The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said on Friday that President Muhammadu Buhari’s trips abroad were not for frivolities.
He added that the President’s foreign trips since assuming office were critical to the implementation of his administration’s key policies of enhancing security, jump-starting the economy, creating jobs and tackling corruption.
In a statement issued in Abuja, the minister noted that the trips had started yielding fruits in terms of turning the tide in the fight against the insurgents.
‘’Nigerians, whether in the ruling or the opposition political parties, have a right to ask questions about the activities of their President, but it is absolutely important that they do so from an informed, rather than partisan or sensational, standpoint,’’ he said.
The minister further said most of the President’s trips to Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Germany, US, France and the United Nations were devoted to rallying regional and global support for the war against terrorism.
He stated, ‘’He was in Germany at the invitation of the G7 to solicit support from the industrialised nations for the war against terrorism. No one who has witnessed the killings and maiming in the past seven years by Boko Haram will call such trips frivolous. After all, the security and welfare of the citizens are the reason for the existence of any government.’’
The minister also said apart from rallying global support for the country’s wars on terror and graft or seeking foreign investments, it was important that the country leverages President Buhari’s brand; which he described as high integrity quotient and an embodiment of committed and dedicated leadership.
According to him, Buhari embarked on the trips under a very stringent budget, cutting his delegations to numbers far below what his predecessors used to travel with.
