Since his inauguration into power, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has travelled to over seven countries including the United States of America, France, Iran, and some border African nations.
Following these trips made by the president in his six months in office, many Nigerians have lamented that Buhari’s travels are frivolous.
But the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, said the trips by the president are critical to the implementation of government key policies to enhancing security, jump-starting the economy, creating jobs and fighting corruption.
”Nigerians, whether in the ruling or the opposition parties, have a right to ask questions about the activities of their President, but it is absolutely important that they do so from an informed, rather than partisan or sensational, standpoint,” Mohammed said.
The minister also said that president Buhari’s trips are already yielding positive results especially in the fight against insurgency and corruption.
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He said: ”He was in Germany at the invitation of the G7 to solicit support from the Industrialized Nations for the war against terrorism. No one who has witnessed the killings and maiming in the past seven years by Boko Haram will call such trips frivolous. After all, the security and welfare of the citizens are the reason for the existence of any government.
”The President’s visit to South Africa was to attend the regular summit of the African Union; the trip to Ghana was aimed at fostering better relations with a brotherly country; the trip to India was for the India-Africa summit that provided the opportunity to explore ways
of enhancing Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) from Indian investors, while the trip to Iran was to attend the forum of Gas Exporting Countries, a veritable platform for discussing how to better harness Nigeria’s abundant gas resources for industrial/domestic consumption and export, at a time of dwindling oil prices,” he said.
He added that Buhari recently travelled to Malta to attend the commonwealth heads of government meeting and Paris for the United Nations conference on climate change.
“The President’s second trip to South Africa since assuming office is for the China-Africa forum. On the few occasions that the President has embarked on a State Visit, he has tied that to an agenda that will further the quest for support for the war against terror and the efforts to enhance FDIs, thus stimulating economic growth and creating jobs,” he said.
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Mohammed called on Nigerians to leverage on the president’s a high integrity quotient and an embodiment of committed and dedicated leadership to move Nigeria further in relevance and visibility on the global stage.
”President Buhari is well respected on the global stage for his high integrity, his transparency, his patriotism and his purposeful leadership. It is important to leverage this respect in such a way that Nigeria can become a major player, either in the realms of economy or global diplomacy,” he said.
He also added that Buhari embarked on all the trips on a low cost budget by cutting his delegations to numbers far below what his predecessors used to travel with.
He said the president also trimmed his entourage while reducing allowances on the occasions that the host governments have provided accommodation and feeding.
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