Why Obama won't visit Nigeria
President Barack Obama will not be visiting Nigeria during his upcoming three-nation trip to Africa because of the ongoing insecurity, United States officials hinted on Tuesday.
They were quick to add that the exclusion will not affect bilateral relations between both countries.
During Obama’s second visit to the continent, he would visit Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa to discuss trade and investment, democratic institution-building, young people, and enhancing economic growth.
American Deputy National Security Advisor, Ben 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.
They were quick to add that the exclusion will not affect bilateral relations between both countries.
During Obama’s second visit to the continent, he would visit Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa to discuss trade and investment, democratic institution-building, young people, and enhancing economic growth.
American Deputy National Security Advisor, Ben 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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