Washington, DC – The US-Nigeria Binational Commission met recently in Washington DC, convening four working groups; Good Governance, Transparency and Integrity, Regional Security, Energy and Investment, Agriculture and food security. The delegates were led by Nigerian Foreign Minister Olugbenga Ashiru and the United States Deputy Secretary of State William Burns.
The Nigerian delegation included the Governors of Bornu, Kano, Rivers, Taraba States and officials of Ministries including Foreign Affairs, water resources and Justice. The U.S delegation included officials from the State Department, National Security Staff and the Government Accountability Office.
(L-R) Ambassador George Moose; U.S Institute of peace, William Burns; Deputy Secretary of State U.S State Department, Martin Uhomoibhi; Permanent Secretary Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Johnnie Carson; Assistant Secretary for African Affairs U.S. State Department.
Both countries plan to establish a sub-working group to support Nigeria’s efforts to create an intelligence fusion center that would coordinate Nigeria’s intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination efforts.
Recognizing Nigeria’s vital role in regional food security, the United States and Nigeria pledge to work together to strengthen Nigeria’s domestic and foreign agricultural policies for the benefit of Nigeria and the West Africa region. The United States and Nigeria plan to review a greater U.S. role in the water sector particularly water supply, irrigation, dams and hydropower. Both countries plan to convene the Niger Delta Working Group in Nigeria later in 2012.
Photo: Dami Odetola for Trendy Africa Media.
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