The time has come for both Nigeria and the United States to deepen the
long-standing relationship between the countries based on mutual trust,
according to Nigeria’s Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.
Prof. Osinbajo spoke earlier today at the Presidential Villa while
receiving the Commander of the US-Africa Command, General Thomas D.
Waldhauser and the American Ambassador in Nigeria, Honorable W. Stuart
Symington.
“We will be very open and willing to build a relationship based on trust,
so that we would benefit from it and of course our relationship as nations
would benefit tremendously from it,” the Acting President stated.
Nigeria’s relationship with the US, he observed, is a very important one
“and has been so for many years, even so now at a time like this for us,”
adding that the Federal Government is appreciative of US support over the
last few years.
According to him, it is the belief of the Buhari presidency that the
United States is committed to helping us with some of our challenges
especially in the Northeast, explaining also that issues around human
rights concerns in the country should be viewed against the context of an
unusual kind of warfare with terrorists and insurgents.
“The kind of warfare we are engaged with in many ways are unprecedented
for our military,” the Ag. President said while noting the sheer brutality
and mindlessness of terrorists who are “prepared to kill children in their
sleep, abduct girls and prepared to die, even using teenage girls as
suicide bombers.”
He restated the readiness of the Buhari administration to conclusively end
the problem “as quickly as possible.” He referred to attacks by remnants
and splinter groups from the terrorists, and added that nonetheless they
can no longer launch military attacks.
While emphasising on the support of the US so far, he stated that the
Federal Government will welcome more US military cooperation and also
assistance in dealing with the consequent humanitarian situation in the
NorthEast.
“The US has been a reliable partner we can trust, especially from what the
US has done in the past, we want to see how much more you can do for us
and the region,” Prof. Osinbajo stated.
In his remarks, the head of the US Africa Command, General Waldhauser
expressed the readiness of the US government to “accelerate” its
contributions, adding that there is a sense that “we want to get on and
solve the problem.”
He noted that his visit to Nigeria at this time is about developing
further “the friendship and trust that we have in common,” while also
agreeing with the Ag. President that the brutality shown by the terrorists
is “what we have never seen before.”
Also speaking, Ambassador Symington said he had just concluded a visit to
all the geo-political zones of the country and has concluded that “Nigeria
is one of the greatest countries in the world with the potential to change
the world.”