The United States Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, in a bilateral meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the presidential villa on Tuesday has promised that the US government will support the administration in its social investment programs to assist in curbing the hardship being faced over fuel subsidy removal. He, however, said the initiatives of the United States would greatly depend on the region’s dependable efforts at ensuring the safety of civilian populations. He said: “Having said that, it’s important that we work to support our partners who are trying to find effective ways of providing security. “We are working to support Nigeria, to support our Lake Chad region partners to strengthen the capacity of their security forces in a whole variety of ways to deal with insecurity. And yes, that does go to equipment and technology for weapons and we’re working on that.
“But it also goes to many other things including information sharing, intelligence, technical support, advice, and it goes to having a comprehensive approach that genuinely focuses on citizen security.“Working with local communities, in partnership, demonstrating the security forces that are there, first and foremost, to protect them and to support their needs.”
However, Blinken noted that corruption remains a major obstacle, saying “Companies that come in and invest, want to make sure that they’re going to be investing with a fair and level playing field.”
He also cited difficulty repatriating capital as an impediment to investment that Nigeria’s government should address.“And in so doing, create, create new jobs, new opportunities, and even new industries. This is a big focus of our binational position in the work that I mentioned as well as there remain some impediments systems.“We hear from our own business community. That I think standard way of maximizing those opportunities. One is the repatriation of capital is important.
“I know the Central Bank governor is building on that. And second is the ongoing effort to combat corruption because companies that come in and invest, want to make sure that they’re going to be investing with a fair and level playing field.“And corruption, of course, is a big impediment. So, having said all of that, I do think we’re seeing a little bit when we had the Africa Leaders Summit hosted by President Biden.
“One of the commitments we made was to generate an additional $55 billion in private sector investment in Africa over the next few years. Well, here we are one year after the signing, and we are 40% of the way to achieving that goal.“By the end, like two years after the summit, based on the trajectory we’re on now, we will be at 70% of that goal, and we will achieve the goal in the three years President Biden set, that’s just one important manifestation, not only of our commitment to generating private sector investment.”
Blinken emphasized the importance of the US-Nigeria relationship and said Nigeria was “essential” to US efforts in Africa. He highlighted areas of cooperation between the two countries, including climate action, blue economy development, science and technology exchange, and public health, and also commended Nigeria’s progress in responding to HIV, COVID-19, and other diseases.
Blinken said the U.S. was determined to be a security partner for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region. He said the U.S. will provide security assistance through military training, equipment transfers, intelligence sharing, and comprehensive approaches focusing on local communities.
Overall, Blinken characterized this as a consequential time for the US-Nigeria partnership. He said the two countries were increasingly focused not only on bilateral issues but on addressing regional and global challenges together.