Headline

Pendulum: 30 Years of Living and Working in Lagos (Part 2)

Published

7 years ago

May 12, 2018

Eric

By Dele Momodu

Fellow Nigerians, I started what would easily pass for my mini-biography last week in this column. The response from readers has been truly humbling. It is not easy starting a career with a bang and maintaining the ovation consistently for 30 years, and still counting. My story reassures us that our youths can still achieve a lot if they work very hard and tenaciously on their dreams. I was certainly not born with spoons, be it bronze, silver or gold, but education opened my eyes to uncommon possibilities. Rather than bemoan my humble background or begrudge successful people or government officials, as architects of my poor economic condition, I arrived Lagos in 1988 with a vengeance. I promised myself something; I will work as if work was going out of vogue, and I would leave the rest to God to sort out. And God answered my prayers beyond my asking. Things happened so fast and till this day, I’m still in a daze, some kind of wondrous haze.

I stopped last week at the point I became the pioneer Editor of Leaders & Company, the parent of Thisday newspapers. There are lessons to be learnt from my uncommon trajectory. Please, let me rewind a bit. When I was leaving Ile-Ife to seek greener pastures in Lagos, my dream was to work for only one newspaper, The Guardian, owned by the great Publisher, Mr Alex Ibru. I was equally attracted by the powerful assemblage of superstar writers in The Guardian: Olatunji Dare, Stanley Macebuh, Yemi Ogunbiyi, Onwuchekwa Jemie, Chinweizu, Sully Abu, Andy Akporugo, Odia Ofeimun, Edwin Madunagu, Patrick Dele Cole, Femi Osofisan, Sonala Olumhense, Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, Amma Ogan, Greg Obong-Oshotse, and others, who worked there. They were first and world class. For any budding writer at the time, your dream was to work or write, every now and then, for The Guardian. Though the Concord Press of Nigeria, owned by Chief Moshood Abiola, was a much bigger media empire, with different publications, in English, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo languages, every person of intellectual bent queued up patiently to appear in The Guardian. It was the Holy Grail of Nigerian Press.

Many of us had our biases against Chief MKO Abiola, who had acquired many unprintable sobriquets and nomenclature. Some of the more palatable ones included Islamic fundamentalist, friend of the military, American agent, and all sorts. I therefore joined the Concord most reluctantly, and mainly out of desperation. Little did I know, that it was working within this organisation that would be the springboard to my successful career in journalism and public relations. Prior to that, I was writing on the opinion page of The Guardian to keep my body and soul together. On joining the Concord, I realised Abiola had been a veritable victim of the most malicious campaign of calumny. Though he was not a saint, he definitely was not the demon he had been painted to be, particularly by legendary musician, social critic and kinsman, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. I learnt many lessons for working for Chief Abiola from 1988-90, two years that now seemed like eternity.

I discovered the real Abiola. He was totally detribalised. He never practised quota system. No one asked about our State of origin or religion. It was immaterial that you were male or female. Christians held some of the most important positions in his organisation, at different times. We had and heard of non-Yoruba names like MCK Ajuluchukwu, Tom Borha, Stanley Egbochukwu, Nsikak Essien, Rose Umoren, Chike Akabogu (of blessed memory), Sam Omatseye, Lewis Obi, Ben Okezie, Yakubu Mohammed, Ray Ekpu, Dele Giwa, Nosa Igiebor, Nnamdi Obasi, May Ellen Ezekiel, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Dimgba Igwe, Ohi Alegbe, Betty Irabor… I can go on and on. All that qualified you for a job with Concord was that you had intellect or flair, or both. Journalists enjoyed substantial freedom, except on several and specific occasions when the military governments vehemently protested against certain stories and threatened hell fire and brimstone. We had a bush canteen where we committed sins of gluttony and alcoholism. Most journalists smoked like chimneys and were never discriminated or recriminated against by our amazing Chairman. He gave everyone his due and was probably the most generous employer of his time.

No one ever missed an opportunity to visit Chairman’s house in Ikeja. A visit would always guarantee some hefty gift, mostly cash. I remember an occasion when Babafemi Ojudu and I went to interview him. He made sure he arranged some substantial taxi fare for us, despite being the one paying our salaries. Our colleagues at work were endlessly jealous of our good fortune. On another occasion, our Managing Director, Dr Doyinsola Abiola had sent me on errand to secure the music star, Sir Shina Peters, for a performance at Chairman’s house where he was hosting the Super Eagles national team. Job done, I went to Chairman’s house to give a positive feedback and he was very elated. Abiola was a Master of appreciation. He must have noticed the rubbish wristwatch I adorned so proudly on my wrist and he entered his bedroom and came back with a solid gold watch which he gifted to me.

