Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to the Nigerian capital of Abuja following an extended stay in London to treat an undisclosed illness. He's been away since May 7, and some Nigerians were beginning to demand Buhari return to work or step down from office. His supporters lined up to greet him along the road leading away from the airport, and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who has been acting president, was on hand at the airport for Buhari's return. Buhari first left Nigeria in January to receive treatment in Britain,...
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• Nigerians Demand Absent President 'Resume or Resign' VOA Africa (3 days ago) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has spent more time outside of the country than in it... </s> ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari returned home on Saturday from three months of medical leave in Britain where he received treatment for an unspecified ailment.

FILE PHOTO - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari speaks during German President Joachim Gauck's visit to the State House in Abuja, Nigeria February 11, 2016. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo

Buhari’s leave, which began on May 7 and was his second this year, left many in Nigeria questioning whether he was well enough to run the country. The refusal of officials to disclose the nature of the ailment has led to speculation about the illness.

Dressed in a dark kaftan and Muslim prayer hat, the 74-year-old Buhari walked unaided from his plane - holding rails on either side of him - after it landed at the international airport in the capital, Abuja.

He was greeted by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who has acted as interim leader, and was accorded a military salute. He made no statement and immediately traveled to the presidential villa.

Buhari, who took office in May 2015, handed over power to Osinbajo in his absence to allay concerns of a void at the helm of Africa’s biggest economy.

“President Buhari is expected to speak to Nigerians in a broadcast by 7 a.m (0600 GMT) on Monday, Aug. 21,” his spokesman, Femi Adesina, said in a statement on Saturday.

Buhari’s absence sparked numerous protests, including demands that Buhari should resign, as well as calls for more transparency about the president’s condition.

The All Progressives Congress (APC), the party of president and his deputy, praised the vice president’s contribution.

In a statement, it said Osinbajo had delivered “competent leadership in the absence of President Buhari and especially commends him for his effort to unite the country and drive the recovery of the national economy”.

Osinbajo’s actions included overseeing the creation of a market-determined foreign exchange window that helped push share prices to near three-year highs.

He also announced the legalizing of illicit refineries in the Niger Delta, the OPEC member’s restive southern oil hub.

The move calmed tensions and prompted regional leaders to abandon a threat to pull out of talks with the government aimed at maintaining the peace that has this year halted attacks on energy facilities which in 2016 cut oil production by more than a third.

The medical leave was Buhari’s second break for treatment in Britain this year after a spell of two months from January.

Buhari reduced his working day to a few hours after returning on March 10 to Nigeria from his first stint of medical leave, diplomats and government sources said.

Little was seen of Buhari during his second stint in London. The first photograph of him was released on July 23, nearly 80 days after he left.

The frequency of images released increased in the last few weeks with Buhari appearing in photographs with visiting Nigerian state governors, the archbishop of Canterbury and the OPEC secretary general. </s> Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has returned home after three months of medical leave in the UK.

Officials refused to disclose what he was being treated for.

It was the president’s second spell of medical leave this year – leading many Nigerians to question whether he was well enough to run the country.

President Buhari, 74, walked unaided from the plane after landing in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

He was greeted by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who has acted as interim leader, and was accorded a military salute.

He made no statement and immediately travelled to the presidential villa.

President Buhari, who took office in May 2015, handed over power to Vice President Osinbajo to allay concerns of a void at the helm of Africa’s biggest economy.

His absence sparked numerous protests, including demands that he should resign, as well as calls for more transparency about the president’s condition.

There has been speculation about his health since June 2016, when he first went to London for treatment of what his aides said was a persistent ear infection.

His spokesman said he will address Nigerians on Monday morning. </s> ABUJA, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will return on Saturday from medical leave in Britain where he has been since May 7, a presidential spokesman said.

The presidency has not disclosed the precise nature of the 74-year-old's ailment, which has led to speculation in Nigerian media and on social media about his illness and whether he will seek a second term by contesting the 2019 election.

Buhari, who took office in May 2015, handed over power to his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, in his absence to allay concerns of a void at the helm of Africa's biggest economy.

"President Muhammadu Buhari returns to the country later today, after receiving medical attention in London," the president's spokesman Femi Adesina said in a statement on Saturday.

"President Buhari is expected to speak to Nigerians in a broadcast by 7 a.m (0600 GMT) on Monday, August 21," he said.

