President Muhammadu Buhari is
in the United States of America, USA, on an official visit. The US State
Department said that the visit was on the invitation of President Barack Obama,
Buhari’s American counterpart.
During
the visit, Presidents Buhari and Obama will meet in Washington DC today, in an
encounter designed to enhance the existing cordial relationship between Nigeria
and the USA.
It
would be recalled that high-profile official visits by Nigerian leaders to the
USA started in 1961, when President John Fredrick Kennedy invited Nigeria’s
Head of Government, the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa. The visit
lasted for a week and was full of activities. Both leaders discussed bilateral
and “wide variety of subjects.”
President
Buhari’s visit to the USA will also include the discussion of a wide variety of
subjects, mainly anchored on three clear platforms: the Africa Growth
Opportunity Act, AGOA, the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, TIFA and
the Nigeria-US Bi-National Commission, BNC.
The
President, just like Sir Tafawa-Balewa, is scheduled to visit some places of
interest and symbolic significance. Such visits have always been symbolic. One
of the key side activities would be his re-union with his US War College course
mates of 1980. There was no indication he would visit an Islamic Centre as
Tafawa-Balewa did during his official visit in 1961.
However,
just like Tafawa-Balewa did in 1961, President Buhari will interact with
Nigerians in the Diaspora. However, there is always a point of departure in
such visits between one head of government and the other over time, as
relations between countries continue but with changes that are inherent in the
dynamism of life. In the Tafawa-Balewa/Buhari case, the main point of departure
is that Nigeria and the US currently have at least three different platforms
for the scheduled interactions between the delegations of the countries.
One of
the major platforms is the Nigeria-US BNC, set up upon the signing of an
agreement between both nations in April 2010. Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, former
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, signed on behalf of
Nigeria. Former United States Secretary of States, Hillary R. Clinton, signed
on behalf of the US government.
The
Nigeria-US BNC has four main areas of focus. Each area of focus has a working
group peopled by representatives of both sides. The focus areas and working
groups, which have met several times in Nigeria and in the USA are Good
Governance, Transparency and Integrity; Energy and Investment; Agriculture and
Food Security and Niger Delta and Regional Security.
The
Presidency has released the main areas for discussion with the US during
President Buhari’s visit: security, the economy and America’s support for
Buhari’s government’s efforts in tackling corruption. The Boko Haram menace
will certainly be prominent in the security aspect of the bilateral
discussions.
The
four main working groups of the BNC have achieved some success in their
assignments, including attracting American material contributions to our
electoral system and the process of consolidating democracy; support for the
Nigerian military in fighting terrorism; boosting agriculture and promoting
reform in the sector and paving the way for some US companies to widen
participation in our energy sector. The case of Symbion Power, a US power
company, which won the bid for and took over Ughelli Power Plant, illustrates
this success.
The
second platform for intense engagement between Nigeria and the US is the TIFA,
signed by the two countries. In a summary, the agreement provides for expanding
trade and investments between the largest economy in the world and the biggest
economy in Africa. It is largely driven by business people for the mutual
understanding of the rules, regulations and areas of opportunities for trade
and investment.
It is
partly to underline the importance of the TIFA that President Buhari is
scheduled to address the US Chamber of Commerce and Corporate Council for
Africa in Washington DC. Some Nigerian business chieftains will be on hand to
engage potential partners for trade and investments.
The
third platform is AGOA. Under this Act, the US government encourages African
countries to export manufactured goods on preferential terms. The idea is that
the participating countries are to be supported and guided to penetrate the
American market with their products based on their areas of comparative
advantage.
The
truth is that the manufacturing base of Nigeria is currently limping, but with
a mixture of policies designed to revive the sector, it is possible for Nigeria
to take full advantage of AGOA and benefit from its yields in the future.
The
visit to the US by President Buhari has generated much interest and raised high
expectations for quick and sharp results, especially in taming the monster of
Boko Haram and opening economic opportunities for Nigeria’s teeming youths.
Overall,
it is in the best of both countries that a mutually beneficial relation is
deepened and sustained. And the visit of President Buhari is designed to achieve
that, regardless of the fear being expressed in some quarters in Nigeria that,
the US may try to influence Nigeria to change its strong stance against
same-sex marriage.
•Dambatta,
Director of Information in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, writes from
Abuja.