On several occasions, I had the privilege of listening to our Chairman as he explained his many battles and how he won most of them. He was a naturally affable personality (I liked to call him the spellbinder in many of my reports on him) and so it was not surprising that he had friends in high and low places. Did he take advantage of his extensive global connections and networks? Who wouldn’t? But he didn’t do business for the benefit of himself and family alone. He was the modern-day Santa Claus who spent lavishly on virtually all those who came in contact with him. His generosity was legendary. He represented one of Africa’s biggest business interests, ITT, in Africa and the Middle East, and so the accusation of him being an American agent was not surprising even if far-fetched. The lesson I learnt was not to judge anyone without cast-iron evidence. This attitude would help me and my business of journalism in years to come. As a matter of policy, I learnt not to attack viciously but to present my story in a fair and balanced manner and let the readers be the judge and interpreter.

Another lesson was in the art of dedication. I loved my job with a passion and it was palpable. No one would have believed that I worked at Concord for only, and exactly, two years, but our relationships didn’t just end there. I did not tell the famous generalissimo I was teleporting to Classique magazine but told our MD, Dr Doyinsola Abiola (nee Aboaba). I later ran into Chief Abiola at Sheraton Hotel & Towers, a few months after, where he was hosting Mallam Sani Zorro, a staff of Concord, who had just been elected President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists. Chief Abiola, who flew in that evening from Tokyo, if my memory is intact, gave May Ellen Ezekiel (God rest her soul) and I a pleasant surprise. As he made his speech, extemporaneously, he acknowledged both of us and asked, rhetorically, why I left without informing him.

I walked up to the boss of all bosses after the event and apologised to him. He was just too kind. He said my leaving Concord did not mean I could no longer visit his home and he requested for my business card but I had none on me. He then took one from my friend, Bimbo Ashiru, who was present, and signed behind it with written instructions to his security to give me unfettered access to his house. He then asked me to paste my own card on Ashiru’s own and laminate. “That is your multiple visa to my house,” he said jocularly. And indeed, that simple note opened doors from then to the end. I practically became Abiola’s official biographer. If he sneezed or coughed, I turned it into big exciting stories. Our bond grew in leaps and bounds. We became almost inseparable. He never considered anyone too junior or too young and I experienced to advise him and he listened and consented to superior argument and logic. He taught us to convince ourselves about anything before we can hope to convince others. We got to a point that he publicly announced to the media world that I was his adopted son, and I felt truly honoured. Interestingly, after I resigned from my job at Classique, and decided to start a public relations outfit, my first account came from Kola Abiola, who signed me as a consultant to their Summit Oil International company. My adult life has always intertwined media and public relations. I’m certain, I was brought to this world for the two.

I added other accounts later and consulted for the Spirit of Africa, an extremely hardworking and irrepressible business Guru, Dr Mike Adenuga Jnr, as well as Mr Hakeem Belo Osagie, fondly called the whiz-kid, who had just acquired United Bank for Africa, and worked with him on the Moneygram project, in Belgravia, London, when he brought the money transfer company to Nigeria. I also handled an aspect of Chief Abiola’s media campaign when he launched his Presidential bid. I was fortunate to meet and work closely with them at a young age. I was 28 when I joined Concord, 31 when I met Dr Adenuga and I was 33 when Chief Abiola contested in 1993, and I had been working for or meeting with the rich and famous, high and mighty in Nigeria since the age of about 20. This would adequately prepare me for the task of establishing and sustaining an elaborate publication as Ovation International in the future.

Chief Abiola entrusted me with great responsibilities. For example, he had sent me to Vienna, Austria, to represent him at the Bruno Kreisky awards, where Chief Gani Fawehinmi, was a proud recipient. As important as June 12, 1993, was to all of us, I left Nigeria on June 9, 1993, and joined Chief Fawehinmi in Vienna, on June 10. The event was on June 11. Chief Fawehinmi was shocked to see me in person. “Dele is this you or your apparition?” he exclaimed in his famous loud voice. I told him Chief Abiola had sent me with a special letter of congratulations and he was deeply touched. The ceremony went well on June 11.

