The
United States on Tuesday hinted on the reasons why President Barack
Obama won’t visit Nigeria during his upcoming three-nation trip to
Africa.
According
to US officials, the ongoing insecurity appeared to be responsible for
the exclusion of Nigeria in Obama’s
second visit to the continent since he became President.
second visit to the continent since he became President.
Obama is scheduled to visit Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa during is visit.
The
US government said the trip would focus on trade and investment,
democratic institution-building, young people, and enhancing economic
growth.
American Deputy National Security Advisor, Ben Rhodes, made this clarifications at a briefing on Tuesday.
The
briefing was addressed jointly with the Senior Director for African
Affairs Grant Harris and Senior Director for Development and Democracy
Gayle Smith, on Obama’s upcoming visit.
The
text of the briefing was made available to journalists in Abuja by the
Information Office of the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy.
Rhodes said, “With respect to Nigeria, we certainly believe that Nigeria
is a fundamentally important country to the future of Africa.
We’ve
put a lot of investment in the relationship with Nigeria through their
leadership of ECOWAS, through the significant US business investment in
Nigeria and through our security cooperation.
“Obviously, Nigeria is working through some very challenging security
issues right now.
And
in that process, they’re going to be a partner of the United States. We
certainly believe we’ll have an opportunity to further engage the
Nigerian government through bilateral meetings going forward.
But at this point, we just were not able to make it to Nigeria on this particular itinerary.
“I
will say that we purposefully designed the itineraries to be able to
reach West Africa, South Africa and East Africa, and in West Africa, to
visit Senegal, a French-speaking, Muslim-majority democracy that is an
important partner of the United States and also provides a platform for
the President to speak to the broader region.
“We
are also looking at ways, at the President’s town hall in South Africa
with young African leaders, to draw in through technology young people
in Nigeria and in Kenya, among other places, so that the President is
using this trip to speak to the broader African audience. We recognize
we’d like to go to as many countries as possible.’’
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