US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Nigeria as part of his three-nation tour in Africa. During his meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari and other top government officials in Abuja, he will be sending a strong message to China, its long-standing rival in the continent, that Africa’s largest democracy and economy remains its key ally. In his first visit to Nigeria since the beginning of the Biden administration, Blinken spoke of America’s commitment to building stronger ties as well as supporting democracy and governance in Africa’s most populous country. Whilst in Nigeria, Blinken also praised the “increasingly deep” collaboration between the African country and U.S. and stressed the importance of cooperation. The comments were welcomed by his Nigerian counterpart, Geoffrey Onyeama, who said they were “delighted to have the U.S. back supporting the multilateral system” and tackling climate change. Onyeama also called on the U.S. to push other industrialized countries to make good on their promise to give $100bn to developing countries each year to tackle and mitigate against climate change.
SOURCE: THE AFRICA REPORT