The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has emphasized the need to put the records straight with regard to President Muhammadu Buhari’s meeting with the United States Secretary of State, Mr Anthony Blinken.
According to the group in a press statement, at no time during that meeting did President Muhammadu Buhari request the United States of America to relocate the AFRICOM headquarters from Stuggart, Germany to Nigeria. “Rather, President Buhari, in the spirit of Nigeria having Africa as the centrepiece of its foreign policy, noted the need to site the AFRICOM headquarters in Africa.
In the statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, the group said “based on the security challenges facing African countries particularly Somalia, Mali and Libya, among others, it is only reasonable that the United States should have its AFRICOM operational office on Africa in the African continent.
“We also note that the United States Secretary of State had at the meeting acknowledged that Nigeria remained its strategic partner, and pledged improved cooperation between the two countries. It is also noteworthy that Nigeria was the first port of call in Africa by the new US Secretary Blinken.
“We consider the false impression being created in certain quarters that President Muhammadu Buhari expressly requested the United States Secretary of State to relocate the AFRICOM headquarters from Germany to Nigeria as a misrepresentation by a section of the media. There is no portion of the speech the President delivered at the virtual meeting that mentioned a request for the AFRICOM headquarters to be relocated to Nigeria.
“We, therefore, want to disabuse the minds of the people who may have been holding the wrong views about the president’s comments at the meeting or feeling such request must have been made based on the country’s security challenges”.
BMO noted that under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, so many proactive measures have been taken to strengthen the Nigerian military and the Police. Some of the measures include the order for 12 Tucano fighter jets for the fight against terrorism and equipping the military and police formations in the country.
“The Nigerian Air Force which had remained ill-equipped for about 10 years before President Buhari came to power is now performing optimally and boasts of modern equipment, regular training of pilots and now has the ability to rapidly respond to crisis situations.
“We also acknowledge that despite the security problems confronting the country, under President Buhari, the efforts of the various security agencies have been harmonised and they now work as a team in tackling the security challenges, the statement added.