A News Analysis by Sani Adamu, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

 Unarguably, the task of revamping the deteriorating image of Nigeria has been daunting and challenging over the years.

 Although successive administrations had made spirited efforts to reverse the ugly trend, such efforts have not yielded the desired results due to a number of factors.

 The alleged involvement of some Nigerians in mind-boggling corrupt practices, money laundering, drug trafficking and destruction of national infrastructure, among others, apparently thwarted such efforts.

 But one year down the line, foreign affairs analysts believe that the foreign diplomatic trips undertaken by President Muhammadu Buhari have started yielding positive results, as the nation is fast redeeming its hitherto battered external image.

 They insist that in spite of the criticisms levelled against the President’s foreign trips by opposition figures, the general consensus of opinion is that the trips are gradually repositioning Nigeria as a responsible member of the international community.

 Sharing similar sentiments, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption, described die-hard critics of Buhari’s foreign trips as ``unreasonable.

 ``I think some Nigerians are very shallow; they don’t think deeply before they speak. They said the President’s foreign trips are too frequent.

 ``That should not be the question they should be asking. They should ask `these trips are frequent, but are they useful? Why did the President embark on such trips? Are they things that will benefit the country?’

 ``He travelled to Saudi Arabia to consult on how to increase our oil production quota and stabilise the price of oil. Is that not good for Nigeria? With the increase, we will earn more money and be able to do a whole lot of things.

 ``So, I don’t know why adults should be saying the President travels too much. He was elected for the welfare and security of this country and he has been touring the world, trying to establish that.

 ``He is trying to revive this country from being comatose, while redeeming us from the bankrupt state that the Jonathan-administration has created for us.

 ``Do they think the President doesn’t want to stay home and sleep on his bed? Do they think it is easy for him travelling every now and then despite his age?

 ``I think people should just leave him alone for the sake of the country,’’ Sagay said.

 Sharing similar sentiments, Alhaji Maimala Buni, the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said that the President’s foreign trips were particularly aimed at boosting Nigeria's economy.

