President Barack Obama has invited President
Goodluck Jonathan for a meeting in New York
next month, the United States’ Under Secretary
for Political Affairs, Ms Wendy Sherman, has
said. Speaking with State House correspondents
after meeting with President Goodluck
Jonathan, Ms Sherman said Nigeria is a very
important country, not only in Africa but in the
world, which cannot be ignored. Reacting to a question on whether the failure
of Barack Obama to visit Nigeria during his last
trip to Africa was a snub on Nigeria, the
American official parried the question while
emphasising the importance of Nigerian/USA
relations. “Our presidents will likely meet soon. I will
leave that announcement to the President of
the United States and the President of Nigeria. “But Nigeria is a very important country, not
only here on the continent but around the
world.” Nigeria has served on the Security Council of
the UN and it is likely to do so again in future. “It is the head of the Committee on Democracy
and has been leader in so many ways, like in
ECOWAS as a peace-keeper all around the
world. These are the partnerships that are
important to us.” Sherman who is leading a delegation to the
US-Nigeria Bi-National Commission meeting
described the commission as an invaluable
tool for the two countries to work together for
a strong relationship between them. She added that the commission would
support Nigeria as it moves forward to meet
all the challenges before it. She identified the issues before the bi-
national commission to include security,
governance, education and agriculture. Sherman said during her meeting with
Jonathan, she delivered a letter from Obama
to President Jonathan who accepted it adding
that her country looks forward to working with
Nigeria further on the basis of the letter.
[vanguard]
