PM Modi awarded Nigeria's GCON, second foreign leader after Queen Elizabeth to get honour

After being conferred with Nigeria's highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the honour will continue to inspire him to elevate the India-Nigeria strategic partnership to new heights.

He expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the government and people of Nigeria, and dedicated the honour to the "140 crore Indians and the deep friendship between the two nations."

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu conferred the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) on PM Narendra Modi in Abuja on Sunday.

Queen Elizabeth is the only foreign dignitary who has been awarded GCON in 1969. This will be the 17th such international award being conferred to PM Modi by a country.

After receiving the honour, PM Modi said, "I express my heartfelt gratitude to the government and the people of Nigeria for conferring on me the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, Nigeria's national award. I accept this honour with humility and respect. I dedicate this honour to the 140 crore Indians and the deep friendship between India and Nigeria."

"This award will keep inspiring us to take the India-Nigeria strategic partnership to new heights," he added.

PM Modi further highlighted the strong bonds between India and Nigeria, emphasising that their relations are built on "mutual cooperation, goodwill, and mutual respect."

He said, "Relations between India and Nigeria are based on mutual cooperation, goodwill and mutual respect. As two vibrant democracies and dynamic economies, we have been working together for the well-being of the people of both countries. Social and cultural diversity in both countries is our identity and our strength. There are many similarities between Nigeria's Renowned Hope Agenda and Viksit Bharat 2047."

He added, "Today, we discussed in detail on making mutual cooperation more strong and broad. New possibilities have been identified in the sectors of economy, energy, agriculture, security, fintech, small and medium scale enterprise and culture."

PM Modi also reaffirmed India's commitment to strengthening ties with Nigeria and the broader African continent and acknowledged Nigeria's "positive role" in Africa.

"Nigeria has a very big and positive role in Africa and close cooperation with Africa has been a high priority for India. India and Nigeria will move forward together for the prosperity of the people of both countries and the entire African continent. We will give importance to the interests and priorities of the Global South, working in close coordination," he said.

Meanwhile, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said the award citation highlights PM Modi's "visionary leadership," which has positioned India as a global powerhouse and fostered "unity, peace, and shared prosperity for all."

Sharing a post on X, Jaiswal wrote, "An honour dedicated to the people of India. President @officialABAT of Nigeria conferred PM @narendramodi with the national award- 'Grand Commander of the Order of Niger,' for his statesmanship & stellar contribution to fostering India-Nigeria ties."

"The award citation notes that under PM's visionary leadership, India has been positioned as a global powerhouse & his transformative governance has fostered unity, peace and shared prosperity for all. PM thanked President Tinubu and the people of Nigeria for the honour, which he dedicated to the people of India and to the longstanding friendship between India and Nigeria. PM @narendramodi is the first foreign leader to be conferred with this award since 1969," the post added.

Notably, the visit by PM Modi is the first by a Prime Minister of India to Nigeria in 17 years.

Modi is on a three-nation tour to Nigeria, Brazil and Guyana scheduled from November 17 to November 21.

Earlier in the day, Modi held a "very productive discussion" with Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Sunday to add "momentum" to the strategic partnership between the two countries.

The PM highlighted that there is "immense scope" for the ties to be strengthened in various sectors like defence, technology, health and more.

"Had a very productive discussion with President Tinubu. We talked about adding momentum to our strategic partnership. There is immense scope for ties to flourish even further in sectors like defence, energy, technology, trade, health, education and more," he said in a post on X.