 ``Nigeria is in dire need of partners with technical expertise to develop its infrastructure. There is a deliberate effort by the Buhari-administration to build functional infrastructure, develop agriculture, create employment and diversify the economy; so, we need support from countries with the expertise.

 ```The President has to be there to demonstrate his commitment to wooing investors and assuring them of the enabling environment to invest in the country,’’ he said.

 Buni said that all the countries which the President visited had developed agriculture, power supply and vibrant economy, adding that they were, therefore, in a position to assist Nigeria in its efforts to attain development in all spheres.

 ``If you look at China, for instance, it has the capacity to support Nigeria to build a functional rail transport and road network; it can also assist us in our efforts to build new refineries, improve our gas and energy sector and develop the manufacturing sector,’’ he said.

 Buni, therefore, urged Nigerians to support the Federal Government in its quest to build functional and efficient infrastructure which could impact positively on the lives of the citizens.

 ``It is noteworthy that President Buhari got favourable responses from these countries to partner with Nigeria in various sectors that will build our economy.

 ``This administration is committed to improving the lives of Nigerians and these foreign trips will fast track and enhance infrastructure development, while boosting the economy,’’ he said.

 Besides, the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, described the criticisms of the President’s foreign trips as insensitive and a display of ignorance as to issues affecting the country.

 He said that those opposed to the nation’s development were bent on frustrating the efforts of the President to revitalise Nigeria’s ailing economy.

 ``Most people do not recognise the very sorry state of the nation’s economy and the fact that the country’s economy was run aground,’’ he said.
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Insisting that Buhari was on a mission to rescue Nigeria from its present socio-political and economic woes, Oyegun said that the nation’s revenue had plummeted due to the abysmal fall in crude oil prices in the international market.

 Rationalising the President’s foreign trips, Mr Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, said that the trips were also meant to repair Nigeria’s reputation which had been severely damaged in recent years.

 The minister particularly noted that the President’s intervention in the global oil and gas sector had led to the recent stability in crude oil prices.

 ``This is why PMB (President Muhammadu Buhari) is travelling. The foreign trips are to repair our reputation that was severely damaged by the last government and to assure our partners that Nigeria has changed.

 ``The trips are also to renegotiate existing funding agreements to complete the critical transport infrastructure,” Fashola said in an article entitled “PMB’s Foreign Trips -- My Takeaway”.

 He said that Nigeria currently had the support of the world’s seven most powerful countries, attributing this feat to the President’s visit to Germany for the G7 countries summit.

 On the gains of the Buhari’s recent visit to China, Fashola said that six collaborative agreements were signed during the visit.

 He said that one of the agreements was like a coup by the President because there were prior intelligence reports that some West African countries were attempting to sign a similar agreement with China.

 ``PMB seized the moment. Of course, he had to apologise for our previous failures in our agreement made to partly fund four airport projects in Lagos, Kano, Abuja and Port Harcourt as well as the Abuja-Kaduna rail project.

 ``The Chinese had provided their agreed part of 85 per cent of the funding but Nigeria failed to honour the remaining 15 per cent during the last administration.

 ``Some of the recent revelations about financial scandals, estimated at 2.1 billion dollars in the Office of the National Security Adviser alone during the last administration, suggest how impactful such funds could have been in delivering this critical infrastructure but we all know what happened,” he said.

 Beyond that, Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, said in a statement that Buhari’s weeklong visit to China yielded additional investments worth over six billion dollars for Nigeria.

 He said that the agreements with the Chinese during the visit would have a significant impact on key sectors of the nation’s economy, including power, solid minerals, agriculture, housing and rail transportation sectors.

 ``In the power sector, North South Power Company Ltd. and Sinohydro Corporation Ltd. signed an agreement valued at 478,657,941.28 dollars for the construction of 300 megawatts solar power plant in Shiroro, Niger State.

 ``In the solid minerals sector, Granite and Marble Nigeria Ltd. and Shanghai Shibang signed an agreement valued at 55 million dollars for the construction and equipping of a granite mining plant in Nigeria.

 ``A total of one billion dollars is to be invested in the development of a Greenfield expressway for Abuja-Ibadan-Lagos, under an agreement between the Infrastructure Bank and Sinohydro Corporation Ltd.

 ``For the housing sector, both companies also sealed a 250-million-dollar deal to develop an ultramodern 27-storey high-rise complex and a 2.5-billion-dollar agreement for the development of the Lagos Metro Rail Transit Red Line project.”

 Shehu stressed that other agreements that were signed during the visit included one billion dollars earmarked for the establishment of a Hi-tech industrial park in Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone in Igbesa, Ogun State.

 He disclosed that Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone and CNG (Nigeria) Investment Ltd. also signed an agreement valued at 200 million dollars for the construction of two 500MT/day floating gas facilities.

 ``An agreement valued at 363 million dollars for the establishment of a comprehensive farm and downstream industrial park in Kogi State was also announced at the Nigeria-China Business Forum.

 ``Other agreements undergoing negotiations include a 500-million-dollar project for the provision of television broadcast equipment and a 25-million-dollar facility for production of pre-paid smart meters between Mojec International Ltd. and Microstar Company Ltd.

 ``About 100 Nigerian businesses and 300 Chinese firms participated in the Nigeria-China Business Forum, which took place a day after President Buhari began his visit to China,” Shehu added.

 In spite of the perceptible gains of the China visit, President Buhari, however, underscored the need to reduce the trade imbalance existing between Nigeria and China.

 ``Although the Nigerian and Chinese business communities have recorded tremendous successes in bilateral trade, there is a large trade imbalance in favour of China, as Chinese exports represent some 80 per cent of the total bilateral trade volumes.

 ``This gap needs to be reduced. Therefore, I would like to challenge the business communities in both countries to work together to reduce the trade imbalance.

 ``You must also imbibe the spirit of having a mutually beneficial relationship in your business transactions.

 ``You must not see Nigeria as a consumer market alone but as an investment destination where goods can be manufactured and consumed locally,’’ Buhari said.

 Also justifying the President's foreign trips, Foreign Affairs Minister Goeffrey Onyeama said the trips were carefully selected, in line with certain priorities and development objectives of the country.

 The minister, who spoke in Lagos at a town hall meeting organised on the Federal Government’s activities in the last 11 months, noted that the President was not embarking on the trips just for the fun of it, stressing that some of the journeys were already yielding positive results for the country.

 ``When the President assumed office, the problem at that time was how to get the confidence of neighbouring countries to support the war on terror.

 ``So, what the President did was to travel to Chad, Cameroun and other neighbouring countries to seek a coalition and now, we can all see the results the country is recording against Boko Haram,’’ he said.

 Besides, Onyeama said the President`s recent trip to China was to attract the much-needed investments in agriculture and solid minerals as well as other important sectors of the economy.

 He said in the face of falling oil prices, Nigeria had no other option than to diversify its economy and seek partnerships to strengthen the economy.

 He said that the China trip was successful as it elicited several investment commitments from the Chinese government and investors.

 He, however, said that the visit should not be viewed as Nigeria’s shift toward the East for friends, adding that in this age of globalisation, Nigeria could look for partners in any part of the world.

 ``We are in an era of globalisation and that means that we can go to any part of the world to seek opportunities.

 ``The visit to China does not mean we have gone East, it only means we can seek partnership in any part of the world,’’ he said.

 Onyeama said that the Federal Government was determined to give Nigeria a strong voice in Africa and the world at large, adding that the thrust of the Buhari-administration’s foreign policy was to make Nigeria a major player in the comity of nations.

 In all, foreign policy experts are hopeful that Buhari’s diplomatic trips will facilitate efforts to fully rebrand Nigeria so as to enable it to assume its rightful position as the giant of Africa and a responsible player in the comity of nations. (NANFeatures)