PBAT Tasks U.S Envoy On Defending Democracy In West Africa 

President Ahmed Bola Tinubu on Saturday advised the United States Presidential Envoy and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Molly Phee, to ensure that U.S policies are intentionally collaborative with independent African democracies at a time when they are under assault by anti-democratic forces within and outside of the continent.

In a statement by Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, the President notes that American-backed development finance and multilateral institutions, which were designed to support war-torn Europe after World War II, required swift and comprehensive reforms to meet the developmental requirements of younger democracies in Africa.

“Yes, the private sector will lead the way within an enabling environment we create for them, but the U.S. Government must be innovative in its thinking and systematically create incentives for U.S industrial investments in Nigeria. Under my leadership, Nigeria stands ready to address its specific regulatory, tax, and environmental concerns. I am determined to create prosperity for all Nigerian families,” the statement declares.

It says the Nigerian leader affirmed that the crisis in Niger Republic would not deter him from concluding his economic reforms programme successfully for the benefit of Nigerians and that he takes a queue from no nation, but will only advance the interest of the Nigerian state in his approach towards ECOWAS’ handling of the regional standoff.

“We are deep in our attempts to peacefully settle the issue in Niger by leveraging our diplomatic tools. I continue to hold ECOWAS back, despite its readiness for all options, to exhaust all other remedial mechanisms. War is not ideal for my economic reforms, nor the region, but the defense of democracy is sacrosanct. The ECOWAS consensus is that we will not allow anyone to insincerely buy time,” the ECOWAS Chairman affirms.

Pledging its support for the position of ECOWAS, the U.S Envoy expresses the high regard the U.S. Administration has for the leadership of the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Bola Tinubu, and extended an exclusive invitation from the U.S. President Joe Biden to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York to advance discussions further in late September.

“We know there is more we can do to incentivize large-scale American investment in Nigeria and we are committed to working closely with you to achieve that, as part of efforts to strengthen the Nigerian economy and the regional economy. We appreciate your willingness to create an enabling environment for that. President Joe Biden is asking to meet with you on the sidelines of UNGA and you are the only African leader he has requested to meet. It is a mark of his high regard for your leadership,” the U.S. Special Envoy says.

The statement concludes that President Tinubu accepts the invitation to meet the U.S. President on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and that the work of perfecting democracy is never done, even in developed democracies, as seen recently in America, as well as other emerging democracies in the world.