President
Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday night in Nairobi, Kenya, reassured existing and
prospective foreign investors that their investments in Nigeria were secured
and
would be fully protected.
This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja
on Sunday by the president’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity,
Malam Garba Shehu.
The statement said that Buhari gave the assurance at a
bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, on the sidelines of
the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in
Nairobi.
The president outlined several steps taken by his administration to
secure the country and ease doing business in Nigeria.
He also told the
Japanese leader that “with the defeat of the Boko Haram terrorists by the
military, attention of my administration is now focused on stopping the
destruction of the country’s economic assets by militants in the Niger Delta’’.
He said that the militants must dialogue with the Federal government or be
dealt with in the same way like Boko Haram. “We are talking to some of their
leaders; we will deal with them as we dealt with Boko Haram if they refuse to
talk to us.
“As a government, we know our responsibility, which is to secure
the environment. “It is clear to us that lenders won’t fund projects in
insecure environments.
“We realize that we have to secure the country before we
can efficiently manage it,’’ Buhari said.
According to him, the security in the
Gulf of Guinea, which is greatly affected by piracy and armed robbery at sea,
is a priority for the Nigerian government. “We have provided funds to our Navy
to buy new platforms, train and effectively organize the personnel to protect
the area.
“We are looking forward to support from developed nations for
satellite surveillance covering the Gulf.’’
Buhari recalled his audience with
G7 leaders in Germany, and thanked Japan for responding positively to Nigeria’s
requests for the rehabilitation of victims of Boko Haram and rebuilding of
infrastructure in the North-East of the country.
He, however, stated that there
was still more to do on education, health and other infrastructure to ensure
quick and voluntary return of displaced persons to their communities.
On the
United Nations Security Council reform, the president agreed to work with Japan
for the reforms, stressing that the case for a permanent seat for Africa on the
council was a moral one. He also expressed Nigeria’s support for Japan in its
bid for a UN resolution on the problems in East China and South China as well
as the “uncontrolled nuclear tests by North Korea.’’
According to him, the UN
system is sufficient for the resolutions of all disputes and no nation should
be above the United Nations.
“This has to be made absolutely clear and I assure
the prime minister that I will meet as many leaders as possible at the
forthcoming UN General Assembly concerning the issues,’’ he added. In his
remarks, Abe congratulated Buhari “for courageously tackling Boko Haram
terrorism”.
He said Nigeria and Japan must work together to improve the
investment climate in view of the many Japanese companies wishing to invest in
Nigeria.
Abe reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to rapid development in Nigeria
through quality delivery of ongoing projects in the country, including Jebba
hydro power scheme and the Lagos railway project. (NAN)
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