It was his second break for medical leave in Britain this year after a first that began in January and lasted nearly two months.

Buhari reduced his working day to a few hours after returning to Nigeria from his first stint of medical leave on March 10, diplomats and government sources said. (Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Janet Lawrence) </s> Buhari to Return to Nigeria From Medical Leave in Britain

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will return Saturday from medical leave in Britain where he has been since May 7, a presidential spokesman said. The presidency has not disclosed the precise nature of the 74-year-old's ailment, which has led to speculation in Nigerian media and on social media about his illness and whether he will seek a second term by contesting the 2019 election. Buhari, who took office in May 2015, handed over power to his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, in his absence to allay concerns of a void at the helm...
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• Nigerians Demand Absent President 'Resume or Resign' VOA Africa (3 days ago) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has spent more time outside of the country than in it... </s> “In terms of corruption, Nigeria has a reputation for very massive corruption. The President (Buhari) has been able to cut that down very substantially”
• Nigeria, US team up to repatriate $500m looted funds, says Buhari

The United States President, Donald Trump, on Monday described the killing of Christians in Nigeria as a serious problem, saying the US would not accept it.

Trump also condemned the burning of churches and urged the Federal Government to ensure security in the affected communities.

He said the government of the US and that of Nigeria would work hard to resolve the problem.

Trump said this shortly before he entered into a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Oval Office in the White House, Washington DC.

“We have met before, we have a great relationship. I look forward to our discussion today again, especially as it relates to terrorism. Terrorism all over the world is a hotbed and we are going to be stopping it.

“We have had very serious problems with Christians who are being murdered in Nigeria; We are going to be working on that problem very, very hard because we cannot allow that to happen,” he said.

Trump who said his government had decimated the ISIS over the last 12 months, said Boko Haram had been terrible.

He asked Buhari how he was handling the issue of the abducted Chibok and Dapchi girls.

Buhari said his administration had not given up on the remaining Dapchi girl and the Chibok girls.

“The Chibok girls kidnap was before we came; we rescued some of them. The Dapchi girls were 106, we rescued 100, four died, and one is still in captivity. We are very grateful to the United Nations Organisation that is acting as a go-between and is helping out. We have not given up on the last Dapchi girl,” he said.

The President insisted that Libya crisis and Muammar Ghaddafi were responsible for herdsmen killings.

He said, “The problem of cattle herders is a very long historical problem. Before now, Nigerian herders were known to carry sticks and machetes and cut follies for their animals, but these ones are carrying AK-47.

“So I don’t think we should underrate Libya. During the 43 years of Gaddafi, people were recruited from Sahel and trained to shoot and kill. With the demise of Ghaddafi, they (recruited persons) moved from their country and their region with their training and their weapons and that is what aggravated the situation.

“We are doing our best to stop the cross border movement, but it will take time.

“We are happy with the effort of the United States to see the end of ISIS. This has helped us a lot because the Boko Haram in Nigeria had one time made a statement that they belong to ISIS.

“Now that ISIS is virtually gone, we are very happy. We are stabilising the situation in Nigeria.”

Later, at a joint press conference with Trump after a meeting of the two leaders at the White House, Buhari said the US and Nigeria were collaborating to repatriate over $500m stolen from Nigeria.

He said the funds were stashed away in banks across the world.

He said, “Our two governments have put the machinery in place for our respective Attorneys-General to collaborate in ensuring the return to Nigeria of over $500m looted funds stashed away in banks around the world.

“In this connection, we congratulate the US government on launching a Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative which was spearheaded by the US Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering.

“We hope that we could continue to count on the US support in this area.”

Buhari said his team and that of Trump discussed issues relating to security, trade, governance, human rights and humanitarian crises.

He said they congratulated the leaders of North and South Korea on their historic summit and the positive commitment they have made towards the ‘de-nuclearisation’ of the Korean peninsula.

He said Trump deserved credit for his role in transforming “so dramatically the course of events in that region.”

He said, “We also recognised the strong US support in our fight against terrorism and appreciated very much the US’ agreement to sell 12 Super Tucano A-29 war planes and weapons to Nigeria to fight terrorism.

“We are even more grateful for the physical presence of the United States military who are training in our institutions.

“We have the firsthand experience of the commitment of the United States to get rid of terrorism across the world and we are very grateful for it.

