Posted on: 05:13 Sat, 05 Dec 2015



The Minister of Information and
Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
said that President Muhammadu
Buhari’s foreign trips since he
assumed office were critical to the
implementation of his
administration key policies of
enhancing security, jump-starting
the economy, creating jobs and
fighting corruption.

Muhammed said this in a statement
issued on Friday in Abuja.
He argued against the position of
some individuals who believe that
the President was merely wasting the
nation’s time and money on his
frequent trips abroad.

According to the minister, the trips
have been anything but frivolous,
and that they have started yielding
fruits in terms of turning the tide in
the fight against the insurgents who
have been most active in the North-
east, attracting investments in the
range of billions of dollars, and
securing global
support for the administration’s
anti-corruption fight.

”Nigerians, whether in the ruling or
the opposition parties, have a right
to ask questions about the activities
of their President, but it is absolutely
important that they do so from an
informed, rather than partisan or
sensational, standpoint,” he said.

The Minister explained that most of
the President’s trips – to Nigeria’s
neighbouring countries of Benin,
Cameroon, Chad and Niger, as well
as to Germany, the US, France and
the UN – were devoted to rallying
regional and global support for the
war against terrorism.

”He was in Germany at the
invitation of the G7 to solicit support
from the Industrialized Nations for
the war against terrorism. No one
who has witnessed the killings and
maiming in the past seven years by
Boko Haram will call such trips
frivolous. After all, the security and
welfare of the citizens are the reason
for the existence of any government.

”The President’s visit to South Africa
was to attend the regular summit of
the African Union; the trip to Ghana
was aimed at fostering better
relations with a brotherly country;
the trip to India was for the India-
Africa summit that provided the
opportunity to explore ways of
enhancing Foreign Direct
Investments (FDIs) from Indian
investors, while the trip to Iran was
to attend the forum of Gas Exporting
Countries, a veritable platform for
discussing how to better harness
Nigeria’s abundant gas resources for
industrial/domestic consumption and
export, at a time of dwindling oil
prices.

”The President also travelled to Malta
to attend the Commonwealth Heads
of Government Meeting, from where
he travelled to Paris for the UN
Conference on Climate Change.

The President’s second trip to South
Africa since assuming office is for
the China-Africa forum. On the few
occasions that the President has
embarked on a State Visit, he has
tied that to an agenda that will
further the quest for support for the
war against terror and the efforts to
enhance FDIs, thus stimulating
economic growth and creating jobs,”
the Minister said.

He said that apart from rallying
global support for the country’s wars
on terror and graft or seeking
foreign investments, it is important
that Nigeria leverages on President
Buhari’s brand, a high integrity
quotient and an embodiment of
committed and dedicated leadership,
to further Nigeria’s relevance and
visibility on the global stage.

”President Buhari is well respected
on the global stage for his high
integrity, his transparency, his
patriotism and his purposeful
leadership. It is important to
leverage this respect in such a way
that Nigeria can become a major
player, either in the realms of
economy or global diplomacy,” the
Minister said.

He said the President had embarked
on the trips under a very stringent
budget, cutting his delegations to
numbers far below what his
predecessors used to travel with,
while even the trimmed entourage
had received reduced allowances on
the occasions that the host
governments have provided
accommodation and feeding.