The Presidency on Saturday said the recent comment credited to the United States President, Donald Trump, won’t keep other world leaders away from President Muhammadu Buhari.
While the British Prime Minister, Theresa May visited Buhari in Abuja on Wednesday, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, did the same on Friday.
Speaking with journalists on arrival in Beijing, China, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, said there is a special attraction to Buhari and Nigeria.
Shehu said: “You know that as a policy, we said that we are not going to answer the American President.
“However, the fact that the entire world and world leaders are queuing up to meet President Muhammadu Buhari is an indication that there is something about President Buhari, there is something about the Nigeria he now leads, that the world likes.
“I think that Nigerians themselves should better look at this from this positive point of view.
“It is a major development.
“We had situations in the country in the past where key world leaders didn’t want to meet our own leaders.
“All of that has changed in the last three years.”
On the expectation of Nigeria from President Buhari’s visit to China, Shehu said: “You know that from the last summit in South Africa, the Chinese financing of projects in Nigeria has more than doubled under President Muhammadu Buhari and so, therefore, we expect that if the same momentum is maintained, we hope that going forward, all of the projects that are outstanding like the Kaduna-Kano rail project, the coastal rail scheme, Mambilla power project, the second phase of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport expansion project, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja/Kano.
“All of these projects, they will move more steadily and, thankfully, we have virtually everyone who matters on our own side. So, we hope that whatever is left, the dotted lines will be signed and we are hoping that we will take back with us quite a number of schemes that will take Nigeria forward.”
