President Tinubu (R) and US Envoy, Molly Phew (L) during the visit to the Villa.
* Says his focus regarding Niger crisis is centred on Nigeria interests
* Denies being influenced by Western interests
* Accepts Biden’s invitation for bilateral economic discussion during UNGA in Sept
By Jon Egie
President Bola Tinubu yesterday advised United States Special Presidential Envoy & Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Molly Phee, to ensure that policies propounded by the Joe Biden administration of the United States are intentionally collaborative with independent African democracies at the present time when such African democracies are under assault by anti-democratic forces within and outside of the African continent.
President Tinubu stressed the need for a comprehensive reform of American-backed development finance and multilateral institutions that were designed to support war-torn Europe after World War 11 to meet the developmental requirements of younger democracies in Africa that operate in authouritarian crowded environments.
According to the president, the reforms would ensure that such legitimate yearnings of Africans would no longer be manipulated to serve the narrow aims of self-seeking demagogues through unconstitutional takeovers of power.
Determined to create prosperity for all Nigerian families, President Tinubu said under his leadership Nigeria stands ready to address specific regulatory, tax and environmental concerns of Nigerians but sued that the United States must be innovative in it’s thinking and systematically create incentives for United States industrial investments in Nigeria, to let the private sector lead the way.
President Tinubu said he was not geared on by the interest of any foreign nation within or outside West Africa but only advancing the interest of the Nigeria State, in his approach toward handling the ECOWAS/Niger Junta standoff, pointing out that the crisis in Niger Republic will not deter him from carrying on with his planned economic reforms for overall benefits of Nigerians.
“We are deep in our attempts to peacefully settle the issue in Niger by leveraging on our diplomatic tools. I continue to hold ECOWAS back, despite its readiness for all options, in order to exhaust all other remedial mechanisms. War is not ideal for my economic reforms, nor for the region, but the defense of democracy is sacrosanct. The ECOWAS consensus is that we will not allow anyone to insincerely buy time,” President Tinubu declared.
Responding, United States Special Presidential Envoy, Ambassador Molly Phee pledged support for the position of ECOWAS in the Niger crisis and expressed the high regard the United States has for President Tinubu in his capacity as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.
She extended an exclusive invitation from United States President, Joe Biden to meet President Tinubu on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City 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 said.
Accepting the United States President invitation, President Tinubu said 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.
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