I left Vienna for London on June 12, but there was no way to return to Nigeria faster. I called Nigeria on June 13 and was told by sources at Concord that Chairman was coasting home to victory. I called Nduka Obaigbena on June 14 but the news he gave me was as if I had received a sucker punch to my solar plexus. “Dele, where have you been? Try and reach your man Abiola and tell him to call his friend IBB (Babangida) urgently. It looks like he would win the election but they won’t hand over to him…” I promptly told him to stop the joke. How was it possible for a man to work feverishly and sleeplessly, as Abiola had done, and yet fail to get his mandate, I wondered aloud. I couldn’t reach Chief Abiola in the midst of this hullabaloo. Chief Fawehinmi arrived London that Monday of June 14, 1993, and I broke the news of what Nduka had told me to him. He too dismissed the report as unfounded. He said if there was any atom of truth in it, he was ready to fight to finish.

We boarded our flight from London Gatwick, North Terminal, two days later, on June 16, 1993, when the news came stealthily, like a thief in the night, that the military government in Nigeria had asked that the counting of votes be stopped by the electoral commission. Our worst nightmare was actually turning into unfortunate reality. By the time we landed, Nigeria was almost reaching a boiling point. Dr Beekololari Randsome-Kuti and Lawyer Femi Falana were already on standby and waiting for Fawehinmi’s arrival. That was it. What started stupidly as a wicked joke had suddenly spiralled out of control. The chickens had come home to roost and Nigeria, its leaders and its people would not be at peace for a long time to come.

I soon became an early victim of this unnecessary, ill-advised and ill-fated provocation. I was picked up one early morning in July 1993, by security agents on orders from God-knows-who! I was kept in a putrefied, rancid cell at Alagbon Close, in Ikoyi, Lagos. Thus, began my baptism of fire and a cat and mouse game between me and the then military government. The farce eventually reached a climax under the Abacha government and I was forced into exile on July 25, 1995. My dramatic escape from Nigeria is another story to be retold some other day …

Headline

How FG Spent N19bn on Presidential Planes in 15 Months – Report

Published

5 hours ago

November 12, 2024

Eric

At least N19.43 billion has reportedly been spent on the maintenance and operations of the Presidential Air Fleet from July 2023 to September 2024.

According to GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks and analyses the Federal government’s spending, showed that for 2024, the payouts amounted to N13.55billion, representing 66 per cent of the allocations for the fleet in the 2024 fiscal year.

Most disbursements were labeled ‘Forex Transit Funds,’ typically funds allocated for foreign exchange requirements to facilitate international transactions and engagements.

In the context of the Presidential Air Fleet, such funds are used to cover expenses related to operations outside the country, including fuel purchases, maintenance or services in foreign currencies.

“When aircraft on the fleet are abroad, payments are often made in U.S. dollars or another foreign currency to ensure uninterrupted operations,” a government official explained.

In July 2023, N1.52bn was disbursed in two tranches of N846m and N675m for ‘Presidential air fleet forex transit funds.’

The following month, N3.1bn was disbursed in three tranches of N388m, N2bn, and N713m for the same item.

In November of that year, N1.26bn was released to the Presidential Air Fleet Naira transit account.

The first overhead for 2024 came in March, where N1.27bn were disbursed twice, amounting to N2.54bn. The transit account received N6.35bn in April, N4.97bn in May and N210m in July.

August saw the highest frequency of transactions, with N5.60bn released in six separate disbursements.

Although these transactions were not clearly labeled, the monies were paid into the Presidential Air Fleet naira transit account, including the N35m transfer made in September.

In late April, the transit account received N5.08bn; this came around the same time the President was on a two-nation tour to the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.

Although Tinubu arrived in the Netherlands in a state-owned Gulfstream AeroSpace 550 Jet, the aircraft could not proceed to Saudi Arabia due to unspecified technical problems. He reportedly continued his journey on a chartered private plane.

At the time, the President’s Boeing 737 business jet was undergoing maintenance. It was later replaced with an Airbus A330 purchased for $100m in August through service-wide votes.

The nearly 15-year-old plane, an ACJ330-200, VP-CAC (MSN 1053), is “spacious and furnished with state-of-the-art avionics, customised interior and communications system,” Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga said, adding that it “will save Nigeria huge maintenance and fuel costs, running into millions of dollars yearly.”

