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President Barack Obama welcomed President Muhammadu Buhari to the White House on Monday and hailed him for working to restore “safety, security and peace” to Nigeria.
Mr. Obama said President Buhari had “a very clear agenda in defeating Boko Haram and extremists of all sorts inside of his country. And he has a very clear agenda in terms of rooting out the corruption that too often has held back the economic growth and prosperity of his country,” according to the Associated Press.
President Buhari arrived Washington DC on Sunday, on a four-day official visit where he would discuss bilateral issues with Mr. Obama and other U.S. officials.
The Nigerian president, who arrived Joint Based Andrews Airport Washington, was received by the Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and James Entwistle, U.S Ambassador to Nigeria.
Others at the airport to receive the president included the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States, Ade Adefuye, Nigerian embassy officials and governors of Borno, Nasarawa, Imo, Oyo and Edo.
Mr. Buhari met with some officials of the United States government officials Sunday.
The meeting with Mr. Obama on Monday took at the historic Oval Office.
The two leaders spoke to journalists at the start of their meeting.
Mr. Obama said the United States will partner with Nigeria so that the country “ends up being not only an anchor of prosperity and stability in the eastern part of the continent, but can also be an outstanding role model for developing countries around the world”.
He added that he would discuss with Buhari how the two nations can cooperate on counter-terrorism and how the U.S. can be helpful in addressing some of the corruption issues that have held Nigeria back, according to AP.
In his response, President Buhari said Nigeria would be “ever grateful” to the U.S. for its support of free elections in Nigeria, and said pressures from the U.S. and European to ensure the election was “fair and credible led us to where we are now,” according to the AP.
Other events on Monday include Media Chat with the Secretary of Commerce, ECOWAS Ambassadors in Washington, US Attorney General, Secretary of Treasury and a group of potential investors.
Mr. Buhari is also to be hosted to a dinner by the US Chamber of Commerce and Corporate Council.
On Tuesday, the president will have an interactive session with the media at 7 a.m. and later meet with officials of the World Health Organisation on economic assistance programme for the North-East.
The president will meet with the president of the World Bank group as well as the representative of the Bill Gates Foundation.
He will also meet with the US Secretary of state John Kerry, Director of the CIA and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The president will meet with the class of 1980 US Army War College, where the president is an alumnus will also hold on Tuesday after which he will address a joint session of the Senate and House committees on foreign Affairs at the Capitol Hill.
Mr. Buhari will address Nigerian youth in the United States at the Chancery as well as participate in a town hall meeting with Nigerians in Diaspora.
He will wrap up the visit with interactive session with the Nigerian media and the National Democratic Institute before departing for Nigeria on Wednesday.
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