Hungarian Embassy in Nigeria, Report, 24 November 1980. Subject: Contacts between the Korean Workers’ Party and the National Party of Nigeria.

At the reception given on the occasion of the Austrian national holiday, the DPRK ambassador to Nigeria told me [Ferenc Bösenbacher] that the relations between the Korean Workers’ Party and the National Party of Nigeria had been traditionally good. As early as before the inauguration of the civilian government, during the period of military rule, the embassy had established contacts with the NPN, which later, in coalition with the NPP [Nigerian People’s Party], won the elections.  

In August 1980, on the invitation of the NPN, a delegation of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers’ Party, headed by CC member H. Sop [sic], visited Nigeria. The delegation was also received by President S. Shagari. President Shagari declared that the NPN was interested in adopting the experiences of the Korean Workers’ Party, both in the field of party building and in a few political issues.

The NPN sent a delegation to the congress the Korean Workers’ Party held in October 1980. According to the DPRK ambassador, the Nigerian delegation made a very positive declaration at the congress, expressing its support to the DPRK proposal to unify the two Koreas on the basis of a federation. The ambassador evaluated the development of relations between the two parties as very favorable. In his opinion, one should provide support to the NPN, whose effort to unify the nation is a progressive political goal. Through the inter-party contacts, one could also influence the Nigerian party’s standpoint on international political issues. The Korean Workers’ Party was ready to share its experiences both in the field of party building and in the organization of agricultural cooperatives.

Finally, the ambassador, in response to my question, remarked that they would not send an official delegation to the NPN convention to be held in December, because this event is not of the same significance as a party congress. [The Nigerians] would probably invite an official of the embassy.

Concerning the relations between the NPN and the Korean Workers’ Party, we would like to note that to our knowledge, no other socialist country has established yet such an inter-party relationship [with the NPN]. (According to the Romanian ambassador, the Chinese do have such an intention, but the PRC ambassador has not managed yet to establish any contacts, not even social ones. His repeated attempts to visit the NPN chairman elicited only a polite evasive reply.)  

It is remarkable that on the basis of the good economic and commercial cooperation that had been created earlier, in [February] 1980 Nigeria established diplomatic relations with South Korea. Its economic contacts with the DPRK are not significant; the political relations are more in the forefront.

Frigyes Vadász

 ambassador