President Muhammadu Buhari’s
Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, has insisted
that his principal’s visit to the United States of America (USA), was
beneficial to the country.
In a statement, Shehu claimed
Buhari got all he wanted from the U.S. government.
This was in apparent response to
criticisms of the trip by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and others.
In a statement on Wednesday,
Obasanjo had dismissed the trip, saying: “For whatever the meeting (between
President Buhari and U.S. President Donald Trump) was worth, President Buhari
again bungled another opportunity to self-redeem.”
But in the statement titled:
“Takeaways from the auspicious meeting between Presidents Muhammadu Buhari and
Donald Trump,” Shehu said the visit would strengthen ties between both
countries.
Shehu said his write up was
informed by the position of “the opponents of this administration, who have
prayed and prayed very hard that our President in the course of his historic
visit to the White House on Monday, April 30, 2018, would stumble badly or come
back with nothing.
“President Buhari, to the
disappointment of this group, delivered a calm, brilliant performance. He
refused to be provoked and did not get angry at the taunting. He instead turned
his attention to the task at hand and at the end, came home satisfied that he
got everything he wanted from the US administration.
“The Rose Garden worked out very
much for him as a routine engagement, certainly not like the make-or-break
meeting as some wanted it to be.
“It is also important that
records be set straight to counter the mischief of opponents, some of whom have
started rendering false narratives of a meeting to which they were neither
invited nor in any way aware of its details.
“The meeting of the two leaders
happened in three phases. First, the one-on-one in which only the two of them
were present. Then they had a working lunch, each leader accompanied by 10 top
officials. President Buhari had with him the governors of Ogun and Plateau; the
ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Industry, Trade and Investment; the
chairpersons of Senate and House of Representatives committees on international
relations; the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA; the
Chief of Defence Staff and Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States.
“The US President had
more-or-less the same representation, except that the Secretary of State who
just got cleared for the job by the Senate hadn’t assumed office, so he was
represented by the Deputy Secretary of State.
“President Trump also brought
with him the Director of the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) which I must emphasise, is significant to Nigeria given the fact that
the U.S. remains the largest contributor to the on-going effort to reconstruct
the Northeast and resettle its millions of displaced persons.
“The third engagement involving
the two leaders was the joint press conference by the leaders, aired live by
some major television networks across the world.”
On the gains of the meeting,
Shehu wrote: “The two parties had agreed before the meeting that discussions
will be on three key issues, namely security/counter terrorism, trade, and
development of democracy in Nigeria.
“On security, the Nigerian
delegation was pleased from the onset that the Trump administration had agreed
to the major sale of military equipment to Nigeria. Team Nigeria was equally
pleased about the much-increased role of the US in assisting the efforts to
defeat terrorism in Nigeria and the Lake Chad region in general.
“The President expressed
appreciation for these and requested additional support to counter insurgency.
“On the specific issue of the
sale of the 12 Super Tucano A-29 warplanes and weapons to Nigeria to
effectively fight terrorism, President Buhari told his American counterpart
that we are pleased with this, but want delivery to be fast-tracked, given the
security situation in the country.
“Expectedly, President Trump said
yes to this, and, additionally promised the sale of helicopters and about just
everything President Buhari wanted.
“Still on President Buhari’s
meeting with Trump, it is important to explain the context of the remarks by
President Trump where he was quoted as saying the U.S is concerned about the
murder or killing, as he put it, of Christians. At the press conference,
President Trump, towards the end of his remarks, mentioned the protection of
‘innocent civilians of all faiths, including Muslims and Christians’, which
reporters left out.”
Shehu added: “In his remarks, the
US President neither chided nor talked down on President Buhari. Saying that
‘we will do something about that,’ is a clear expression of willingness to
support Nigeria to bring to an end the unwanted killings. This is contrary to
the press reporting which jumped on the issue, conveying a wrong impression
that President Trump was only concerned about the lives of Christians. He
mentioned Muslim lives as well.
”Equally wrong was the hasty
condemnation of the U.S. President by some Muslim groups in the country without
the benefit of a full view and understanding of what was said and the context
in which it was said.
“The President also conveyed the
country’s appreciation for the U.S. support for the humanitarian situation in
the Northeast, with a contribution of 500 million US Dollars in cash and
in-kind contributions, the highest by anyone, through the United Nations and
other inter-governmental organisations.
”But the scope of work to be done
is larger than anyone had envisaged and Nigeria wanted the US to do more.
President Trump didn’t say no, only that he wanted more access to the Nigerian
market for their agricultural goods.
“For a country which we assist with
USD 1 billion dollars every year, you must do more to open the market to us,”
Trump said. These are matters to be debated and resolved.
“This leads us to the next
important issue- Trade. Pointedly, President Trump did not mince words when he
said: ‘‘President Buhari has also taken several steps to fight corruption and
improve the Nigerian business climate. And most of all to me — and again — is
ripping down those trade barriers. These measures will make it easier for
Nigeria and the United States companies to invest. And we will be investing
substantially in Nigeria if they can create that level playing field that we
have to very much ask for, and maybe demand.
“With the blessing of the two
leaders, assets recovery is also getting a major boost. The Attorney-General
and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, was directed to sit down with Jeff
Sessions, his US counterpart, to have a roadmap for the recovery of USD 500
million of Nigerian stolen assets hidden in the US. They will also finalise on
the return of USD 1 million of the Diepreye Alamieyeseigha loot.
“Immediately after the bilateral
engagement, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama and Minister of
Justice, Malami, met with their U.S. counterparts. In the months ahead, the
Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, will also meet
with his U.S. counterpart, Wilbur Ross.
“When he was asked if Nigeria had
succeeded in getting America to buy more of our oil, President Buhari said he
did not. We have others buying our oil. Must we sell to a particular buyer?
“This government will smartly
work with the current American government, knowing that American interests are
not always ours, as a strategic partner on security, anti-corruption economic
growth and job creation.”
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