BY MARY KUYE
Whilst Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari continue to claim ignorance of the sponsors of Boko Haram, despite the list submitted to this present administration by the United Arab Emirate, the United States has on Monday indicated readiness to help Nigeria identify Boko Haram sponsors.
The US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Leonard, disclosed this on Monday during a meeting with journalists in Abuja.
The envoy was asked if the US was ready to help Nigeria identify sponsors of terrorism in Nigeria.
She, however, said talks were ongoing on the matter.
Leonard said, “That is something we are very eager to partner Nigeria on.
“I have had at least three conversations in the last two months on this subject.
“I won’t like to go into details.”
She also allayed fear that the US partnership with Nigeria might end up like that of Afghanistan.
According to her, Nigeria has had a strong bilateral relationship with the US, saying that the situations are not the same.
She added, “I hear people making the analogy with Afghanistan a lot, it does not match up.
“When you listen to what President Biden said on how troops went to Afghanistan in the first place, it was because they were in a horrible tragedy, over 3,000 Americans were killed.
“That is a different construct. The sovereign nations have had strong bilateral relations. I don’t actually think the two match up.”
The Commander, US Air Forces in Europe, General Jeffrey Harrigian, said the purchase of Tucano fighter jets was an opportunity to cement the US relationship with Nigeria as well as curbing insecurity.
He said, “The A -29 Super Tucano gives us an opportunity to reconnect our relationship with Nigeria.
“It is also an opportunity to bring together the capabilities on the human side and what the A29 brings to the nation, practically as it would contribute to bringing stability to not only Nigeria but the region.”
