President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s foreign trips since assuming office are<\/p>\n
critical to the implementation of his administration key policies of
\nenhancing security, jump-starting the economy, creating jobs and fighting
\ncorruption, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,
\nhas said.<\/p>\n
In a statement issued on Friday in Abuja, the Minister said all the trips
\nhave been anything but frivolous, and that they have started yielding
\nfruits in terms of turning the tide in the fight against the insurgents
\nwho have been most active in the North-east, attracting investments in the
\nrange of billions of dollars, and securing global support for the
\nadministration\u2019s anti-corruption fight.<\/p>\n
\u201dNigerians, whether in the ruling or the opposition parties, have a right
\nto ask questions about the activities of their President, but it is
\nabsolutely important that they do so from an informed, rather than
\npartisan or sensational, standpoint,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Minister explained that most of the President\u2019s trips \u2013 to Nigeria\u2019s
\nneighbouring countries of Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, as well as to
\nGermany, the US, France and the UN \u2013 were devoted to rallying regional and
\nglobal support for the war against terrorism<\/p>\n
\u201dHe was in Germany at the invitation of the G7 to solicit support from the
\nIndustrialized Nations for the war against terrorism. No one who has
\nwitnessed the killings and maiming in the past seven years by Boko Haram
\nwill call such trips frivolous. After all, the security and welfare of the
\ncitizens are the reason for the existence of any government.<\/p>\n
\u201dThe President\u2019s visit to South Africa was to attend the regular summit of
\nthe African Union; the trip to Ghana was aimed at fostering better
\nrelations with a brotherly country; the trip to India was for the
\nIndia-Africa summit that provided the opportunity to explore ways of
\nenhancing Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) from Indian investors, while
\nthe trip to Iran was to attend the forum of Gas Exporting Countries, a
\nveritable platform for discussing how to better harness Nigeria\u2019s abundant
\ngas resources for industrial\/domestic consumption
\nand export, at a time of dwindling oil prices.<\/p>\n
\u201dThe President also travelled to Malta to attend the Commonwealth Heads of
\nGovernment Meeting, from where he travelled to Paris for the UN Conference
\non Climate Change. The President\u2019s second trip to South Africa since
\nassuming office is for the China-Africa forum. On the few
\noccasions that the President has embarked on a State Visit, he has tied
\nthat to an agenda that will further the quest for support for the war
\nagainst terror and the efforts to enhance FDIs, thus stimulating economic
\ngrowth and creating jobs,\u201dthe Minister said.<\/p>\n
He said that apart from rallying global support for the country\u2019s wars on
\nterror and graft or seeking foreign investments, it is important that
\nNigeria leverages President Buhari\u2019s brand, a high integrity quotient and
\nan embodiment of committed and dedicated leadership, to further Nigeria\u2019s
\nrelevance and visibility on the global stage.<\/p>\n
\u201dPresident Buhari is well respected on the global stage for his high
\nintegrity, his transparency, his patriotism and his purposeful leadership.
\nIt is important to leverage this respect in such a way that Nigeria can
\nbecome a major player, either in the realms of economy or global
\ndiplomacy,\u201d the Minister said.<\/p>\n
He said the President had embarked on the trips under a very stringent
\nbudget, cutting his delegations to numbers far below what his
\npredecessors used to travel with, while even the trimmed entourage had
\nreceived reduced allowances on the occasions that the host governments
\nhave provided accommodation and feeding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s foreign trips since assuming office are critical to the implementation of his administration key policies of enhancing security, jump-starting the economy, creating jobs and fighting corruption, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n