Buhari US Trips is for good of all Nigerians – Adesina
Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Nigeria President, Mohammadu Buhari, Mr. Femi Adesina has said that the President’s Trip to the United States of America next week is for the greater good of all Nigerians both home and abroad noting that sensitive issues which dwells on security, anti corruption and economic advancement and bilateral trade agreements are part of the major issues to be discussed during the meeting.
Mr Adesina revealed this while speaking to BEN Television in an exclusive interview at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja.
According to him, the trip which is an invitation from the American Government is a continuation of the talks between President Mohammadu Buhari and President Barrack Obama during the G7 Summit in Germany.
Adesina said, “The president will be talking about insurgency and how they (the United States Government) can help in tackling the Boko Haram menace particularly in the areas of intelligence gathering and provision of some vital equipment,” he however ruled out the possibility of America deploying troops to Nigeria.
Speaking further, the president image maker said “as you are aware, this government is committed to anti corruption, the President has said it openly that money missing from Nigeria’s coffers is in billions of dollars and these monies are starched away in different part of the world. President Obama has promised us that as long as Nigeria can make informations available, the American government will help to retrieve these monies so you can be sure that this will also be part of the discussion with the American government.”
He added that the Nigerian delegation would also discuss ways to improve the economy of Nigeria especially in the areas of Bilateral Trade agreements between the two countries which have been on the decrease for some time now.
Reacting on the level of information President Buhari has gathered so far about corrupt Nigerians who have starched Nigeria’s commonwealth in foreign countries, Adesina said, “Its been a while between the time President Obama made that promise and now, he made the promise during the G7 summit so I know that between then and now President Buhari has good intelligence that can be acted upon, it does not mean all the information has come in, but he definitely has action-able information which can help retrieve these monies or even start the process”.
Answering question on how an average Nigerian will benefit from this Foreign trip, Adesina said Nigerians will benefits in numerous ways citing example with the arrest of insurgency which will make lives and property safer for everyone. In his words, ” the huge money spent on security for Boko Haram and other social vices can be channelled to other areas of development and if America can help us get our stolen Monies back, those monies can be used to bring about the much needed development in almost every sector of the economy”.
On whether the visit is just a routine as other past Nigerian leaders have also made such trips in the past, he said “the visit will bring a lot of difference because this President is not a routine president, he came to the office on the wings of change and he is determine to bring that change”.
On the speculations that the gay right issue might be part of the discussion between the two countries freeing to it as mere speculations which can not be substantiated, Adesina said,”If he President Buhari gets to the US and that comes up, he would react and for now I cannot comment on what has not happened, or what is not part of the wish list of Mr. President these are just speculations without substance.”
On the notion by some quarters that the President is slow, the media Adviser noted that it depends on what they mean by being slow, “recently they talked about service chiefs and the National Security Adviser now we have that, let me tell you in the right time Nigeria will have a cabinet, it is a constitutional matter and it has to be taken very seriously and carefully too. The president is making haste slowly. He can just rush everything and step on land mines which will scatter every of his genuine efforts and cause confusion; in that case what would the country gain from those hasty decisions? Nothing, I can tell you that the President is studying carefully what he met on ground in every area, the economy, infrastructural, geographical, constitutional and every other consideration that will move us forward. If he builds on the wrong foundation one day the whole thing will come crashing. So he is taking his time to lay a solid foundation.
“I always appeal to Nigerians to be patient since they (Nigerians) trusted him and gave him their mandate, that trust should be sustained, he will be their hero I can assure you. Let’s not forget that its a 4 year term and the President has not even spent one year so let’s still be patient”, he said.
When asked if President Buhari will include Nigerians in diaspora as part of his team, Adesina said any Nigerian- all over the world can be part of the government ” for example as the President goes to America next week, he will meet with Nigerians in Diaspora in America there is a two hours session scheduled for the President with Nigerians at the Nigerian Embassy in the US.”
On the issue of the President being a northern or regional president as some people are assuming based on the few appointments he has made Adesina responded by saying that he is a Nigerian President “he cannot even be a northern or regional president because our constitution does not permit that because if you don’t have a mandate that is national you cannot be the president. Those who are saying he is a Northern President only looked at 9 appointments and just concluded, let me tell you, there will be about 500 appointments at the end of the day, so do you begin to judge after just 9 appointment out of 500 the answer is no”
Adesina therefore appealed to Nigerians to be patients and make useful contributions and constructive criticism for the benefit of Nigeria and Nigerians.
