APA Abuja (Nigeria) Nigeria through its Foreign Affairs minister Ojo Maduekwe condemned Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia just as Serbia says Nigeria had more than oil and gas to offer the world at a joint news briefing with his Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic on Saturday in Abuja the federal capital.

Kosovo’s declaration of independence was made by members of Parliament in Pristina, its capital, in the Southern Province of Serbia on 17 February 2008. It was approved by a unanimous quorum, numbering 109 members.

Nigeria made the condemnation at the end of one-day bilateral talks.

"Nigeria’s tragic experience of civil war leaves us with no choice than to condemn the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo.

"The least that should be done is to encourage Serbia as they enter into discussions with their brothers in Kosovo to see how this issue could be resolved,’’ the minister explained.

On Nigeria-Serbia bilateral relations, Maduekwe said there was need to move the relations from being adequately cordial to becoming progressively strategic.

He expressed gratitude to the Serbian government for voting Nigeria as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council at the 63rd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Maduekwe said the joint commission between the two countries which had been dormant since 1990 "is going to be strongly revived’’.

In his response, Jeremic said that Nigeria had more to offer than its oil and gas and that the products did not form part of his country’s partnership with Nigeria.

"We have very close partnership in oil and gas with the Russian Federation, so I think in future we may be working together on this but right now we have so many other things we need to do before we engage the country in the oil and gas sector," he pointed out.

Jeremic, who expressed gratitude to Nigeria for its support "to Serbia at our difficult time."

He said the Serbian authority was determined to come to a solution with Kosovo through peaceful dialogue.