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. They’ll talk about not only Boko Haram but also political corruption, public health issues and climate change.
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How Buhari will handle the campaign against Boko Haram is still an unknown, Blanchard said. Our new military leadership has not been chosen because of their familiarity with those in government, as was too often the case in the past, but on their track records and qualifications alone.
Buhar had yesterday met with the U.S President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden where he received assurance that the U.S will help Nigeria in rebuilding her economy.
While Nigeria would be wise to strengthen its relationship with the United States, ultimately the solutions to the country’s problems – including divisions – will have to be solved internally, said Tukufu Zuberi, a professor at the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Washington is concerned that post-poll violence could undermine the stability of Africa’s top oil producer and hamper efforts to tackle the Islamist militants of Boko Haram.
Boko Haram has carried out multiple attacks in northern Nigeria, most notably the April 2014 kidnapping of 276 Nigerian school girls who are still missing.
Also speaking, President Buhari expressed gratitude to the American Government for assisting Nigeria conduct a credible election in March.
Obama said successful reforms would mean that “Nigeria ends up being an anchor, not only of prosperity and stability” but, he said, the country “can also be an outstanding role model for developing countries around the world”.
Some Nigerian officials who accompanied president Buhari to the United States included governors of Nasarawa, Borno, Imo, Oyo and Edo States amongst others federal government officials.
Lauren Ploch Blanchard, an Africa specialist with the non-partisan Congressional Research Services, said the USA challenge was to work with Buhari while giving him time to address the country’s vast problems.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Mr Buhari urged the World Bank to send a team to Nigeria to assess how to spend the funds. “But I do know how to tweet”. I realize the world waits to see evidence that my administration will be different from all those that came before. “This can not be done overnight”.
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“We welcome the commitment by President Obama to assist the Buhari government in tracking down billions of dollars stolen from the country. All things become hard before they become easy”.
