UNITED States Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, on Thursday, held a behind  closed door meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan in State  House, in Abuja, which was later followed by an expanded meeting attended by members the National Security Council.

After the meeting, Mrs Clinton noted that the United States of America was concerned about the security situation in Nigeria.

She said that the administration of President Barack Obama was committed to helping Nigeria in various areas such as security, education, agriculture, productivity, among others.

Clinton, who briefed the press alongside Jonathan  said: "You appreciate that you know how committed United States and the Obama administration is to our partnership with your country.

"We consider it absolutely vital to our Bi-National Commission, which as you have mentioned, has helped us to expand and deepen our cooperation on full range of issues.

"We are working on economic matters, the improvement of productivity in agriculture, education and health, security, diversification of your economy and so much more.

"We intend to remain very supportive of  your reform efforts.

"Thank you for mentioning the work we did together on the election.

"We were also very supportive of anti-corruption reform efforts, more transparency in the work that you and your team are also championing, because we really believe that the future of Nigeria is limitless but the most important task that you face, as you have said, is making sure that there are better opportunities for all Nigerians.

"From the  South, East, West, every young boy and girl should  have the chance to fulfill his/her God-given potential.

"We want to work with you and we will be by your side as you make the reforms and take the tough decisions that are necessary."

Jonathan told the media: "Within this period of being Secretary of State, she has raised the relationship between Nigeria and America to a very high level that we have never reached for quite some time by personally chairing the Bi-National Commission and

we have discussed various things — security, economy and so on and so forth. She has been very very supportive.

"And, of course, the President of America,  Obama, is also quite passionate about Africa and Nigeria.

"He has always be very supportive of us for the past five years.

"From the days I came in as vice-president, especially that period as a nation  when we faced a lot of challenges when the late president was very ill and we passed through a turbulent time, the support they gave us was one of such support that stabilised this country.

"And when we insisted we must conduct an election that was free and fair and that it was the only way we could stabilise democracy, they were very supportive.

"They gave us moral support, technical support to the Independent National Electoral Commission and assisted us to make sure that we conducted elections that national and international observers declared as quite free and fair.

"So, let me on behalf of  the government and good people of Nigeria, thank you, President Obama and the good people of America for your support for Nigeria and Africa and all that you are doing to make sure that this part of the globe develops.

Clinton was also expected to meet with the leaderships of the Economic  and  Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt  Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) before departing for Ghana.

Comments (2)

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Anybody else noticed the body language?
written by Kay Soyemi (Esq.), August 10, 2012

Seems like Hillary has delivered some unpalatable judgement behind the scene and is trying a "come on, it's not so bad face" for the public, while Mr. Prez is trying his best to put on a brave face too. Noticed his face looked like he's bitten into his anti-malarial tablet and the trademark GEJ grin appeared to have been wiped off for the photo op. This is not the face of GEJ that we are used to seeing after the FEC meetings.

Moral of the story? Hillary's meeting appeared to have delivered some blunt, if unpalatable, truths; whilst the FEC meetings generally gloss over realities and pretend all is well with the country. Remember the Yoruba belief that where two siblings come out of closed door meetings smiling and laughing, they have not told each other the truth!

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Mr
written by Goke Akin, August 10, 2012

'From the South, East, West, every young boy and girl should have the chance to fulfill his/her God-given potential' - Hillary.

Madam Hillary's advice to Nigerian leaders as shown above simply sums up what Nigerians expect of governments. In other words, she has identified making life meaningful for the people by the leaders as an antidote for crime and criminality.

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