The United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Ms. Victoria Nuland, has said that the U.S. government interest in Nigeria is strategic and focuses on security, conduct of free, fair and credible 2023 elections and the fact that the country is the sole decider of the growth of the African continent.
Ambassador Nuland told a group of journalists on Thursday at the US Ambassador’s residence, in Maitama, Abuja, that “the way Nigeria goes is the way the continent goes.
“Concerning our strategic interest in the country, there’s always a war between authoritarianism and democracy, and considering the fact that Nigeria is the largest democracy in Africa, if Nigeria can become increasingly stable and secure, empower its population, diversify its economy and empower the next generation, it will be a powerful engine not only for itself but for the African continent and all democracies across the world.”
The Under Secretary, who also met with the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja said: “We have been focusing on the issues of security, free, fair, credible, and peaceful elections. We also talked more broadly about our security relationship, but at the high end in terms of the holistic approach to security, earlier we delivered some Tucano jets, and we are about to have a new delivery of helicopters as well.
“Concerning our cooperation, we talked about the fact that security needs to be about countering terrorism at the high end, however, it also needs to be about what comes behind it – such as better governance, employment, and better opportunity, which would drive out the ability of terrorists and terrorism to return to communities.”
She noted that it was one thing to root out terrorists from communities, but the government must also provide sustainable policing, community security, better services, and good governance, otherwise, the terrorists would always be back.
“The way terrorists get into communities and destroy the fabric of the nation is ‘an evil thing.’ We think that Nigeria, with our support, needs to address this in a holistic way. However, what we are trying to do now in our collaboration with the government is to integrate the air and ground approach to security.”
Commending Nigeria for its leadership in the Economic Community of West African States, she said, “We need a regional approach to this problem because these terrorists are running across borders, and we all need to work together. Nigeria plays a huge role not only for its own security but also for the security of the region, through the ECOWAS.”
Nuland, who also met with some members of civil society organisations to discuss the forthcoming 2023 general election among other issues, noted that the U.S. was very pleased with the new Electoral Act and also the longer period for campaigns towards the elections.
She said, “We’re very pleased with the new Electoral Act and also the longer period for campaigns towards the elections. The United States will support the Independent National Electoral Commission, and the police, to provide security because we know there is quite a bit of anxiety about that.”
The Under Secretary also stated that the United States was interested in having investors in Nigeria, but there was a need to have an enabling environment considering the issue of corruption.
“The United States government would love to see more investors in Nigeria but there is a need for an enabling environment as corruption remains an obstacle,” she said.
Nuland, whose visit to the African continent began on Saturday, June 11, and ended on Friday, June 17, 2022, visited Djibouti, Mozambique and Nigeria.