The new Airbus A330 is just one of several aircraft currently on the Presidential Air Fleet, arguably one of Africa’s largest, with around 11 aircraft of various makes and models. Until August, it comprised the 19-year-old B737-700 and a 13-year-old Gulfstream Aerospace G550.

The BBJ was acquired during the tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo at $43m but became a money guzzler as it aged.

Onanuga, defending the purchase of Airbus A330, argued that the new Airbus 330 aircraft and the costs of maintaining the air fleet were not for the president but in the interest of Nigerians.

“It’s not President Tinubu’s plane; it belongs to the people of Nigeria, it is our property…the President did not buy a new jet; what he has is a refurbished jet – it has been used by somebody else before he got it, but it is a much newer model than the one President Buhari used.

“The one President Buhari used was bought by President Obasanjo some 20 years ago. There was a time when the President went to Saudi Arabia, and the plane developed some problems. The President had to leave the Netherlands with a chartered jet.

“Nigerians should try to prioritise the safety of the President. I’m not sure anybody wishes our president to go and crash in the air. We want his safety so that he can hand it over to whoever wants to take over from him,” Onanuga said.

The presidential aide said he discussed with the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, on the faulty plane [Boeing 737 jet] and he said the maintenance costs were excessive because of the age of the aircraft, hence the need for another plane.

The presidential fixed-wing fleet includes a Gulfstream G500, two Falcon 7Xs, a Hawker 4000, and a Challenger 605.

Three of the seven fixed-wings are reportedly unserviceable. Meanwhile, the rotor-wing fleet includes two Agusta 139s and two Agusta 101s, all operated by the Nigerian Air Force but supervised by the Office of the National Security Adviser.

Former President Buhari promised to reduce the number of aircraft in the PAF to the absolute necessary.

In April 2023, three jets were put up for sale, but there were no specifics on which.

However, efforts to sell one of the Dassault Falcon 7x and the Hawker 4000 in October 2016 stalled when a potential buyer reduced their initial offer from $24m to $11m.

Since 2017, budgetary allocations for the fleet have shown a growing trend, with one exception in 2020.

The allocation for the fleet increased from N4.37bn in 2017 to N20.52bn in 2024, showing a 370 per cent rise in running costs.

In 2018, the fleet’s budget rose significantly by 66.13 per cent to N7.26bn, driven by a substantial increase in capital project allocations while maintaining similar levels for recurrent costs. This upward trajectory continued into 2019, slightly increasing the total allocation to N7.30bn.

The exception came in 2020, when the budget dropped by nearly seven per cent to N6.79bn, primarily due to decreased overhead costs, a reflection of the global economic impacts of lockdowns and disruptions in operations.

By 2021, however, the budget surged dramatically to N12.55bn—a record increase of 84.83 per cent from the previous year.

In 2022, maintenance expenses for each aircraft ranged from $1.5m to $4.5m annually.

The 2022, 2023 and 2024 appropriation acts earmarked N12.48bn, N13.07bn and N20.52bn respectively.

On his way to the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Samoa, a foreign object damaged the cockpit windscreen of Vice President Kashim Shettima’s GulfStream aircraft during a stopover at JFK Airport in New York.

According to Lee Aerospace, manufacturers of the Gulfstream, jet windshields consist of thick multilayered structures of varying layers of glass and transparent acrylic built to withstand collision with a 2kg object.

However, damage to the windshield must have affected its inner layers. While specific prices for replacement can vary based on supplier, labour rates and regional costs, estimates suggest that a single windshield replacement for a G550 can range from $50,000 to $70,000 for part and labour costs.

In an interview with our correspondent, the General Secretary of the Aviation Round Table, Olumide Ohunayo, blamed the meteoric rise in the allocations for the PAF on the age of some of the aircraft in the fleet and declining value of the naira as well as the “commercial use” of aircraft by the Nigerian Air Force.

Ohunayo said, “The cost will definitely increase over the years because for one, this issue of the naira against the dollar. As the naira keeps falling to the dollar, we will see a rise in cost because most of the costs of training crew and engineers and replacing aircraft parts are all in dollars.

“Also, some of these aircraft are not new. The older the aircraft, the higher the cost of maintenance and operation.

“Lastly, during these past years, terrorism and insecurity have increased in Nigeria, which has also affected the cost of insuring the aircraft.”

For his part, the Executive Chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, argued that the administration’s spending habits were opposite to Nigerians’ expectations of frugality.

