The Federal Government has warned the United States and others not to
stigmatize Nigerians traveling to their countries over the recent
designation of Boko Haram and Ansaru as Foreign Terrorist Organization.
The Vice President Arc Mohammed Namadi Sambo made this call, on Wednesday,
when he received in his office at the State House, Abuja a senior United
States delegation led by the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African
Affairs, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
He said that such designation should not affect Nigerians traveling to
countries for legitimate engagements.
The Vice President expressed the hope that such designation would avail
more opportunities for cooperation between Nigeria and the US in the quest
for Government to end the insurgency, he however, cautioned that the
designation should not affect Nigerian citizens travelling to the US on
legitimate engagements.
He assured the delegation that the Federal Government was doing everything
possible to urgently bring to an end the security challenges in the
North-eastern part of the country, stressing that apart from the
military action, other measures were being taken to address the
socio-economic situation in that area. He noted that Nigerians are in full
support of the actions government was taking to end the insurgency.
Vice President Sambo informed the delegation that President Goodluck
Jonathan had directed for the strict compliance of the rule of engagement
and human rights in the efforts to curb the activities of the insurgents.
He further stressed that the rule of law still remains the cardinal
principle of the administration’s Transformation Agenda.
Vice President Sambo also intimated the delegation on the developmental
strides the government was making to reposition the socio-economic status
of Nigerians, in the areas of Agriculture, education, power supply,
transportation and youth and women empowerment among other sectors of the
economy. He thanked President Barack Obama for the Power in Africa
Initiative, and for making Nigeria a beneficiary.
The leader of the delegation, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said
that they were in the country to follow up on the discussions held between
Presidents’ Goodluck Jonathan and Barack Obama of the United States, in
New York in September, and also on the discussions between Vice President
Sambo and his counterpart Joe Biden of the United States. She added that
they were also following up on the deliberations during the Nigeria-US
Bi-National Commission held in August.
She noted that the United States and Nigeria have had very fruitful
partnerships in their relations, adding that the US was very much in
support of the efforts of the Nigerian Government in surmounting the
security challenges posed by insurgents in the country.
The Assistant Secretary stated that the designation of Boko Haram and
Ansaru as Foreign Terrorist Organisations gives the US the opportunity to
support Nigeria in tackling the security challenges posed by insurgents.
She said that part of their visit was aimed at working out a
counter-insurgency programme with the relevant stakeholders and to share
information on various aspects of security, including maritime security so
as to help in solving the security challenges.
She also stated that this meeting is one step in the long term dialogue
that the US will have with Nigeria. She appreciated the opportunity to
have the dialogue and looked forward to continuation of such.
Other members of the delegation who spoke commended Nigeria for her
achievements in the areas of agriculture, education and power supply,
particularly noting the success achieved in the energy privatisation
sector, saying that Nigeria was a role model to the world. They further
congratulated Nigeria for Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi
Adesina for being Forbes man of the year.
Present at the meeting were, the US Ambassador to Nigeria, James
Entwistle, Commander, US Africa Command, General David Rodriguez, Mr.
Grant Harris, Ms. Amanda Dory, Mr. Earl Gast and Mr. Gregory Lawless.
Also present at the meeting were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof.
Viola Onwuliri, the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, the
Supervising Minister of National Planning, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, and
the Nigerian Ambassador to US, Professor Adebowale Adefuye, among other
top government functionaries.