Buhari and foreign travels

 Zayyad I. Muhammad

SIR: President Muhammadu Buhari is back in the country after participating in first the Russia-Africa summit in Sochi, Russian Federation from October 23-24.. Detractors, especially from the opposition and few public commentators have expressed dissatisfaction over the number of his overseas trips in his five years in power. They say, the president travels too often. They quote his number of overseas travels as 46 so far- three times in 2019, three times in 2018, three times in 2017, 21 times in 2016 and 16 times in 2015.

Buhari’s detractors chose to ignore the obvious truth that foreign trips are part of presidential responsibilities globally.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his eight years in power made over 140 foreign trips to 97 countries. Former President Goodluck Jonathan was also heavily criticized for his foreign trips. He was even accused of spending N3.3 billion on 20 trips abroad just in 2012.

Developing countries need to build interactions with the developed world and shuttles by their presidents are vital in this regard. Even in some developed countries, foreign trips are part of the many duties of their nations’ leaders. For example, the US president leads the country’s diplomatic efforts through state visits, meeting foreign leaders as well as attending international summits.  President Bill Clinton made 54 international trips to 72 different countries; President George W. Bush made 48 international trips to 73 different countries. President Barrack Obama made 52 international trips to 58 different countries while President Donald Trump has so far made 15 international trips to 22 countries.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s international shuttles are not for fun or relaxation but rather to negotiate Nigeria’s bilateral and multilateral relations; promote her foreign policy while also sourcing funding for Nigeria’s critical domestic infrastructure. Due to current realities in Nigeria, foreign trips have become necessary for tackling regional conflict and insurgency- especially the threats of Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP).

President Muhammadu Buhari’s international trips have helped Nigeria in the area of securing cheap loans, critical infrastructures, agriculture and combating regional and international terrorism including boosting Nigeria’s international image

On both long and short runs, Nigerians will see the gains of the President participation in the Russia-Africa summit. The summit is very important for Nigeria-Russia relations in terms of public infrastructure, improvement in the efficiency of Nigeria’s oil sector, military cooperation, fertilizer production, the Ajaokuta steel mill including Russian scholarship to Nigerians and technological & trade exchange.

• Zayyad I. Muhammad,  Jimeta, Adamawa State.