“To contain insurgency in Nigeria, the Federal Government has adopted a multi-sectoral approach involving relevant government agencies to address the socio-economic and political dimensions, while the Armed Forces of Nigeria would assist the civil authority to provide security and maintain law and order.

“As part of efforts to address emerging cases of insurgency in the country, the Nigerian Military adopted a non-kinetic counter-terrorism/counter-insurgency approach code-named, Operation Safe Corridor, to deradicalise, re-habilitate, and re-integrate willingly surrendered Boko Haram members into the society.

“This programme is currently embarking on a number of projects including skill acquisition centres and integrated farms, comprising poultry, fish pond and greenhouse farming.

“A number of international partners, including the International Organisation for Migration, have contributed to the success of Operation Safe Corridor. We indicated that we would appreciate whatever support we could also get from the US.

“We expressed gratitude for the US support in the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the North-East of Nigeria, as well as humanitarian assistance to the Internally Displaced Persons, through agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development and other partners.

“The USA has been to date the biggest contributor to the humanitarian response and last year gave approximately $500m in cash and in-kind contributions through the United Nations and other inter-governmental organisations.

“We are doing all we can to secure the release of the remaining abducted schoolgirls from Dapchi and Chibok. In this context, we will continue to welcome the US collaboration in intelligence gathering, hostage negotiations and information-sharing.”

On herdsmen and farmers’ clashes, Buhari said the Federal Government was taking necessary steps to promote peaceful co-existence by focusing on boosting security and enforcing legislation that would guarantee herders and farmers access to land.

“We are committed to ensuring that all documented cases of human rights abuses are investigated and those responsible for violations held accountable for their actions,” he added.

On trade and investment, Buhari said his government’s aim was to diversify the country’s economy by focusing on agriculture and food security; power and infrastructure.

“We have cut the importation of rice by about 90 per cent, thereby saving a significant amount of money. We welcome increased US investment in the Nigerian economy, especially in the non-oil sector.

“Economic relations between Nigeria and the United States are anchored on three major instruments namely: the Bi-National Commission, Trade and Investment Framework Agreement and the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act.

“The Bi-National Commission comprising bilateral political, economic, developmental and humanitarian partnership. It is a basic economic framework for engagement between our two countries.

“Nigeria’s trade volume with the United States stood at $6.07bn according to 2016 statistics and comprised $4.176 bn worth of Nigerian exports to the US and $1.894bn US exports to Nigeria. We urge greater effort to increase these figures substantially,” he said.

Trump said corruption in Nigeria was massive.

He, however, acknowledged that Buhari was cutting down on the menace.

Trump said he discussed the need to repatriate illicit funds back to Nigeria, cut down on funding for terrorism and reduce illegal immigration from Nigeria to the US.

“In terms of corruption, Nigeria has a reputation for very massive corruption. The President has been able to cut that down very substantially. We talked about it; he is working on it and they have made a lot of progress and I think they will continue to make a lot of progress.

“We have a lot of people in this country that invest in Nigeria. So cutting down that corruption element is very important and the President will be able to do that,” he said.

The US President also confirmed the sale of 12 fighter aircraft to Nigeria.

He said, “We are helping Nigeria by facilitating intelligence cooperation and providing training and military equipment to Nigerian forces. For example, we recently sold 12 US 829 Super Catarna war aircraft. This new aircraft will improve Nigeria ability to target terrorists and protect civilians.

“Also, we are deeply concerned by religious violence in Nigeria, including the burning of churches and killing and persecution of Christians. It’s a horrible story. We encourage Nigeria; the federal, state and local leaders; to do everything to secure the affected communities and protect civilians, including Muslims and Christians. The United States is committed to working alongside Nigeria as we seek a future of strength, prosperity and peace for both of our countries.”

Commercial activities were paralysed on Monday in Benue State as a large number of residents commenced the seven-day praying and fasting declared by the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria.

The state chairman of CAN, Rev. Akpen Leva, expressed satisfaction with the level of compliance, saying the association had ordered a sit-at-home protest for all private organisations, including artisans, market women, commercial drivers and others, except civil servants, as the seven-day praying and fasting commenced on Monday.

Reports across the state showed that Gboko, Otukpo, Katsina Ala and other communities in the state observed the sit-at-home order.

“I am happy that the sit-at-home order we gave today (Monday) as we commence the seven days praying and fasting was effective.”

