 |
|
Buhari with United Nations Secretary
General Ban Ki Moon (left) and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
at the cocktail reception at the Munich residence ... yesterday.
|
President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived in Bavaria, Germany, clutching a
wish-list for consideration by leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations.
The summit of the top industrialized
nations started yesterday.
Top on the President’s list are Boko
Haram and Nigeria’s economic crisis.
The summit is due to discuss
militant threats from groups, such as Islamic State, with the leaders of
Tunisia and Iraq, who, along with Nigeria, form part of an “outreach” group of
non-G7 countries invited to the Summit.
Attending the Summit are United
States President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, French President
Francois Hollande, Canada’s Prime Ministers Stephen Harper and Italian Prime
Ministers Matteo Renzi.
The Nation report continues:
Buhari will hold bilateral talks
with Merkel and Harper on the sidelines of the Outreach Programme.
He is also expected to meet Obama,
Hollande and Cameron in the course of the Outreach Session and a working lunch
at the Elmau Castle today.
“He is in a group of seven other
Heads of State who were called in as guests,” said presidential spokesman Garba
Shehu.
“The international community is
obviously acknowledging Nigeria’s significant role in global affairs, especially
with the recent change in government,” Shehu added.
Also invited are: President Jacob
Zuma of South Africa, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia), President
Macky Sall (Senegal), President Beji Caid Essebsi (Tunisia) and Prime Minister
Hailemariam Desalegn (Ethiopia).
There are also Prime Minister Haider
Al-Abadi (Iraq); the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon; the
Secretary-General of the OECD, Angel Gurria; the Managing Director of the IMF,
Christine Largarde; the President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim; the
Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Guy Rider; and
the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.
Buhari arrived in Munich, Germany at
about 3.25 p.m. local time yesterday.
He was received by the Vice
Minister-President of Bavaria, Mrs. Inge Aigner. The president was accompanied
by Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima, former Lagos State Governor Babatunde
Fashola, former Army Chief Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau and the
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Paul B.
Lolo.
Last night the head of the Bavarian
regional government hosted Buhari and the others to dinner.
Apart from Boko Haram and general
insecurity, other issues on the wish list, which Buhari took along after
consultations with members of his think-tank, include: economic reform,
especially support on agriculture, SMEs and job creation; Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) in power supply and mass transit; electoral reforms ; collaboration
on anti-corruption, including the strengthening of anti-graft agencies, good
governance, including commitment to democracy, accountability and
transparency; development assistance and peace in the sub-region.
A source, who spoke in confidence,
said: “Certainly, Boko Haram insurgency is one of the top issues on the
wish-list of the President to the session of G-7. It is one of the reasons why
Governor Kashim Shettima, is on the delegation to Germany.
“This will cover intelligence
sharing on Boko Haram and ISIS on how to curtail terrorism in the sub-region.
We also need sophisticated surveillance and preventive equipment to fight the
scourge.
Buhari wants to put an end to arms
and military hardware embargo on Nigeria by some G-7 nations, especially the
United States.
“There is no point pretending,
terrorism is trying to have roots in the sub-region and we need international
collaboration to check the spread.”
The source added: “Without energy,
no country can develop. So, President Buhari is seeking Foreign Direct
Investment in power supply, mass transit and others to make life comfortable
for Nigerians.
“The focus borders on the
diversification of the nation’s sources of power supply. We are not tapping
solar and wind energy. Most of our investments in power are on
hydro-electricity.
“Therefore, Nigeria needs the
support of the World Bank for interventions on SMEs and agriculture to promote
mass job creation.”
Obama and Merkel held talks
yesterday before the summit.
Russia is the target of European
Union and US sanctions over its role in support of Ukrainian rebels.
Russia has been excluded from what
was previously known as the G8, since the annexation of Crimea last year.
The West accuses Russia of sending
military forces into eastern Ukraine to help the rebels – a charge echoed by
analysts. Moscow denies this, saying any Russian soldiers there are volunteers.
As he arrived in the Bavarian Alps,
Obama said G7 leaders would discuss “standing up to Russian aggression” in
Ukraine.
The White House issued a statement
after Mr Obama’s talks with Mrs Merkel, saying: “The duration of sanctions
should be clearly linked to Russia’s full implementation of the Minsk
agreements and respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty.”
Germany, Britain and the US want an
agreement to offer support to any EU member state tempted to withdraw backing
for the sanctions on Moscow, which are hurting the Russian economy.
Last September’s Minsk accord,
involving Russia, pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian government, included the
establishment of a 30km (19-mile) buffer zone between the two sides.
But fighting has intensified in
recent weeks. In the latest incident, two Ukrainian coastguards were injured
when a blast ripped through their patrol boat in the port of Mariupol, though
the exact circumstances remain unclear.
The European Union’s President of
the Council of Ministers, Donald Tusk, signalled a toughening of sanctions in a
statement at the G7.
“If anyone wants to start a debate
about changing the sanctions regime, the discussion could only be about
strengthening it.”
Cameron said he was hopeful that
there would be a united front to ensure that sanctions were “rolled over”
despite admitting that “sanctions are having an impact on all of us”.
EU sanctions are due to expire at
the end of July.
UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond
echoed concerns about wider Russian military pressure in an interview with
the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
But, when asked if the US should
redeploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe, Mr Hammond said the
West had a “delicate act to perform”.
“We’ve got to send a clear signal to
Russia that we will not allow them to transgress our red lines. At the same
time we have to recognise that the Russians do have a sense of being surrounded
and under attack, and we don’t want to make unnecessary provocations.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin
said on Saturday that Russia was not a threat and had “other things to worry
about”.
He told the Italian newspaper Corriere
della Sera: “Only an insane person and only in a dream can imagine that
Russia would suddenly attack Nato.”
Mr Obama was greeted in the town of
Kruen by Germany’s Chancellor Merkel.
The two leaders then sat down to a
traditional Bavarian meal of sausages and beer in the sunshine.
Greece’s debt crisis and how to
tackle global warming was also on the agenda.
Ahead of the G7 gathering, thousands
of protesters marched in the nearby town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, sparking
sporadic clashes with police.
Several marchers were taken to
hospital with injuries, but the violence was minor compared to some previous
summits.
Security is being provided by 17,000
police officers.
No comments:
Post a Comment