The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Nigeria, Mr Faisal Alghamdi has pledged to organise free surgeries for indigent Nigerians under the Nur-Saudi Voluntary Campaign in Nigeria.
Ambassador Alghamdi, made the commitment in Abuja during the 93rd National Day celebration of the Kingdom.
He recalled that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Al Saud had in 2022 approved the Nur-Saudi Voluntary Campaign in Nigeria.
“The campaign will be executed through King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center KSRelief and it will be executed in stages.
“The first stage had been executed which targeted combating blindness and its causes, in addition to a large number of open-heart and urology surgeries.
“In this regard, I would like to congratulate the parents of the Nigerian conjoined twins on the successful separation surgery.
“The surgery done will make it the 56th surgery performed by the Kingdom in separating conjoined twins from across the world,”.
Speaking on the bilateral relations between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Nigeria said the historic bonds between both countries had been firmly growing since 1961.
Ambassador Alghamdi also added that, in 2022, about 200,000 Nigerians visited Saudi Arabia, 95,000 of them pilgrims and more than 90,000 on minor pilgrimage.
In the same period, the Kingdom had given 200 scholarships to Nigerian students both males and females while the trade volume between the Kingdom and Nigeria was more than $600 million.
The celebration was attended by government officials, heads of diplomatic missions and international organisations, notable businessmen and women groups.