Tuesday, May 01, 2018
07.29AM / State House
President Buhari held very productive meeting(s) with
President Trump yesterday at the White House.
Key issues discussed covered Security,
Anti-Corruption, Trade, Human Rights and Humanitarian Efforts.
Kindly find below the speeches delivered during
the 1-day visit:
PRESS
STATEMENT BY MR. PRESIDENT AT THE PRESS CONFERENCE IN THE WHITE HOUSE ROSE
GARDEN, DURING HIS VIST TO THE UNITED STATES.
Good day, Ladies and Gentlemen of the
media.
It has been a pleasure and honour to visit Washington DC at the kind invitation
of President Donald Trump.
Nigeria and the United States share a long history of close and cordial
relations, which encompass political, economic, military, social and cultural
cooperation. Our two countries maintain a strategic partnership for peace and
security, conflict resolution as well as the global fight against terrorism.
We also share common features as
secular federal states, practicing a similar democratic model of governance and
committed to the universal values of fundamental human rights and freedoms,
free enterprise, social justice and the rule of law.
President Trump and his team and
myself and the Nigerian team discussed issues related to security, trade, governance,
human rights and humanitarian crises.
SECURITY
We congratulated the leaders of North
and South Korea on their historic summit and we applaud them for the positive
commitment they have made towards the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
President Trump deserves a great deal of credit for his statesmanly role in
transforming so dramatically the course of events in that region.
We also congratulated the US
government on the important role it played in the defeat of ISIS, although some
of the remnants have found their way to the Sahel region. We recognized the
strong US support in our fight against terrorism and also appreciated very much
the US’ agreement to sell twelve Super Tucano A-29 war planes and weapons to
Nigeria to effectively fight terrorism.
To contain the spate of 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 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-radicalize, re-habilitate, and re-integrate willingly
surrendered Boko-Haram members into the larger society. This programme is
currently embarking on a number of projects including: skill acquisition
centers and integrated farms; comprising poultry, fish pond and greenhouse
farming, among others. A number of international partners, including the
International Organization 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 US support
in the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the North East of Nigeria,
as well as humanitarian assistance to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs),
through agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) and other international partners. The USA has been to date the biggest
contributor to the humanitarian response and last year gave approximately 500
million US Dollars in cash and in-kind contributions through the United Nations
and other inter-governmental organizations. These have mainly supported
protection activities, health, food assistance and shelter.
We are doing all we can to secure the
release of the remaining abducted school girls from Dapchi and Chibok. In this
context, we will continue to welcome US collaboration in intelligence
gathering, hostage negotiations and information-sharing.
VIOLENCE BETWEEN
HERDSMEN AND FARMERS
The government is taking necessary
steps to promote the peaceful co-existence of herdsmen and farmers, by focusing
on boosting security and enforcing legislation that will guarantee herders and
farmers access to land.
TRADE AND
INVESTMENT
I extended sincere congratulations to
President Trump and his government on the impressive performance of the US
economy under their watch.
Our aim is to diversify our own
economy by focusing on agriculture and food security; power and infrastructure.
We have cut the importation of rice by about 90% thereby saving a significant
amount of money. We very much welcomed 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 (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.
Nigeria’s trade volume with the United
States stood at $6.07 billion according to 2016 statistics and comprised $4.176
billion worth of Nigerian exports to the US and $1.894 billion US exports to
Nigeria. We urged greater effort to increase these figures substantially.
GOVERNANCE AND
ANTI-CORRUPTION
We thanked the US 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 over five
hundred million United States Dollars ($500) of looted funds siphoned away in
banks around the world. In this connection, we congratulated the US government
on launching a Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative which was spearheaded by
the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering. We
hoped that we could continue to count on US support in this area.
HUMAN RIGHTS
The Government of Nigeria remains
deeply committed to the principles of human rights as well as the promotion and
protection of people’s freedom, even in the process of fighting terror. We
commit to ensure that all documented cases of human rights abuses are
investigated and those responsible for violations held accountable for their
actions.




