Renewal of US relations with Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has brought US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday, being 18th November 2021, to open talks with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osibanjo as part of his multinational tour of Africa. A Series of agreements between Nigeria and the United States was signed. The meeting was held at the presidential villa was to improve the relationship between US and Nigeria. Before Blinken’s visit to Nigeria, the United States of America reversed a Trump-era policy by removing Nigeria from the blacklist of nations that violate religious freedom. This marks the renewal of US relations with Nigeria by the Biden administration.
During a joint press conference, Geoffrey Onyeama, Nigerian Foreign Minister said the United States will work with Nigeria to give support in the areas of coronavirus vaccines, as well as military and trade affairs. He also said that the Nigerian government is working to create and facilitate greater market access with the United States to facilitate Nigerian agriculture exports of all commodities to the United States market. Blinken arrived in Nigeria from Kenya, where he called for African solutions to the continent’s crises, including the spiralling war in Ethiopia. He also pledged that the United States would promote democracy, action against climate change and Covid19.