“What we are getting from this administration is opposite to our expectation. We thought we would have an administration that would be frugal in spending and very meticulous at implementing its budget.

“But what we are getting is an administration that has fallen in love with profligacy; that doesn’t see anything wrong in living big amid a poverty-stricken nation.

“It is a reenactment of the Shagari administration, whereby they bought the biggest Mercedes Benz and made themselves as comfortable as possible without considering how much the masses are suffering.

“So when you look at a Vice President saying he’s not travelling [to Samoa] again because there was a splinter on the windscreen of his private aircraft. Why should that be the case?

“First and foremost, we need to be represented at such an international meeting, where we should be well represented by the first two citizens of this country.

“He abandoned that, which means we would have lost certain representation that we deserve at that forum. Two, money will have been spent on advance parties that went ahead of the Vice President. But he abandoned the journey altogether.”

Headline

Pastor Tunde Bakare: Celebrating a Visionary Preacher @70

Published

2 days ago

November 10, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

He is visionary, blunt, articulate, passionate, fiery, evangelical, fearless, controversial and the newest septugenarian. He is the Founder and Presidng Pastor of the Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC), formally known as the Latter Rain Assembly. He is Pastor Tunde Bakare.

A thought provoking preacher, social commentator, legal expert and politician, Tunde Bakare has come of age in the business called Nigeria.

Born on November 11, 1954, Pastor Bakare is regarded as not only a prophetic-apostolic pastor, but a social and economic image maker, whose contributions to the originality, truth and oneness of the nation cannot be overemphasized.

Originally a Muslim, who embraced the Christian faith in 1974 at the age of 20, Bakare has contributed his quota as a nation builder, seeking both the Vice president and president positions of the nation on two different occasions.

Pastor Bakare started his educational life at All Saints Primary School, Kemta, Abeokuta, and subsequently Lisabi Grammar School, Abeokuta, where he obtained both the School Leaving Certificate and the West Africa Examination Council certificate

After his secondary education, he was admitted into the University of Lagos where he studied Law between 1977 and 1980 before attending Law School in 1981, and was subsequently called to the Bar and following his time in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

Bakare kickstarted his career when he started practicing law at the Gani Fawehinmi Chambers. His dexterity on the job propelled him to Rotimi Williams & Co., and later to Burke & Co., Solicitors.

In October 1984, he went solo, and established his own law firm, Tunde Bakare & Co. (El-Shaddai Chambers). Within the preceeding periods, he combined his legal duties with pastoral functions working as a legal adviser at the Deeper Life Bible Church, and later moving to the Redeemed Christian Church of God, where he became pastor and founded the Model Parish.

Following his time at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Bakare left to start the Latter Rain Assembly Church in 1989, known today aa CGCC, where he presently serves as the General Overseer. In addition to his time in the church, he zeroed into part time politics, serving as the running-mate to presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari in the 2011 presidential election. Bakare has been critical of Nigeria’s leadership and has sparked controversy with comments considered inflammatory regarding Muslims and other spiritual leaders.

Also in 2019, Bakare announced his intention to run for president of Nigeria following the end of Buhari’s second term with a total conviction that he has a direct mandate to do and will surely become the next president of Nigeria. He joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) but, lost at the primaries conducted at Eagle Square, Abuja, in May 2022. He launched his then political trajectory under the New Nigeria Progressive Movement.

While expressing his intentions to run for the 2023 presidential election towards becoming the next president of Nigeria to church members in 2019 when he was quoted as saying, “I will succeed Buhari as President of Nigeria; nothing can change it. I am number 16, and Buhari is number 15. I never said it to you before. I am saying it now, and nothing can change it. In the name of Jesus, he (Buhari) is number 15. I am number 16. To this end, I was born, and for this purpose, I came into the world. I have prepared you for this for more than 30 years.”

Bakare also presides over the Global Apostolic Impact Network (GAIN), a network of churches, ministries, and kingdom businesses committed to advancing the Kingdom of God on earth as well as the President of Latter Rain Ministries, Inc. (Church Development Center) in Atlanta, GA, USA, a ministry committed to restoring today’s church to the scriptural pattern. He was given a Doctor of Ministry degree by Indiana Christian University under the leadership of his mentor, Dr. Lester Sumrall, in 1996.

