The US president, Donald Trump, referred to Nigeria’s Muhamadu Buhari as ‘lifeless’ while instructing his aides after a meeting with the Nigerian leader in April reports the Financial Times.
“The first meeting, with Nigeria’s ailing 75-year-old Muhammadu Buhari in April, ended with the US president telling aides he never wanted to meet someone so lifeless again, according to three people familiar with the matter.” Says the report.
The report explains that Trump was somewhat displeased with Buhari’s disposition during their meeting and instructed his (Trump’s) aides to never arrange a meeting with such a lifeless leader anymore.
Muhamadu Buhari, who is 75 and sick came to power for a second time, after ruling as a dictator in 1984, after defeating Goodluck Jonathan,60, in 2015. The nations’s economy has suffered setbacks under him including a drilling recession that saw the naira diminished before the dollar till date (360 naira to one dollar).
Buhari came to power with huge promises which included ending medical tourism. Sadly, he has visited London four times for medical checkups while president. In one of such visits, he spent 103 days and was forced to return home when a protest demanding his return to duties or resignation in 2017. Informationng.com reported that he spent an estimated 250-300 pounds per hour while in London hospital.
Kenyatta to save the US-Africa Relationship
In a bid to fill that void created by the meeting with Buhari, Trump plans to meet with Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday. It is hoped that Kenyatta’s meeting will signal an end to US neglect of the continent.
Joshua Meservey, senior policy analyst for Africa at the Heritage Foundation, said: “Presidents Trump and Kenyatta have a pretty warm relationship which can hopefully pave the way for more engagement with Kenya and the rest of Africa.” The Kenyan president, he suspected, might try to “carry the torch” for the whole continent according to Financial Times.
After his meeting with Mr Trump, Mr Kenyatta will meet Theresa May, the UK prime minister, in Nairobi next week before flying to Beijing in early September for the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation summit to be presided over by Xi Jinping, China’s president.
