– President Buhari received US delegation, lauded their support
– Osinbajo said it’s time to diversify our economy from oil
– US team is very optimistic about Nigeria
President Muhammadu Buhari during the meeting in the presidential villa on January 26, Tuesday, has said that his government will continue to welcome the support of the United States of America.
Buhari said this while receiving a delegation from US led by Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker.
The delegation included the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle and three others.
The president commended the current American cooperation with his government on security and developmental matters.
He said: “I remain grateful for the reception accorded me and my team when we visited the United States at the invitation of President Obama.
“We discussed security, corruption, infrastructure, and many other issues.
“We thank America for sending experts to train our troops and providing hardware for our military because we must first stabilize the country before we can move it forward.”
On his own part the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, added that while the country is now facing serious challenges, it is also a time of great opportunities for Nigeria.
“It’s time to diversify our economy from oil. We’ve always talked about it, but never got round to doing it. The opportunity has come now. We have all it takes to be an agricultural nation. We also have solid minerals and we must develop our infrastructure in order to aid business,” the vice president said.
Pritzker said that she came to Nigeria at the encouragement of President Barack Obama.
“The purpose is to better understand the opportunities and challenges of doing business in Nigeria. Our team is very optimistic about your government’s commitment to security, good governance, fighting corruption, having reliable and regular regulatory policies.
“All these make us optimistic about working together. We are not here to sell policies, but to partner with you,” the US official stated.
Pritzker recently stated that President Buhari’s foreign-exchange policies hurt US business in Nigeria.
The council was formed to advise Obama on ways to strengthen commercial engagement between the United States and Africa.
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