Expectations as Buhari meets Trump today

President Muhammadu Buhari will today meet with President Donald Trump of the United States at the White House. The Nigerian president had arrived in Washington DC yesterday ahead of his four-day working visit to the United States.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the presidential aircraft carrying President Buhari and members of his entourage had left the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Saturday at about 11.35 p.m. A Presidency twitter handle tagged; @NGRPresident, confirmed the arrival of the President in Washington yesterday at about 4.20p.m. (Nigerian time) It said: “President Muhammadu Buhari arrived in Washington DC ahead of his working visit to the United States. He will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

” Buhari left Abuja on Saturday on an official working visit to the United States of America, on the invitation of President Donald Trump.

The president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, had, on Friday, in a statement in Abuja, said Buhari while in America would hold bilateral meeting with President Trump and would later have a working lunch on April 30. According to Adesina, the meeting is to discuss ways to enhance the strategic partnership between the two countries. He said the meeting would also advance shared priorities, such as promoting economic growth, fighting terrorism and other threats to peace and security.

“The meeting will further deepen the US-Nigeria relationship as the United States considers Nigeria’s economic growth, security and leadership in Africa to be critical aspects of their strategic partnership. “Later in the day, President Buhari will meet with a group of business persons in agriculture and agro-processing, dairy and animal husbandry,” he said. He said ahead of the visit by the president, meetings had been scheduled on April 26 and 27, between senior Nigerian government officials and executives of major U.S. companies in the areas of agriculture, aviation and transportation. Adesina said in the area of aviation, the Nigerian officials would be meeting with Boeing, the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world, on the National Carrier Project. The presidential aide said: “On agriculture, they will meet with large equipment manufacturers with focus on harvesting and post harvesting equipment.

“In the area of transportation, the officials will meet with the GE-led consortium for the implementation of the interim phase of the narrow gauge rail concession.

“In the interim phase, a substantive concession agreement will be negotiated and finalised to provide the consortium the opportunity to invest an estimated two billion dollars to modernize the rail line from Lagos to Kano (Western Line) and from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri (Eastern Line).

“During the meeting, the concession framework and the interim phase framework agreements are expected to be signed.” He further disclosed that Nigerian officials would also meet with U.S.-EXIM Bank and the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation to explore competitive financing arrangements. “It is noteworthy that in 2017, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry o Industry, Trade and Investment and the United States Department of Commerce signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote and encourage commercial and investment ties between Nigeria and the United States. “This is with initial focus on infrastructure, agriculture, digital economy, investment and regulatory reforms.”

Presidency on Obama Meanwhile, the Presidency said yesterday that Nigeria did not receive the necessary support on the fight against terrorism from the former President of the United States of America. Speaking from Blair House, Washington DC, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu, said the relationship between Nigeria and the US had recorded remarkable improvement since the coming onboard of President Trump.

He said: “He is the first African head of government to visit the Trump at White House and this is a pointer to two important things. One is, no matter how Nigerians take our own country, this is hugely an important country and this recognition is being manifested in this visit.

“And for the President personally, it is equally important that of all of the heads of state we have in the country that he of all of them has come forwarded to meet President Donald Trump.

“But it is important to know that beyond the symbolism of the visit, there are important matters affecting both countries that will be placed on the table when the two Presidents meet. We have the understanding that the two delegations have their agenda clearly spelt out and there will be interest and focus on the matter of security and safety, focus on trade and investment and focus on democratic development in our country.”

Continuing, he said: “It is important that cooperation between the two countries have manifestly increased under the Trump’s presidency. If you recall sometime back, the President had reason to openly complain that we are not receiving as much as we thought we deserve in terms of support and cooperation especially in our fight against terrorism back then during the Obama period. “

And it will seem that quite dramatically and interestingly, a lot of the obstacles are being removed under the Trump’s presidency and doors are being opened and we are receiving far more support than most people had expected.”

On the solidarity rally by some Nigerians in the Diaspora for the President, Shehu said: “It is a very pleasant development and this tells you that America is a totally different clime, there is a deep appreciation for the work the President is doing for our country.”

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