SPEECH
BY PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI DURING THE WORKING LUNCH ON HIS VIST TO THE
UNITED STATES
Mr. President,
Senior Government officials,
I have just had excellent discussions
with President Trump and I would like to reiterate my immense gratitude to you,
Mr. President for your kind invitation and the very warm and generous
hospitality extended to me and my delegation since our arrival in the United
States
We greatly appreciate the importance
your administration attaches to a strong relationship with Nigeria. The United
States remains for us a valued friend and strategic partner, whose support and
solidarity over the years has meant a great deal to us. Our government’s three
main priority areas are:
1. Security
2. Anti-corruption and good governance; and
3. Economic growth and job creation
We congratulate you, Mr. President on
the statesmanly role you have played in so dramatically transforming the course
of events in the Korean Peninsula to make the denuclearization of the region a
real possibility.
On security, please accept our sincere
congratulations on the important role played by the US in the defeat of ISIS,
although some of the remnants have found their way to the Sahel region. We are
very grateful for the strong US support in our fight against terrorism. We also
appreciate very much your agreement to sell twelve Super Tucano A-29 war planes
and weapons to Nigeria to effectively fight terrorism.
To contain the spate of 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 assist the civil
authorities 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-radicalize, re-habilitate, and re-integrate willingly
surrendered Boko-Haram members into the larger society.
This programme is currently embarking
on a number of projects including: skill acquisition centers and integrated
farms; comprising poultry, fishpond and greenhouse farming, among others.
A number of international partners,
including the International Organization for Migration have contributed to the
success of Operation Safe Corridor. We will also appreciate whatever support we
could also get from the US.
We are extremely grateful for your government’s
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 international partners.
The USA has been to date the biggest
contributor to the humanitarian response and last year gave approximately 500
million US Dollars in cash and in-kind contributions through the United Nations
and other inter-governmental organizations. These have mainly supported
protection activities, namely health, food assistance and shelter.
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 US collaboration in intelligence
gathering, hostage negotiations and information-sharing.
The government is taking necessary
steps to promote the peaceful co-existence of herdsmen and farmers, by focusing
on boosting security and enforcing legislation that will guarantee herders and
farmers’ access to land, reducing strife and promoting harmonizing economic
activities.
I wish to extend sincere
congratulations to you and your government on the impressive performance of the
US economy under your watch.
Our aim is to diversify our economy by
focusing on agriculture and food security; power and infrastructure. We have
cut the importation of rice by about 90% thereby saving a significant amount of
money. We very much 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 in particular,
comprising bilateral political, economic, developmental and humanitarian
partnership, is a basic economic framework for engagement between our two
countries.
Nigeria’s trade volume with the United
States stood at six point zero-seven billion United States Dollars according to
2016 statistics and comprised four point one-seven-six billion united States
dollars worth of Nigerian exports to the US and one point eight-nine-four
billion United States Dollars US exports to Nigeria. We should work to increase
these figures substantially and to make balance of trade more even.
We thank your 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 over five hundred million
United States Dollars ($500) of looted funds siphoned 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 can continue to count on your support in our
efforts to recover our money.
The Government of Nigeria remains deeply
committed to the principles of human rights as well as the promotion and
protection of people’s freedom, even in the process of fighting terror. We will
ensure that all documented cases of human rights abuses are investigated and
those responsible for violations held accountable for their actions.
In addition, the Executive Secretary
of the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria inaugurated the Nigerian
Military Human Rights Dialogue in August 2015 to provide the Nigerian Military
and Para-Military with necessary tools to integrate human rights practices into
their code, education systems, field training and disciplinary systems.
To this end, the victims of a criminal
law enforcement operation that occurred in 2013 (otherwise known as Apo-six)
were compensated in April this year based on the findings of the National Human
Rights Commission. Two of the police officers responsible were convicted for
culpable homicide arising from the extra-judicial killings.
Mr. President, this is the first time
in the history of Nigeria that the Federal Government compensated the victims
of extra-judicial killings. It also provides a sustainable platform for local
and international human rights organizations to constructively engage the
Nigerian security forces on human rights concerns. We also look to share best
practices in this area with the United States.
I thank you, Mr. President, again for
hosting us and for your constructive response to our shaped problems. I hope
you make Nigeria the first port of call whenever you visit African continent.

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