No doubt the four-day official visit of President Muhammadu Buhari came
\noff so successfully on every count that the country, struggling to effect
\nmitigation from the wreckage the immediate past government and indeed all
\nother past governments made of it, stands to soon reap from that important
\nvisit. President Buhari’s visit not only resonated in its spectacular
\nsuccess but re-integrated the country to the comity of serious nations
\nwhere it had been cast as a pitiable outlaw via the humiliating conducts
\nof the immediate past government.<\/p>\n
For the six years the outgone government was blubbering so miserably from
\none policy mistake to the other, the country was taken as an unserious
\njoker in the comity of nations. From all practical indices the developed
\nworld saw the past government as a huge parody and spared nothing to pass
\nthat demeaning message. Nigerians were sorely embarrassed as a fidgety and
\ndense government stumbled from one mediocre pit fall to the other and
\ndragged the country down a disappointing maze. Nigerians watched in awe as
\nthe country became a regular butt of the ribaldry of the entire world who
\nmissed no opportunity to tell us in cryptic and unfamiliar non-diplomatic
\nterms that we had a misfit as a government.<\/p>\n
These were very huge liabilities that vitiated the capacity of Nigeria not
\nonly to fulfill its roles to her citizens but also to play a notable role
\neven in the African continent. While these lasted, Nigeria’s image
\nplummeted to such abysmally low level that negatively robbed off on its
\ncitizenry. Its capacity to carry out any meaningful activity in the
\ninternational orbit waned so considerably such that nations ran from doing
\neven perfunctory businesses with Nigeria on account of the low grade
\nleadership that drove it.<\/p>\n
These were the huge garbages President Buhari inherited as he zoomed into
\npower on the wings of a fervent pan-national mandate in May. As President
\nObama welcomed President Buhari with that hilarious acclamation thus; ‘\u00e2\u20ac\u0153
\nPresident Buhari came into office with reputation for integrity and a very
\nclear agenda, that is, to make sure that he has been bringing safety,
\nsecurity and peace to his country”, it was obvious that the heads of
\nNigerians in every part of the globe swirled with pride and nostalgia for
\nthe good old days when the country was reckoned with in the comity of
\nnations. It was certain that this rare testimonial had been given by the
\nUS of very few African leaders in world history and marks the
\nre-admittance of Nigeria to the hallowed orbit of serious nations where it
\nhad been missing for a very long time.<\/p>\n
For his visit, the American government rolled out the red carpet and
\nspared nothing to underscore the importance of that visit. This was a rare
\nprivilege reserved for only few leaders in the conduct of American affairs
\nand this was not lost on either the Americans or the Nigerians that
\nwatched with keen interest. The field was Buhari’s to prance and he did
\nthat so majestically, so magisterially, so professionally and so
\nfamiliarly, with assured gait to the delight of Nigerians. For each
\nsession he undertook, he spoke with measures of traditional seriousness
\nand deep introspection that assures. These have been critical nerves that
\nhad been lacking in the conduct of the country’s leadership for a very
\nlong time. As this show of respect lasted, the departed pride of Nigerians
\nand their lost faith in officialdom returned and the promises of a newer,
\nfresher and well-burnished relationship between Africa’s biggest nation
\nand the world’s biggest economy and most powerful nation unfurled a
\nspecter of positive expectations for the citizens of a nation humbled by
\ninept and ethically rusty governments. For Nigerians, the pointers of a
\nmore stable, more assured and more secured polity became reified as we
\neagerly followed every of his measured engagements.<\/p>\n
President Buhari was to get fully engrossed in his very busy itinerary
\nthat included:\u00a0 a breakfast meeting with the US Vice President Joe Biden,
\na US Government lunch on power to be hosted by the Secretary of State John
\nKerrry, a bilateral meeting with Deputy Secretary of State (Defence),
\nRobert O. Work, a meeting with the United States Secretary of Commerce,
\nPenny Pritzker, an audience with ECOWAS Ambassadors and a meeting on
\ntackling corruption in Nigeria with the US Attorney General, Lorreta
\nLynch.<\/p>\n
Also, President Buhari had a meeting with the Secretary of Treasury, Jack
\nLew, met with potential investors in Agriculture, a meeting with the
\nChamber of Commerce, an interactive dinner by the US Chamber of Commerce
\nand the Corporate Council for Africa, a meeting with the President of the
\nWorld Bank, as well as the representative of the Bill Gates Foundation. He
\nalso met with the Nigerian community in the United States.
\nPresident Buhari was hosted by the US Department of State at a function to
\nbe attended by the Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA),
\nand the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. President Buhari even had the
\nhonor of receiving the\u00a0 Class of 1980 of the prestigious US War College of
\nwhich he was a participant.
\nAs his tour of duty came to an end, President Buhari played Nigeria back
\nto the decent club of serious nations where it had long been rusticated.
\nHe secured so much political, military, economic and social mileage for a
\ncountry that has long neighed for responsible government but got a horde
\nof irresponsible and rouge leadership. These include; US commitment to
\nassist the country recover stolen funds cruelly plundered by past
\ngovernment officials and key into Buhari’s pet anti-corruption fight,
\ncommitment to the Nigerian fight against insurgency, commitment to invest
\nin agriculture, wider bilateral relationship and investment in industry,
\ncommerce and trade and fostering deeper diplomatic relationship between
\nthe two countries. The President got resounding approval for his work so
\nfar in arresting the drift of a nation and place it firmly on the paths of
\nrecovery. Indeed President Obama minced no words to state that President
\nBuhari has greatly impressed with his performance so far in office and has
\na clear agenda for taking the country far from the very canvass where it
\nwas dumped by previous regimes.<\/p>\n
There is little doubt that Nigeria and Nigerians will savour the fruits of
\nthis well delivered diplomatic feat as we warm up to the realities and
\npromises of the Change we hungrily neighed for, worked fervently for and
\ngot as the locusts ravaged this country.<\/p>\n
Peter Claver Oparah
\nIkeja, Lagos.<\/p>\n