Nigeria needs Buhari’s incessant foreign trips – Muhammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday rose in defence of President Muhammadu Buhari’s incessant foreign trips, saying Nigeria cannot operate in isolation.
Mohammed added that Nigeria almost become a pariah state before now, hence the need for Buhari to embark on the trips to tackle the main problems facing the country.
Mohammed said this while briefing State House correspondents of the outcome of the Federal Executive Council meeting.
Buhari presided over the meeting that was attended by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and most of the ministers.
Mohammed said the foreign trips were designed to tackle terrorism and corruption, which have hitherto been discouraging investors from investing in Nigeria.
The minister said: “You do not run a country by being isolated and the personal presence of the President in many of these fora is very important because before now we were almost a pariah state.
“The two things that have been driving investments away from this country are terrorism and corruption.
“One thing that nobody can fault this President on is his determination to fight these two ills.
“Mr. President’s presence in these fora is very crucial even to the economy back at home.
“What I mean that Nigeria was a pariah state, is that before now the level of corruption was very high that nobody was ready to risk his investment in Nigeria.
“The cost of doing business was so high that most international businessmen didn’t want to come here.
“Who is coming to invest in a country where there is insecurity?
“These are the twin problems that Mr. President has addressed in the last nine months.”
The Minister of the Environment, Amina Muhammed, also corroborated his point, saying that the President’s foreign trips had been yielding positive results for the country.
Muhammed said: “Leadership matters.
“The President doesn’t stand alone, he has a vice president and a cabinet.
“The cabinet stays with the Vice President here as much as possible to try to address those challenges that you are talking about on a daily basis.
“But the investment that we make with the President’s travel is well worth the investment we are getting from those visits.
“We hope to see the President going out and advocating for this country to get more investment so that we can take everyone out of poverty.
“That is really what is important.
“We see it as an investment with a return worthwhile.”