Obama Declares Nigeria As World’s Next Major Economic Giant

The President of the United States of America,
Senator Barrack Obama has declared Nigeria
as the world’s next economic success story.
Stressing that the discovery was one of the major
reasons why his government is committed to
helping the country build strong democratic
institutions and as well remove constraints to
trade and investment through the African Growth
and Opportunity.
Making this declaration at the ongoing US-Nigeria
Trade and Investment Forum, an event organised
by the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation
(NIDOA) in Washington DC, yesterday, President
Obama who was represented by Ambassador
Eunice Reddick, a top official of the US
Department, said that his country expanded
opportunities for Nigeria to effectively access its
neighbor’s market, and diversify its economy
beyond a narrow reliance on natural resources
as a result of the discovery that the West African
nation will emerge as the world’ next economic
giant.
“As we support these efforts, the Diaspora can
play an important role in contributing to a strong,
vibrant, and economically prosperous Nigeria” he
noted.
President Obama pressed further that his country
invests in Nigeria’s success because it recognizes
Nigeria-s as a strategic center of gravity, stressing
that the country’s success will as well be Africa’s
success if the US can help Nigeria chart a
secured, prosperous, and democratic course.
The US leader also make it known that his
government will encourage Nigeria in the area of
private investment in the power sector as well as
other sectors to help seal the promise of growth
and opportunity for all Nigerians.
He continued that the US government will also
work to strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural sector,
which employs nearly 70 percent of the country’s
population, by encouraging improvements to
infrastructure that would facilitate agricultural
growth.
He also said that his government will help Nigeria
to iberalize trade policies to foster regional trade,
reform the customs system to bring it in line with
global best practices, and as well encourage
policy reforms to enable private investment in
agriculture.
Speaking on the US-Nigeria Bi-National
agreement, Obama said that the joint
Commission has grown into a forum for frank,
high-level concersations, in which both nations
have seen substantial reforms and mutually
reinforcing initiatives implemented in Nigeria.
His words: “Some key outcomes of the Binational
Commission so far have been successful
integration of civil society into the electoral
process prior to the 2011 elections, sustained
and elevated dialogue with energy sector officials
on energy policy, reforms to increase investment,
and agreement to support the development of a
civil affairs training center in the coming year”
“Energy and Investment, the subject of one of the
four working groups of the Binational
Commission, is critical to Nigeria-s present and
future”