Abuja — The Defence Minister, Alhaji Mahamud Yayale Ahmed, has described the longstanding relationship between the government and people of Nigeria and that of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan as a family tie.

Yayale Ahmed disclosed this when the Pakistani High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Khalid Durrani and the Defence Attaché, Colonel Abid Hussain Bhatti, visited him in his office.

The Minister re-affirmed that Nigeria's longstanding relationship with Pakistan cannot be overemphasized, stressing that Pakistan has done a lot by sending teachers, doctors, engineers as well as agriculturists especially in the field of irrigation to help Nigeria.