The cleric said that the organisation excluded civil servants because CAN had no power to order civil servants to stay at home.

“The order did not affect civil servants,” he added.

However, most of the state offices were shut as schools, shops and markets were closed down. While some banks opened for customers, others carried out skeletal services.

One of our correspondents who visited some areas in the capital city of Makurdi between 7am and 11am reported that the town was deserted as commercial vehicles abandoned roads, leaving a few commercial motorcycles operators to ply roads.

The empty offices forced Governor Samuel Ortom to issue a statement that there was no public holiday in the state.

The statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Terver Akase, read in part, “The praying and fasting jointly organised by the state government and CAN does not affect work and markets. Public and civil servants should return to work immediately.”

In a related development, the Catholic Laity Council of Nigeria has said the killing of two reverend fathers in Benue State by suspected Fulani herdsmen is a deliberate assault on the Christian faith and an open invitation to a religious war.

The organisation also said the killing of the two priests and other worshipers during morning mass had confirmed its fears that the herdsmen “wreaking havoc in Benue and other states of Nigeria” were terrorists.

Rev. Fr. Joseph Gor and Rev. Fr. Felix Tyolaha and several other parishioners of the St. Ignatius Catholic Church, Ukpor-Mbalom, in the Gwer Local Government Area of Benue State, were killed on April 24, 2018 by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

The CLCN in a statement by its President, Thomas Folu Adekoya; and Secretary-General, Henry Yunkwap, said it supported the position of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria on the current state of the nation with particular reference to “the gruesome and mindless murdering of two Catholic priests with some of their parishioners.”

The statement read in part, “The killing of any Nigerian in circumstance such as this is bad enough, but the killing of two reverend fathers in one fell swoop inside a church during Mass is most sacrilegious, provocative, a deliberate assault on the Christian Faith and an open invitation to a religious war from which we pray merciful God to deliver Nigeria.

“While we call on all Catholic faithful and Christians generally to remain prayerful and steadfast in the face of these provocations for the sake of peace in our country, we also call on the Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari to take every step to ensure that Nigeria and Nigerians are protected from foreign invaders who defile our places of worship and lay their murderous hands on the Lord’s anointed.

“We demand that the killers of Rev Fr. Joseph Gor and Rev. Fr. Felix Tyolaha and the other worshipers be fished out without delay and be made to pay for their heinous crime. We also demand that everything possible be done to ensure that this will be the last of this kind of killing in Nigeria so that Nigerians of all creeds will enjoy the secularity enshrined in our country’s constitution.”

Copyright PUNCH.

 All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH. </s> The Nigerian leader spent three months in the UK seeking treatment for an unspecified illness....
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Tokunbo Adedoja in Washington, Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja, Eromosele Abiodun and Obinna Chima in Lagos

United States President Donald Trump played host to President Muhammadu Buhari at the White House Monday, telling the Nigerian president that the persistent wanton killings of Christians in Nigeria was a serious problem, which must not be allowed to continue.

Buhari, who arrived Washington on Sunday for a four-day visit to the U.S., was received by Trump at midday at the White House and ushered into the Oval Office, where both leaders exchanged pleasantries before proceeding to a closed-door meeting for talks bordering on the war against global terrorism and trade.

Buhari was the first leader from sub-Saharan Africa to visit Trump when he arrived at the White House. As they opened discussions in the Oval Office, Trump said it was important to meet face-to-face, “especially on terrorism and terrorism-related” issues.

“We have a very big trade deal we’re working on for military equipment, helicopters and the like,” Trump added.

Trump also told Buhari that the protracted killings of Christians in the country was unacceptable and required working very hard to put paid to it, adding that having met Buhari before, a great relationship was being developed.

“We had met before, developing great relationship. We look forward to our discussions today (yesterday). They are very important but again, especially as it relates to terrorism. That is terrorism here and terrorism all over the world.

“It’s a hot bird and we are going to be stopping them. Also, we have had a very serious problem with Christians who are being murdered, killed in Nigeria. We are going to be working on that problem, and working on that problem very, very hard because we can’t allow that to happen. Mr. President thank you for being here, thank you,” Trump said while receiving Buhari.

Responding, Buhari thanked the U.S. President for inviting him. He also thanked him for agreeing to sell 12 Tucano aircraft to Nigeria and expressed further appreciation to Trump for the physical involvement of the U.S. military in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria through training of Nigerian forces.

