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Buhari Missing As Trump Meets Saraki For US Africa Strategy Launch

Published

6 years ago

December 13, 2018

President Muhammadu Buhari is conspicuously absent from an international strategic meeting that will have Trump in attendance.

The President of the Nigerian Senate and D.G of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council Dr. Bukola Saraki, will be attending the launch of the United States of America President, Donald J. Trump’s, Strategy for Africa which will be unveiled to the public today.

This was made known in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Dr Saraki, Yusuph Olaniyonu, who disclosed that the new United States strategy argues for more effective utilisation of existing U.S. resources on the continent.

With the important role the strategy will play in increasing Foreign Direct Investment and access to new markets especially for the Nigeria economies, it is quite surprising that the incumbent President of Nigeria was not invited to this meeting.

This might not be unconnected to the reports that US president Donald Trump reportedly told his aides he never wanted to meet someone as “lifeless” as President Muhammadu Buhari again earlier this year and the fact that global support for the Buhari presidency has continued to wane given the bad economic policies of his administration as well as reports of human rights abuse.

The Trump plan, according to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs, Tibor P. Nagy, Jr, will focus on bringing more foreign direct investment into Africa and is in line with the Legislative Agenda of the 8th National Assembly which is aimed at reforming the Nigerian economy through strategic legislation that will help promote increased participation of private sector actors.

Tibor also pointed out that with a renewed focus by the United States on Africa, African countries will benefit from increased investment by U.S. companies and projects that will create jobs and bring higher environmental and business standards.