for Nigerian products.

Source: Xinhua