Buhari blamed the heinous killings being perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen on the movement of militants from Libya following the death of its former leader, Muammar Gaddafi, saying the militants had proficient skills in shooting and killing.

He said whereas herdsmen in Nigeria were hitherto known for carrying only sticks, and machetes to cut grass for their herds, they are now armed with AK47 rifles, explaining that efforts were being made to stop cross-border movement and check the proliferation of arms in the West African sub-region.

Furthermore, he said the effective operations of the U.S., which he noted had largely incapacitated ISIS, had also helped to weaken Boko Haram which had pledged its loyalty to ISIS.

“Thank you Mr. President for inviting me. It’s a great honour. I am very grateful for it. Certainly, security is the main issue. We are very grateful to the United States for agreeing to give us the aircraft we asked for and the spare parts.

“We are even more grateful for the physical presence of the United States military instructors that go into our institutions and train them, and go to the warfront in the North-east to see how they are performing as a result of the training given to them.

“The commitment of the United States to get rid of terrorism across the world, we have had first-hand experience of that and we are very grateful for it.

“The problem of the cattle rearers and herders in Nigeria is a very long historical thing. Nigerian herdsmen never carried anything more than a stick and occasionally, a machete to cut down foliage and give it to their animals.

“These ones are carrying AK47 (rifles). So, I don’t think people should underrate what happened in Libya. In the 43 years of Gadaffi, people were recruited from the Sahel. They were thought nothing other than shooting and killing.

“With the demise of Gadaffi, they moved to their countries and their regions and they carried away with them the only experience they had and their training using weapons. And that is what is aggravating the situation.

“We are doing our best to ensure that we stop cross-border movement and so on and to ensure that the proliferation of small arms in the region is checked.

“But it is going to take time, and the action by the United States in trying to see the end of ISIS has helped us a lot because Boko Haram in Nigeria at one time made a statement that they were loyal to ISIS.

“And now that ISIS has virtually gone with the help of the United States, we are very grateful for that and we are sure that we are stabilising the situation of security in Nigeria,” Buhari submitted.

Trump, who echoed Buhari that ISIS had been decimated, noted that the story had not been the same with Boko Haram which he said had been terrible, as he proceeded to ask Buhari what he was doing about the Chibok and Dapchi girls who are still in captivity.

“We have very much decimated ISIS. Much has taken place over the last 12 months but Boko Haram has been terrible and how did you do with the young women that were kidnapped? How was that going?” Trump asked Buhari.

Responding, the Nigerian president said the kidnap of the Chibok girls took place before his administration but added that about 130 had been brought back.

Buhari also said of the 105 Dapchi girls who were kidnapped last February, 100 of them had been released, four of them died, while one was still in captivity.

Thanking the United Nations (UN) for its roles in the release of the kidnapped girls, Buhari said efforts were still being made to secure the release of the remaining girls in captivity.

“The Chibok girls kidnap was before we came in 2014. We have only a number of them, we recovered about 130 of them. But the Dapchi ones, they were 105 that were kidnapped. We got 100 back, four died, one is still held in captivity and we are very grateful to the United Nations that is acting in between us and the kidnappers and we haven’t given up.

“We are trying to get everybody back to join their families and their schools,” Buhari said.

In his final response, Trump said: “A terrible problem. Mr. President, thank you very much.”

After the closed-door meeting between the Nigerian and U.S. delegation, Trump and Buhari held a joint press briefing at the Rose Garden of the White House, where the American president said he was honoured to host Buhari in the White House, saying Nigeria is the largest democracy in Africa.

Trump noted that he had conveyed to Buhari during their discussions that the U.S. “deeply values and appreciates Nigeria’s role as a strong democratic leader in the region”.

He added: “The United States is working to expand trade and commercial ties with African nations, including Nigeria, to create jobs and wealth in all of our countries.

“We hope to be the economic partner of choice for nations across the continent and all around the world, and I hope you see what is happening all around the world with respect to trade and the United States – we are being respected again.

“I hope all African countries and countries throughout the world that we also will be supporting you and that they would likewise support us in our bid along with Mexico and Canada for the 2026 World Cup. We will be watching very closely and any help they can give us in that bid, we will appreciate it.

“I am pleased that Nigeria is one of our largest trading partners in the region, and we look forward to growing our trade based on the principle of fairness and reciprocity.

