THE street of the Nigerian Embassy in Washington D.C. burst at the seams with highly enthusiastic and passionate young Nigerians who thronged out in their numbers to attend the EbonyLife TV Meet & Greet interactive session with President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) in commemoration of the President’s historic visit to the United States of America.
Guests at the high-level security, but well attended event, consisted of young technocrats and professionals across a wide gamut of career and business endeavours, who had the rare opportunity of sitting face-to-face with Mr. President in an atmosphere of intricate and unique decor, joie de vivre and sheer patriotism set in motion by a highly emotional rendition of Nigeria’s national anthem.
One after the other, guests were briefly allowed to introduce themselves and express their warm wishes for a new Nigeria while the President listened with rapt and patriarchal attention.
Wishes were variegated and poignant, ranging from a desire to see a more secure nation and enabling environment for business foreign direct investment, to a corruption-free and revamped economy and support for the building of a burgeoning creative economy.
The President, who was accompanied to the event by Governors RochasOkorocha, Adams Oshiomole, AbiolaAjimobi, UmaruTanko Al-Makura; former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi; Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States, Professor Ade Adefuye; Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele; Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. GarbaShehu; Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, among other special dignitaries, responded by thanking the channel and the Diaspora young professionals for according him the opportunity of the interactive session.
He also took the opportunity to express his appreciation to the President of the United States of America for the visit, as well as to leaders of other Western and African countries for their overwhelming goodwill and support for Nigeria and his administration.
In response to the many wishes, President Muhammadu Buhari restated his vow to tackle insurgency and general insecurity, while emphasizing his determination to build a vibrant economy as well as invest heavily in the educational sector. Lamenting the terrible state of the nation’s treasury and the huge rot in the system, he reiterated the need to start building Nigeria all over again from the scratch.
In her opening remarks, host of the Meet & Greet, Executive Chairman and CEO of EbonyLife TV, Mo Abudu, thanked Mr. President for allowing the inclusion of the interactive youth programme in his very busy US itinerary, in demonstration of his avowed commitment and passion for the socio-economic development of the youth.
“We thank you, Mr. President,” she said, “for taking time out of your incredibly busy schedule to meet with our young professionals in the Diaspora. Mr. President, you are loved and those here today are just a tiny percentage of the youths that wanted to be here today but whom we just could not accommodate. Please, Mr. President, our youths truly want to engage with you. I have been overwhelmed these last few days with the outpouring of love and participation from them towards this event and I’m sure they would love another opportunity to make a similar and more inclusive event possible.”
