Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina has just taken to
his Twitter account to disclose what was said during the
meeting between Muhammadu Buhari and Barack
Obama .
In the first official encounter of the politicians, President
Obama characterized his Nigerian colleague as a “man of
integrity”.
Speaking further about the role of Nigeria on the African
continent, Obama was quoted as saying by Adesina:
“Wherever Nigeria goes, Africa goes. The continent’s destiny
is tied to Nigeria’s.”
The American president stressed the importance of keeping
Nigeria united, because a divided country can never
succeed.
“Turn the diversity of Nigeria to source of strength.”
Regarding the battle against Boko Haram insurgency, Obama
advised Buhari to combine military action with social and
economic programmes.
According to Sahara Reporters Obama expressed
confidence:
“President Buhari has a very clear agenda of defeating Boko
Haram and extremists of all sorts… and of rooting out the
corruption that has too often held back the economic growth
and prosperity of his country.”
Premium Times also reports with reference to Barack
Obama that the US will partner with Nigeria so that the
country “ends up being not only an anchor of prosperity and
stability in the eastern part of the continent, but can also be
an outstanding role model for developing countries around
the world”.
He also said that he would discuss with Buhari the most
effective ways of cooperation to end insurgency and how the
American side can help Nigeria.
He further pledged US commitment to cooperating with
Nigeria as long as the country “remains on course”.
See the extract from Obama’s speech as provided by The
Punch:
“It is a great pleasure to welcome President Buhari and his
delegation here in the White House for his first visit since the
historic election that took place. Nigeria is obviously one of
the most important countries in the world; one of the most
important countries in the African continent.
“Recently, we saw an election in which a peaceful transition
to a new government took place. Nevertheless, the people of
Nigeria understand that only through a peaceful political
process that change can take place.
“President Buhari came into office with reputation for
integrity and a very clear agenda: that is to make sure that
he brings safety, security and peace to his country. He is
very concerned about the spread and the violence that is
taking place there and the atrocities and has a very clear
agenda in defeating Boko Haram and extremists.
“I want to emphasise how much I appreciate President
Buhari’s work so far. I have seen him put together a team,
so we can do everything that we can to help him succeed
and help the people of Nigeria succeed.”
Obama also promised that his country would continue to
assist Nigeria in ensuring political stability in the country,
Africa and the world.
Apart from that, the American leader addressed members of
Buhari’s entourage, urging the five accompanying governors,
so as other officials, to assist President Buhari.
The Nigerian leader, on his part, thanked his colleague for
the invitation and said that it was partially diplomatic
pressure from the US and international community that
helped Nigeria conduct democratic elections.
***
UPDATE: Full script as provided by Premium Times:
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, it’s a great pleasure to welcome
President Buhari and his delegation here to the Oval Office
for his first visit since the historic election that took place.
Nigeria is obviously one of the important countries in the
world and one of the most important countries in the
African continent. Recently, we saw an election in which a
peaceful transition to a new government took place. And it
was an affirmation of Nigeria’s commitment to democracy, a
recognition that although Nigeria is a big country and a
diverse country with many different parts, nevertheless the
people of Nigeria understand that only through a peaceful
political process can change take place.
President Buhari comes into office with a reputation for
integrity and a very clear agenda, and that is to make sure
that he is bringing safety and security and peace to his
country.
He’s very concerned about the spread of Boko Haram and
the violence that’s taken place there, and the atrocities that
they’ve carried out, and has a very clear agenda in defeating
Boko Haram and extremists of all sorts inside of his country.
And he has a very clear agenda with respect to rooting out
the corruption that too often has held back the economic
growth and prosperity of his country.
On both these issues, we’re looking forward to hearing more
about his plans and how the United States can partner with
Nigeria so that Nigeria ends up being an anchor not only of
prosperity and stability in the eastern part of the continent,
but can also be an outstanding role model for developing
countries around the world.
And we very much look forward to talking about security
issues, how we can cooperate on counter-terrorism. We’re
looking forward to discussing how we can be helpful in
addressing some of the corruption issues that have held
Nigeria back, and unleashing the incredible talent of the
Nigerian people.
