Nigeria has signed an agreement with the European Economic Community -- the Common Market -- in a drive to increase its overseas trade links. At Common Market headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday (3 May), Nigeria's Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Abubakar al-Haji, completed the deal -- part of the broader links between Europe and the third world under the Lome Convention.

SYNOPSIS: Mr. Abubakar was greeted at the Community's headquarters by Mr. Maurice Fowley, Director General for Common Market Development. The Lome Agreement was signed by the EEC and 46 African, Caribbean and Pacific developing nations -- the ACP. The treaty, signed in January 1975, called for greater co-operation and trade between the EEC and the ACP bloc. It exempted the developing countries from the normal import restrictions to the European Community, and allowed them to claim compensation on certain products if exports fell. The agreement signed in Brussels this week will principally cover training, industrial co-operation and assistance to Nigerian universities and research institutes. It will remain in operation for the same length of time as the Lome Agreement, which runs until February, 1980.