United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle
The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle, Thursday assured the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, of US adequate cooperation and support in the areas of insecurity, power supply, human empowerment and investment opportunities, saying Nigeria has all it takes to be a great nation.
Entwistle made this remark at a meeting with Saraki during the US ambassador’s courtesy visit to his office in Abuja.
“I am optimistic about the future of this country especially when I meet young Nigerians. Their energy, their zeal and prowess indicate that Nigeria will be great,” Entwistle said.
In his remark, Saraki assured the US that the eight Senate would evolve legislations aimed at guaranteeing investment-friendly environment.
According to him, the legislature would meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians in view of the huge resources the nation is endowed with.
He also hailed the existing cordial relationship between Nigeria and America, assuring the us for that lawmakers would explore the opportunity of their oversight functions to address the myriad of challenges militating against the progress of Nigeria.
“This eight Senate has the mandate to give to Nigerians the dividends of democracy. We will put in place comprehensive systems to make our revenues meet our needs. Our oversight functions would be strengthened in such a way that there will be no room for loopholes in implementing government plans and projects.
“I can assure you that Nigeria will continue to be attractive to investment opportunities. We have the human capital and with our younger generation’s steadfastness, training and development, our much needed goals would be achieved,” he said.
Speaking with journalists after the visit, Entwistle expressed concerns about the state of Nigerian youths, saying even though the biggest investment of the US is in energy, the country would shift attention to agriculture.
“We have a lot of programmes focusing on youths. You have seen the president of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) announce what we called Young Africa Leadership Initiative. So, we do it a lot but I have to turn the question around. What is Nigeria doing to develop young people in this country? That’s the first step and it is only then that we can see how we can help.
“On strategic business initiative, like the Senate President said, our biggest investment in US is in the oil companies. But it seems to me that the areas we should focus on is in agriculture business. To the US, which seems to me a likely one, I think a lot can be done in areas such as environmentally-friendly matters - the energy. I know there are a lot of American industries that deal in solar energy,” he said.
On insurgency in Nigeria, Entwistle said: “No other country of the world is doing more than US is doing in the fight against insurgency in Nigeria. I have spoken to the new administration on new ways of fighting insurgency. We have been helping in fighting Boko Haram insurgents for years and we will continue to assist the country in that fight, I can assure you.”
THISDAY
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