Buhari’s election in March was a historic occasion for Nigeria, a country which had never had a peaceful transition of power from one democratically elected leader to another.
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Top of the agenda in the talks with Obama “will be measures to strengthen and intensify bilateral and worldwide cooperation against terrorism in Nigeria and west Africa”, a statement from the Nigerian presidency said.
Officials blamed the terror group Boko Haram for a Friday bombing in the Nigerian city of Damaturu that was allegedly carried out by an elderly woman and a 10-year-old girl. This is in addition to at least $34m it is providing to Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger for equipment and logistics.
Obama’s meeting with Buhari is expected to also cover Nigeria’s economy, which has suffered under the decline in oil prices, additional security issues and government corruption.
Mr Jonathan fired the central bank governor past year after he raised questions about the disappearance of $20bn in oil revenues.
“Nigeria is battling a number of economic crises, and it’s the United States’ largest trading partner in Africa”, Michael Clyne, a senior analyst for the security consultancy Drum Cussac, said in a telephone interview.
Nigeria’s new army chief Major General Tukur Buratai was due to visit Damaturu on Friday to celebrate Eid with soldiers battling the jihadists, who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group that has seized swathes of Iraq and Syria.
“Nigeria is the most important country in Africa”, said Carson, now an adviser to the US Institute of Peace.
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. Boko Haram has been leading these terrible crimes for over a decade, and the Nigerian military has been unable to put a stop to them.
“Commuters are encouraged to use the road as adequate security is being provided”, said Usman. Buhari has said he will fully investigate the Amnesty worldwide accusations and ensure human-rights abusers are prosecuted. The northeast is the poorest part of the country with some of the world’s highest illiteracy rates.
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“This feels to us like Nigeria is at an important moment in which there can be real reforms across the board”, Grant Harris, the senior director for African affairs at the National Security Council, told reporters last week.
