Muhammadu Buhari and Barack Obama meet in the United States. July 20, 2015
In the first official encounter of the politicians, President Obama characterized his Nigerian colleague as a “man of integrity”.
Speaking further about the role of Nigeria on the African continent, Obama was quoted as saying by Adesina:
“Wherever Nigeria goes, Africa goes. The continent’s destiny is tied to Nigeria’s.”
The American president stressed the importance of keeping Nigeria united, because a divided country can never succeed.
“Turn the diversity of Nigeria to source of strength.”
Regarding the battle against Boko Haram insurgency, Obama advised Buhari to combine military action with social and economic programmes.
According to Sahara Reporters Obama expressed confidence:
“President Buhari has a very clear agenda of defeating Boko Haram and extremists of all sorts… and of rooting out the corruption that has too often held back the economic growth and prosperity of his country.”
Premium Times also reports with reference to Barack Obama that the US will partner with Nigeria so that the country “ends up being not only an anchor of prosperity and stability in the eastern part of the continent, but can also be an outstanding role model for developing countries around the world”.
He also said that he would discuss with Buhari the most effective ways of cooperation to end insurgency and how the American side can help Nigeria.
He further pledged US commitment to cooperating with Nigeria as long as the country “remains on course”.
See the extract from Obama’s speech as provided by The Punch:
“It is a great pleasure to welcome President Buhari and his delegation here in the White House for his first visit since the historic election that took place. Nigeria is obviously one of the most important countries in the world; one of the most important countries in the African continent.
“Recently, we saw an election in which a peaceful transition to a new government took place. Nevertheless, the people of Nigeria understand that only through a peaceful political process that change can take place.
“President Buhari came into office with reputation for integrity and a very clear agenda: that is to make sure that he brings safety, security and peace to his country. He is very concerned about the spread and the violence that is taking place there and the atrocities and has a very clear agenda in defeating Boko Haram and extremists.
“I want to emphasise how much I appreciate President Buhari’s work so far. I have seen him put together a team, so we can do everything that we can to help him succeed and help the people of Nigeria succeed.”
Obama also promised that his country would continue to assist Nigeria in ensuring political stability in the country, Africa and the world.
Apart from that, the American leader addressed members of Buhari’s entourage, urging the five accompanying governors, so as other officials, to assist President Buhari.
The Nigerian leader, on his part, thanked his colleague for the invitation and said that it was partially diplomatic pressure from the US and international community that helped Nigeria conduct democratic elections.
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UPDATE: Full script as provided by Premium Times:
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, it’s a great pleasure to welcome President Buhari and his delegation here to the Oval Office for his first visit since the historic election that took place.
Nigeria is obviously one of the important countries in the world and one of the most important countries in the African continent. Recently, we saw an election in which a peaceful transition to a new government took place. And it was an affirmation of Nigeria’s commitment to democracy, a recognition that although Nigeria is a big country and a diverse country with many different parts, nevertheless the people of Nigeria understand that only through a peaceful political process can change take place.
President Buhari comes into office with a reputation for integrity and a very clear agenda, and that is to make sure that he is bringing safety and security and peace to his country.
He’s very concerned about the spread of Boko Haram and the violence that’s taken place there, and the atrocities that they’ve carried out, and has a very clear agenda in defeating Boko Haram and extremists of all sorts inside of his country. And he has a very clear agenda with respect to rooting out the corruption that too often has held back the economic growth and prosperity of his country.
On both these issues, we’re looking forward to hearing more about his plans and how the United States can partner with Nigeria so that Nigeria ends up being an anchor not only of prosperity and stability in the eastern part of the continent, but can also be an outstanding role model for developing countries around the world.
And we very much look forward to talking about security issues, how we can cooperate on counter-terrorism. We’re looking forward to discussing how we can be helpful in addressing some of the corruption issues that have held Nigeria back, and unleashing the incredible talent of the Nigerian people.
We all recognize that some of the best business people in the world are from Nigeria, and they thrive as they travel to other countries, but we want to make sure that they’re also helping folks thrive in Nigeria.
We’re also going to have an opportunity to talk about some of the other areas where Nigeria has taken leadership — in public health issues, fighting tragedies like Ebola. Nigeria has an outstanding track record working with us to eradicate polio, and that gives us a framework and a template to continue to work on public health issues throughout the western part of Africa, as well as throughout the subcontinent.
We’ll have a chance to talk about issues of climate change, electrification. As many of you know, Power Africa is one of our top priorities, making sure that we’re electrifying the continent so that it can grow faster and more people have access to the power that they need.
So we’ve got a busy agenda, but I want to emphasize how much I appreciate President Buhari’s work so far. I’m looking forward to seeing him put together his team so that we can do everything that we can to help him succeed and help the people of Nigeria succeed. Because if they’re successful and doing well, that will have a ripple effect not only in West Africa, but throughout the world.
So thank you very much.
PRESIDENT BUHARI: Nigeria will remain ever grateful to President Obama and the United States for making Nigeria to consolidate its gains on a democratic system. The visit of the Secretary of State, when he visited Nigeria to see the president and the whole government of Nigeria, see the chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission for Nigeria, and saw the operation was very clear and a positive trend that saw us through for this credible election we had.
And the maintenance of pressure by the United States, mainly, and Europe, to make sure that the elections were free, fair and credible led us to where we are now. It would have been almost impossible if the United States did not maintain the pressure on the former Nigerian government, but they would not accept anything less constitutional as far as the processes of the election are concerned. We will ever remain grateful to you because there are fundamental objectives that are identify all of Nigeria’s people’s Congress — security, economy, employment especially of youth, and then fighting corruption.
We are extremely happy that the United States had made it absolutely clear before the election that they are prepared to help Nigeria in this aspect. And this is why I am here, and I am very grateful for the invitation Mr. President extended to me.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you so much.
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See photos from the meeting. Credits: Sahara Reporters.
And some more pictures from Premium Times.
