The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, on Thursday, justified the number of foreign trips embarked upon by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), since 2015, adding that the trips were not enough.
Onyeama stated this while fielding questions from the press at the second edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari Regime Scorecard Series (2015-2023) in Abuja.
Buhari has travelled out of the country up to 51 times since 2015. However, there have been some allegations that the trips embarked upon did not bring any benefits to the country.
But Onyeama described Buhari as the most effective Foreign Minister, noting Nigeria is one of the top countries in terms of economic improvements as a result of his trips.
The Minister said, “I would say the trips of the President Buhari is not even enough because you cannot imagine what is achieved with these personal engagements between the President and his counterparts. He has been the most effective Foreign Minister, I would say, one of the best that this country has ever had. If I had my way, I would have him even visit more countries but he declines.
“A lot of Nigerians do not appreciate the importance of President Buhari. If we know the affection and the respect in which he is held by other leaders, it is breathtaking. Some leaders insist on him coming into their countries, even when he declines, the countries still insist and a lot has been achieved.
“We had a huge reduction in capacity oil production from two billion barrels even though the quantity that we are producing a day went below our OPEC quota; below one million barrels a day and all the other humanitarian challenges in the North coupled with terrorism all over the country.
“It is a miracle that in a World Bank forecast of the countries and the economic trajectory, Nigeria is one of the top countries in terms of economic improvements and indices for improvement. It is not by chance. It is because of the hard work that Mr. President has been able to do in his engagement with countries and to maintain the confidence of a lot of countries still have in Nigeria.”