“But we give Nigeria well over $1 billion in aid every year and we have already started talking with the president about taking down the trade barriers, very substantial barriers in the United States trading with Nigeria, so we think that we are owed that.

“President Buhari is also taking serious steps to fight corruption and improve the Nigerian business climate and most of all to me is ripping down those trade barriers.”

According to the U.S. president, the elimination of trade barriers would make it easier for Nigerian and U.S companies to invest, adding that American companies would do so substantially once a level playing field is created.

“These measures will make it easier for Nigeria and U.S. companies to invest and we will be investing substantially if they can create a level playing field.

“I also want to thank President Buhari in the partnership and leadership in the fight against terrorism – he has been a real leader. Nigeria was one of the first countries to join the coalition to defeat the Islamic State (ISIS) and Nigerian forces are currently leading the regional effort against ISIS in West Africa and doing very well as we have.

“Nigeria is also leading the effort in the fight against Boko Haram, another ruthless jihadist terrorist group – you have been reading about them, they kidnapped the young girls and young women, many of whom we have never seen again.

“This summer, it was my honour to meet with two brave young women, Joy Bishara and Ledia Pogu, who were kidnapped by Boko Haram in April 2014 in a secondary school in Nigeria. I was deeply moved by their stories of courage, resilience and survival.

“I told the two girls my administration is committed to combating the scourge of kidnapping and human trafficking and smuggling. In the world today, there are more human traffickers and slavery than at any time in human history.

“We are helping Nigeria by facilitating training and providing military equipment to the Nigerian forces. For example, we recently sold Nigeria 12 A29 Super Tucano aircraft in the first ever sale of American military equipment to Nigeria.

“We are deeply concerned by the religious violence in Nigeria, especially the burning of churches, the killing and persecution of Christians – it is a horrible story.

“We encourage Nigeria, the federal, state and local leaders to do everything in their power to immediately secure the affected communities and the innocent civilians of all, including Muslims and Christians,” Trump added.

While thanking Buhari for the visit, he described Nigeria as a valued partner, stressing that he looked forward to deepening Nigeria-U.S. cooperation and forging an even closer partnership.

The U.S., Trump added, was committed to working with Nigeria as it seeks a future of strength, prosperity and peace for both countries.

In his response, Buhari pointed out that both countries share a long history of cordial relations, which encompasses political, economic, military, social and cultural cooperation.

Both countries, Buhari added, maintain a strategic partnership for peace and security, conflict resolution as well as the global fight against terrorism.

“We also share similar features as secular federal states, a similar democratic model of governance, and are committed to the universal value of fundamental human rights and freedom, free enterprise, social justice and the rule of law.”

Buhari disclosed that the two delegations, during their interaction, discussed security, trade, governance, human rights and the humanitarian crisis in the North-east.

“President Trump, his team, myself and the Nigerian team discussed issues relating to security, trade, governance, human rights and the humanitarian crisis.

“We congratulated the leaders of North and South Korea on their historic summit and we applaud them for the positive commitment they have made for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. President Trump deserves the credit for the state-manly role he played in transforming so dramatically the courses of events in that region.

“We also congratulated the U.S. for the important role it played in the defeat of the Islamic State, although some of their remnants have found their way to the Sahel region,” Buhari said.

Nigeria, Buhari stressed, recognised the strong role the U.S. is playing in the country’s (Nigeria) fight against terrorism and the agreement to sell 12 A29 Tucano aircraft to Nigeria to effectively fight terrorism.

To defeat terrorism in Nigeria, he said the federal government has adopted a multi-sectoral approach involving the relevant government agencies in addressing the social and political dimensions, while the Armed Forces of Nigeria assist the civil authority to provide security and maintain law and order.

“As part of efforts to address emerging cases of insurgency in the country, the Nigerian military adopted a non-kinetic counter terrorism/counter insurgency approach code-named ‘Operation Safe Corridor’, to de-radicalise, rehabilitate, and reintegrate willingly surrendered Boko-Haram members into the larger society.

“This programme is currently embarking on a number of projects including skills acquisition centres and integrated farms, comprising poultry, fish pond and greenhouse farming, among others. A number of international partners, including the International Organisation for Migration have contributed to the success of Operation Safe Corridor. We indicated that we would appreciate whatever support we could also get from the U.S,” he said.