Bakare has been instrumental to some uprisings in the country that challenge unhealthy administrations. It would be recalled that his Occupied Nigeria Movement led the protest against the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in January 2012 after minor increase in fuel price. The protest was a total success, and led to reduction in fuel pump price.

Also a social critic, Bakare is critical of Miyetti Allah, labeling the Fulani herdsmen as a group of terrorists who rape, murder, and kidnap innocent civilians. Several Fulani Islamic scholars criticized Bakare’s comments about Fulani herdsmen as Islamophobic. Bakare had said that Fulani herdsmen were driving Nigeria towards a civil war.

He also holds a yearly state of the nation address to set the stage for the future and review national issues of the year past.

In his 2019 address, he stated, “We can therefore confidently state that, over the past thirty years, we have faithfully executed our God-given mandate to the nation from this platform. Over the past thirty years, we have deployed appropriate tools for appropriate occasions, from prophetic declarations to confrontational advocacy and from political activism to propositional policy advisory. Over the past thirty years, we have done this consistently, sometimes at the risk of being misunderstood by friends and foes alike.

“We have been motivated not by wavering
opinions of men but by our unshakeable faith in our national destiny and an unalloyed commitment to seeing that destiny fulfilled.”

Reports have it that he was arrested in March 2002 after preaching sermons critical of Nigeria’s then-president, Olusegun Obasanjo.

No matter how it is viewed, and the direction of his controversies, one thing is obvious, Bakare has stood on the side of truth, hope, and justice, and has remained consistent over the years.

The Serving Overseer has been very vocal, his trademark, over the recent hardship in the country, condemning the politicians for preaching what they cannot practice.

He said Nigerian politicians were not living lean or sacrificing like the rest of the citizens whom they asked to sacrifice for the country by enduring economic hardship.

Bakare said this while delivering the keynote address with the theme: “Cultivating a Culture of Dialogue: Nurturing Understanding in a Culturally and Socially Diverse Nation” at Wilson and Yinka Badejo Memorial Lecture 2024.

He is a strong believer in the theory that the pen is mightier than the sword. He write in an essay of same title that:

“The likes of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Kwame Nkrumah, and Chief Obafemi Awolowo, armed with no other weapon, mobilised the Queen’s language in the struggle for independence from the Queen. They fought their battles through such media as West African Pilot, Accra Evening News and The Tribune. Decades after independence, when free, fair and credible elections were annulled, and a tyrannical dictatorship held sway, the Nigerian press took up the baton and contended against the sword of oppression by deploying the armoury of vocabulary. I am so glad that the labours of these pen warriors and all others who fought for the democracy we enjoy today have not been in vain after all.”

For seven decades, Pastor Bakare has remained a voice in Nigeria politics, religion and socio-economic circle, relating with with Nigerians according to where the matter lies.

On this occasion of your 70th Birthday, we celebrate your consistency, focus and leadership acumen that has affected the people positively.

Congratulations sir!

Headline

US Polls: Tinubu, UK PM Starmer Congratulate Trump

Published

6 days ago

November 6, 2024

Eric

President Bola Tinubu has extended his heartfelt congratulations to President Donald Trump on his re-election as the 47th President of the United States of America.

A statement by Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), Bayo Onanuga on Wednesday, said President Tinubu looks forward to strengthening the relations between Nigeria and the United States amid the complex challenges and opportunities of the contemporary world.

Donald Trump claimed victory on Wednesday and pledged to “heal” the country as results put him on the verge of beating Kamala Harris in a stunning White House comeback.

President Tinubu said: “Together, we can foster economic cooperation, promote peace, and address global challenges that affect our citizens.”

According to President Tinubu, Trump’s victory reflects the trust and confidence the American people have placed in his leadership. He congratulates them on their commitment to democracy.

President Tinubu believes that, given President Trump’s experience as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021, his return to the White House as the 47th president will usher in an era of earnest, beneficial, and reciprocal economic and development partnerships between Africa and the United States.

Acknowledging the United States’ influence, power, and position in determining the trend and course of global events, the Nigerian leader trusts that President Trump will bring the world closer to peace and prosperity.

Meanwhile, the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has congratulated Donald Trump on his “historic election victory”, adding that the UK-US special relationship would “continue to prosper”.

“As the closest of allies, we stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of our shared values of freedom, democracy and enterprise. From growth and security to innovation and tech, I know that the UK-US special relationship will continue to prosper on both sides of the Atlantic for years to come,” he said.