We all recognize that some of the best business people in
the world are from Nigeria, and they thrive as they travel to
other countries, but we want to make sure that they’re also
helping folks thrive in Nigeria.
We’re also going to have an opportunity to talk about some
of the other areas where Nigeria has taken leadership — in
public health issues, fighting tragedies like Ebola. Nigeria
has an outstanding track record working with us to eradicate
polio, and that gives us a framework and a template to
continue to work on public health issues throughout the
western part of Africa, as well as throughout the
subcontinent.
We’ll have a chance to talk about issues of climate change,
electrification. As many of you know, Power Africa is one of
our top priorities, making sure that we’re electrifying the
continent so that it can grow faster and more people have
access to the power that they need.
So we’ve got a busy agenda, but I want to emphasize how
much I appreciate President Buhari’s work so far. I’m
looking forward to seeing him put together his team so that
we can do everything that we can to help him succeed and
help the people of Nigeria succeed. Because if they’re
successful and doing well, that will have a ripple effect not
only in West Africa, but throughout the world.
So thank you very much.
PRESIDENT BUHARI: Nigeria will remain ever grateful to
President Obama and the United States for making Nigeria
to consolidate its gains on a democratic system. The visit of
the Secretary of State, when he visited Nigeria to see the
president and the whole government of Nigeria, see the
chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission for
Nigeria, and saw the operation was very clear and a positive
trend that saw us through for this credible election we had.
And the maintenance of pressure by the United States,
mainly, and Europe, to make sure that the elections were
free, fair and credible led us to where we are now. It would
have been almost impossible if the United States did not
maintain the pressure on the former Nigerian government,
but they would not accept anything less constitutional as far
as the processes of the election are concerned. We will ever
remain grateful to you because there are fundamental
objectives that are identify all of Nigeria’s people’s Congress
— security, economy, employment especially of youth, and
then fighting corruption.
We are extremely happy that the United States had made it
absolutely clear before the election that they are prepared
to help Nigeria in this aspect. And this is why I am here, and
I am very grateful for the invitation Mr. President extended
to me.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you so much.
***.
his Twitter account to disclose what was said during the
meeting between Muhammadu Buhari and Barack
Obama .
In the first official encounter of the politicians, President
Obama characterized his Nigerian colleague as a “man of
integrity”.
Speaking further about the role of Nigeria on the African
continent, Obama was quoted as saying by Adesina:
“Wherever Nigeria goes, Africa goes. The continent’s destiny
is tied to Nigeria’s.”
The American president stressed the importance of keeping
Nigeria united, because a divided country can never
succeed.
“Turn the diversity of Nigeria to source of strength.”
Regarding the battle against Boko Haram insurgency, Obama
advised Buhari to combine military action with social and
economic programmes.
According to Sahara Reporters Obama expressed
confidence:
“President Buhari has a very clear agenda of defeating Boko
Haram and extremists of all sorts… and of rooting out the
corruption that has too often held back the economic growth
and prosperity of his country.”
Premium Times also reports with reference to Barack
Obama that the US will partner with Nigeria so that the
country “ends up being not only an anchor of prosperity and
stability in the eastern part of the continent, but can also be
an outstanding role model for developing countries around
the world”.
He also said that he would discuss with Buhari the most
effective ways of cooperation to end insurgency and how the
American side can help Nigeria.
He further pledged US commitment to cooperating with
Nigeria as long as the country “remains on course”.
See the extract from Obama’s speech as provided by The
Punch:
“It is a great pleasure to welcome President Buhari and his
delegation here in the White House for his first visit since the
historic election that took place. Nigeria is obviously one of
the most important countries in the world; one of the most
important countries in the African continent.
“Recently, we saw an election in which a peaceful transition
to a new government took place. Nevertheless, the people of
Nigeria understand that only through a peaceful political
process that change can take place.
“President Buhari came into office with reputation for
integrity and a very clear agenda: that is to make sure that
he brings safety, security and peace to his country. He is
very concerned about the spread and the violence that is
taking place there and the atrocities and has a very clear
agenda in defeating Boko Haram and extremists.