He disclosed that the U.S. to date has been the biggest contributor to the humanitarian response, “and last year gave $500 million in cash and kind through the United Nations and other inter-governmental-organisations”.

He said his government was doing what it could to secure the release of the remaining abducted schoolgirls from Dapchi and Chibok.

“In this context we welcome the support of the U.S. in intelligence gathering, hostage negotiation and information sharing. The government is doing its best to promote the peaceful coexistence of herdsmen and farmers by enforcing security and legislation to guarantee herders and farmers access to land.”

Buhari also hailed the Trump administration for its laudable decision to launch a Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative to assist in achieving that aim and implored the U.S. to sustain its cooperation with Nigeria to effectively achieve this objective.

“We thanked the U.S. government very much for the cooperation we have received in our effort to recover stolen funds. Our two governments have put the machinery in place for their respective Attorneys-General to collaborate in ensuring the return to Nigeria of $500 million looted funds siphoned away in banks around the world.

“In this connection, we congratulated the U.S. government on the launch of the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative which was spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering. We hope that we could continue to count on U.S. support in this area,” he said.

On the economy, Buhari congratulated ​both Trump and his government on what he described “as the impressive performance of the US economy under their watch”, disclosing that Nigeria’s focus was on diversifying its economy by focusing on agriculture and food security as well as power and infrastructure.

The Nigerian president who also said 2016 statistics showed that Nigeria’s trade volume with the U.S. stood at $6.07 billion, observed that the figure comprised $4.176 billion worth of Nigerian exports to the U.S. and $1.894 billion U.S. exports to Nigeria.

He said both presidents sought greater efforts to increase these figures substantially.

Buhari added: “We have cut the importation of rice by about 90 per cent, thereby saving a significant amount of money. We very much welcome increased U.S. investment in the Nigerian economy, especially in the non-oil sector.

“Economic relations between Nigeria and the United States are anchored on three major instruments, namely: the Bi-National Commission (BNC), Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) and the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

“The Bi-National Commission in particular, comprising bilateral political, economic, developmental and humanitarian partnership, is a basic economic framework for engagement between our two countries.”

On governance and human rights, Buhari said the government of Nigeria remained committed to the principles of human rights, promotion and protection of people’s freedom, even in the fight against terror, adding: “We commit to ensure that all documented cases of human rights abuses are investigated and those responsible for violations held accountable for their actions.”

After reading their prepared speeches, both leaders took questions from the press, during which Trump described Nigeria as an amazing country that he would like to visit.

“I would like to visit Nigeria, it is an amazing country, and in certain ways, I hear from the standpoint of the beauty of a country, there is no country more beautiful,” Trump said.

Buhari also disclosed that both Nigeria and the U.S. had put the machinery in place for the repatriation of $500 million stolen funds to the country.

On corruption and efforts by the Nigerian government to secure the U.S.’ assistance in the repatriation of looted funds, Trump acknowledged that Nigeria has a reputation for massive corruption, but added that the U.S. will continue to offer its support for Nigeria to proffer a lasting solution to the menace.

He also said that his Nigerian counterpart had done a lot to combat corruption significantly in the country.

“In terms of corruption, Nigeria has a reputation for very massive corruption, but I also know that the president has been able to cut that down very substantially, we talked about it, and they have made a lot of progress,” Trump said.

Asked whether he was offended by Trump’s alleged denigration of African countries in the past, especially the use of a vulgar term to describe African countries, Buhari tactfully replied that he was sceptical about media reports and would rather not comment on them.

“I am being careful about what the press says about others and myself. But the best thing for me to do is to keep quiet,” Buhari said.

Trump in turn, said: “We didn’t discuss it, and you do have some countries that are in very bad shape, and very tough places to live in. We didn’t discuss because the president knows me, and he knows where I am coming from, and I appreciate that.”

Buhari said his government had done a lot to curb human rights abuses in Nigeria, especially in the ongoing war against Boko Haram.

“The government of Nigeria remains committed to human rights, even in the course of fighting terrorism,” he said.

When Buhari was asked if he had any issues with the role of the U.S. as the policeman of the world, he said that he had no problem with the presence of American troops in Nigeria, adding they were only in the country to offer training and other support that are crucial to winning the war against terrorism.

“This is one of the best things the United States could do for our country,” Buhari said.

