ABUJA, Federal Republic of Nigeria. There are indications that Western Powers are not forthcoming to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari over their promises to assist his economic plans and the war against terror.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, who stated this in a piece on President Buhari’s trip to France this week, hinted that the Western powers have kept Buhari waiting since the conclusion of the G7 summit where he was asked to present a wish list.
He said that while there exists some collaboration in the area of intelligence sharing on the war against terror, the G7 nations have not really let out much.
According to him, the country has not got commensurate responses from the world powers despite the fact that hopes were raised through the promises made by the world powers.
Shehu said in the write up: “Since his assumption of office, President Buhari has squared up to the threat of Boko Haram terrorism with a single-minded determination. Without waiting for the envisaged foreign support and assistance, Boko Haram is near resolution. If they were correctly reported in their press conference a few days ago, the military has indeed declared victory in the war. But the world still needs to come together to help this country manage its fallout.
“In this regard, President Hollande needs to make his friends and allies in the G7 to sharpen their response and keep their promise of assistance for which President Buhari was requested to present a wish list. So far, there is evidence of that support in the areas of training and the sharing of intelligence but beyond these, it is hard to say that we are getting commensurate responses to the high hopes that we harboured in dealing with the war and reconstruction.
“Such promises especially as regards to access to military hardware and the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure, donated or paid for should be pursued so that the victory over terror in our region is not a temporary one but one that will usher in permanent peace, tranquillity and wealth for our beleaguered populations and the part of the continent they occupy.”
He justified the president’s trip to France, saying that the country has been faithful to Nigeria, while all of the nation’s neighbours are Francophone countries, whose allegiance to France is not in doubt.
He further justified the trip to France, noting that with France’s investment on the African continent being the largest in Nigeria and still growing, the best outcome of the trip for Nigeria should reflect favourably on key prioties of the Buhari administration which are security, economy and the war against corruption.
Credit: Tribune (Nigeria)