“I want to emphasise how much I appreciate President
Buhari’s work so far. I have seen him put together a team,
so we can do everything that we can to help him succeed
and help the people of Nigeria succeed.”
Obama also promised that his country would continue to
assist Nigeria in ensuring political stability in the country,
Africa and the world.
Apart from that, the American leader addressed members of
Buhari’s entourage, urging the five accompanying governors,
so as other officials, to assist President Buhari.
The Nigerian leader, on his part, thanked his colleague for
the invitation and said that it was partially diplomatic
pressure from the US and international community that
helped Nigeria conduct democratic elections.
***
UPDATE: Full script as provided by Premium Times:
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, it’s a great pleasure to welcome
President Buhari and his delegation here to the Oval Office
for his first visit since the historic election that took place.
Nigeria is obviously one of the important countries in the
world and one of the most important countries in the
African continent. Recently, we saw an election in which a
peaceful transition to a new government took place. And it
was an affirmation of Nigeria’s commitment to democracy, a
recognition that although Nigeria is a big country and a
diverse country with many different parts, nevertheless the
people of Nigeria understand that only through a peaceful
political process can change take place.
President Buhari comes into office with a reputation for
integrity and a very clear agenda, and that is to make sure
that he is bringing safety and security and peace to his
country.
He’s very concerned about the spread of Boko Haram and
the violence that’s taken place there, and the atrocities that
they’ve carried out, and has a very clear agenda in defeating
Boko Haram and extremists of all sorts inside of his country.
And he has a very clear agenda with respect to rooting out
the corruption that too often has held back the economic
growth and prosperity of his country.
On both these issues, we’re looking forward to hearing more
about his plans and how the United States can partner with
Nigeria so that Nigeria ends up being an anchor not only of
prosperity and stability in the eastern part of the continent,
but can also be an outstanding role model for developing
countries around the world.
And we very much look forward to talking about security
issues, how we can cooperate on counter-terrorism. We’re
looking forward to discussing how we can be helpful in
addressing some of the corruption issues that have held
Nigeria back, and unleashing the incredible talent of the
Nigerian people.
We all recognize that some of the best business people in
the world are from Nigeria, and they thrive as they travel to
other countries, but we want to make sure that they’re also
helping folks thrive in Nigeria.
We’re also going to have an opportunity to talk about some
of the other areas where Nigeria has taken leadership — in
public health issues, fighting tragedies like Ebola. Nigeria
has an outstanding track record working with us to eradicate
polio, and that gives us a framework and a template to
continue to work on public health issues throughout the
western part of Africa, as well as throughout the
subcontinent.
We’ll have a chance to talk about issues of climate change,
electrification. As many of you know, Power Africa is one of
our top priorities, making sure that we’re electrifying the
continent so that it can grow faster and more people have
access to the power that they need.
So we’ve got a busy agenda, but I want to emphasize how
much I appreciate President Buhari’s work so far. I’m
looking forward to seeing him put together his team so that
we can do everything that we can to help him succeed and
help the people of Nigeria succeed. Because if they’re
successful and doing well, that will have a ripple effect not
only in West Africa, but throughout the world.
So thank you very much.
PRESIDENT BUHARI: Nigeria will remain ever grateful to
President Obama and the United States for making Nigeria
to consolidate its gains on a democratic system. The visit of
the Secretary of State, when he visited Nigeria to see the
president and the whole government of Nigeria, see the
chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission for
Nigeria, and saw the operation was very clear and a positive
trend that saw us through for this credible election we had.
And the maintenance of pressure by the United States,
mainly, and Europe, to make sure that the elections were
free, fair and credible led us to where we are now. It would
have been almost impossible if the United States did not
maintain the pressure on the former Nigerian government,
but they would not accept anything less constitutional as far
as the processes of the election are concerned. We will ever
remain grateful to you because there are fundamental
objectives that are identify all of Nigeria’s people’s Congress
— security, economy, employment especially of youth, and
then fighting corruption.
We are extremely happy that the United States had made it
absolutely clear before the election that they are prepared
to help Nigeria in this aspect. And this is why I am here, and
I am very grateful for the invitation Mr. President extended
to me.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you so much.
***.
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