By Ayo Yusuf
The President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, has requested for a meeting with President Bola Tinubu on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly holding in New York next month.
The US Presidential Envoy & Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Molly Phee, who visited the Nigerian leader on Saturday said President Tinubu was the only African leader President Biden has extended this invitation.
According to a statement by the Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, Mr. Phew said the
meeting between both leaders is to advance discussions further on how to strengthen Nigeria’s economy and other regional issues.
“We know there is more we can do to incentivize large-scale American investment in Nigeria and we are committed to working closely with you to achieve that, as part of efforts to strengthen the Nigerian economy and the regional economy.
“We appreciate your willingness to create an enabling environment for that. President Joe Biden is asking to meet with you on the sidelines of UNGA and you are the only African leader he has requested to meet. It is a mark of his high regard for your leadership,” the U.S. Special Envoy said.
President Tinubu who appreciated the gesture advised Mr. Phee to ensure that US policy is intentionally collaborative with independent African democracies at a time when they are under assault by anti-democratic forces within and outside of the continent.
The President noted that American-backed development finance and multilateral institutions, which were designed to support war-torn Europe after World War II, require swift and comprehensive reform to meet the developmental requirements of younger democracies in Africa, which operate in authoritarian-crowded environments, such that the legitimate yearnings of Africans would no longer be manipulated to serve the narrow aims of self-seeking demagogues through unconstitutional takeovers of power.
“Yes, the private sector will lead the way within an enabling environment we create for them, but the U.S. Government must be innovative in its thinking and systematically create incentives for U.S. industrial investment in Nigeria. Under my leadership, Nigeria stands ready to address their specific regulatory, tax and environmental concerns. I am determined to create prosperity for all Nigerian families,” the President declared.
The Nigerian leader affirmed that the crisis in Niger Republic would not deter him from concluding his economic reform programme successfully for the benefit of Nigerians and that he takes no cue from any nation in his approach toward ECOWAS’ handling of the regional standoff.
“We are deep in our attempts to peacefully settle the issue in Niger by leveraging on our diplomatic tools. I continue to hold ECOWAS back, despite its readiness for all options, in order to exhaust all other remedial mechanisms. War is not ideal for my economic reforms, nor for the region, but the defense of democracy is sacrosanct.
The ECOWAS consensus is that we will not allow anyone to insincerely buy time,” the ECOWAS Chairman affirmed.
President Tinubu concluded that he accepts the invitation to meet the U.S. President on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and that the work of perfecting democracy is never done, even in developed democracies, as seen recently in America, as well as other emerging democracies in the world.
Pledging its support for the position of ECOWAS, the US Special Presidential Envoy expressed the high regard the US Administration has for the leadership of the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.
Earlier, President Biden had called for the immediate release of Niger’s elected President Mohamed Bazoum and for the restoration of the country’s democracy.
“I call for President Bazoum and his family to be immediately released, and for the preservation of Niger’s hard-earned democracy,” Biden said in a statement Thursday, the 63rd anniversary of Niger’s independence.
“In this critical moment, the United States stands with the people of Niger to honor our decades-long partnership rooted in shared democratic values and support for civilian-led governance,” he said.
Mr. Bazoum, 63, was ousted a week ago by his own guard in a coup condemned by the United States, European nations, the United Nations and the African Union.
Mr Biden who said the people of Niger have the right to choose their leaders, added that “They have expressed their will through free and fair elections — and that must be respected.”
The clock is ticking on a demand made by West African regional bloc ECOWAS for the coup leaders to restore Bazoum to power within a week or face the possible “last resort” of military intervention.
