President Buhari's foreign trips not frivolous - Minister

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

In a statement issued on Friday in Abuja, the Minister said all 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 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.

Segun Adeyemi
SA to Hon Minister of Information and Culture
Abuja
Dec. 4th 2015