Trump at this point interjected, saying Buhari’s comments were fair, but added that he would want to see America scale back its supervisory role across the world while improving trade with other countries.

“We want to police our country. What we want to do now is to open Nigeria and other countries to trade,” he said.

On the concerns about the low patronage of Nigerian crude by the U.S. in recent years, Buhari said he would not tell another country what to do. He praised the U.S. for its technological innovations that had helped to reduce its reliance on oil.

“I can’t tell the U.S. what to do. Luckily for us, we have got a market for our crude oil. But the progress made by the US in technology is certainly frightening for our mono-economy.

“I hope technology will allow them to use our crude for its quality for petrochemicals,” the Nigerian president said.

The U.S. president further clarified that Nigeria was interested in agricultural produce from his country, stating that plans were in place to allow exports of U.S. farm produce to Nigeria — “for the good of U.S. farmers, Nigeria, and Africa”.

“What we discussed today was our agricultural products going into Nigeria, which Nigeria wants. But we have certain barriers that don’t allow that to happen.

“For the good of U.S. farmers and for the good of all of Africa, it is very important that we are able to send our agriculture produce into Nigeria and we would be working on that right away,” Trump said.

Also responding to a question on Nigeria’s purchase of military aircraft from the U.S. for the fight against terrorism, as well as the need to get the aircraft delivered quickly to Nigeria, Trump said denying Nigeria the purchase of war planes before now was not good, stressing that his government sold the best aircraft in the world to Nigeria.

“We love helicopters, but he (Buhari) likes them more than I do. He likes buying helicopters and they buy a lot of helicopters. So, very soon we are getting them the planes.

“Part of the problem is that before you weren’t allowed to buy helicopters in your country, but now you are. I worked that out. So, now you can buy the helicopters that you want.

“The helicopters we have here are the best in the world. We make the best military equipment in the world and our friends can now buy those equipment.

“We are also helping our Nigerian partners by facilitating intelligence, cooperation and providing training and military equipment to the Nigerian forces. For example, we recently sold to Nigeria 12 US A-29 Super Tucano aircraft, great aircraft, in the first ever sale of American military equipment to Nigeria.

“This new aircraft will improve Nigeria’s ability to target terrorists and protect civilians,” Trump said.

Reacting shortly after the joint briefing by both leaders, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Monday bemoaned the performance of the Nigerian president during the meeting with his U.S. counterpart, describing it as embarrassing and disturbing.

The party lamented that Buhari completely failed to project the economic interests of the country before the American government and the world.

A statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan said it was alarming that Buhari buckled during the bilateral negotiations and failed to address the issue of the drop in U.S. purchase of Nigeria’s crude oil, saying it is the main stay of the Nigerian economy.

“Nigerians and the business community were aghast when President Buhari could not market our crude oil to his American counterpart even when in the course of the question and answer session, a leeway was provided for him, he off-handedly declared that he cannot ‘tell America what to do’,” the party said.

PDP also said that Buhari had no answers to Trump’s stance that the U.S. had not been investing substantially in Nigeria owing to the unconducive economic climate under his administration, further confirming the stand of the PDP that the All Progressives Congress (APC) was running a moribund economy.

More disturbing, PDP noted, was the revelation by Trump that the U.S. has been supporting Nigeria with the sum of $1 billion annually whereas Buhari, in his script, announced that Nigeria received only $500 million last year.

“We had expected President Buhari, as the ‘African Champion on Anti-Corruption’, to immediately respond to President Trump on the whereabouts of the shortfall of $500 million.

“It is also inexcusable that President Buhari had no answers to the security situation of daily bloodletting and mass killings in Nigeria, which President Trump described as ‘horrible’. Instead, he restricted himself to his script, which was silent on the issue.

“By this, the American government has summarily indicted President Buhari’s government on its failure to ensure security of lives and property of Nigerian citizens.

“On the whole, the visit surmises photo-ops of President Buhari in the White House in a bilateral session where President Trump was committed to marketing the U.S. to the most populous black nation,” the PDP said. </s> The leading candidates in Nigeria's presidential and parliamentary elections called for peace Friday ahead of the weekend balloting.

Incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, who is seeking a second four-year term as candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress party, encouraged Nigerians to vote and to be sure of the Nigerian Independent National Electoral Commission's ability to conduct the election.
Nigeria reelects President Muhammadu Buhari.