At the invitation of the King, Salman Bin-Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia and that of the Ruler of Qatar, Shaikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, President Muhammadu Buhari undertook state visits to the two Middle-Eastern states between February 22nd and the 29th.

As expected, there is much healthy anxiety at home about the outcomes. For many of our citizens, their expectation is for the benefits of these visits to reach them in Sokoto, Calabar, Owerri or Akure before the President got home after the engagements. There are good reasons for this anticipation.

The President had given impetus to and focus on foreign strategies to, as he put, overcome this country’s infrastructure deficit at a time when oil revenues had fallen by 70 percent.

This strategy draws from the enormous goodwill his election in 2015 has brought upon the country. Knowing how terrible things were for Nigeria in the past, the wold seems quite happy with us for having a president with an incredible reputation of personal integrity.

Considering our past missed opportunities, some have called this our last chance. The President calls it our best chance to shake off the shackles of poverty and underdevelopment.

He set out to achieve three to four broad objectives. One was of course to strengthen relations between these Arab states and Nigeria.

In his various speeches, the President made clear his wish to enhance the age-old relations between our nations and the various peoples of these nations built on the foundations of shared values and interests.

A matter for immediate concern to him was the wobbly state of the oil market and his inherent belief that he can rally the support of these two major oil and gas producing countries to support the return of a more stable market and better pricing.

“Why produce more, to earn less, instead of producing less to earn more?”was his constant refrain.

The President sought to persuade the Saudis and the Qatari to invest and cooperate in every Nigerian development priority, especially in the critical sectors of power, infrastructure, agriculture, mining and manufacturing.

As he did wherever he visited, he looked out for the Diasporas.

Nigerians jubilantly crowded the President’s meetings at both Riyadh and Doha. They spoke of their love for him and the work he is doing in the fighting corruption and terrorism.

The problems they have, which they brought to him were not new or different from what he had met elsewhere.

Nigerian professionals face enormous challenges getting visas for family members to join them abroad; there are difficulties getting passport renewals warranted by acute shortages of booklets and there are many grievances against frequent police arrest and sometimes deportation without the involvement or say-so of the Nigerian missions.

Nigerians in Saudi and Qatar want to vote from their current locations in our future national elections.

It is important that the President had obtained the nodding agreement of both countries to stand together for a more stable market and better pricing for oil and gas. Together, they agreed however, that more can be achieved by working together with independent producers outside the Organization of Oil Producing Countries, OPEC.

True to their word, the Saudis made a pronouncement on the issue and the market has positively responded, even if marginally so. Oil price is up by a few percentage points.

He has also obtained commitments of investment from the states, on the one hand  through their enormously well-endowed Sovereign Wealth Fund(s) and on the other, from Saudi and Qatari industrialists committed to investing billions in the Nigerian economy.

The signed agreements with Qatar on the protection of investment and avoidance of multiple taxation is helpful in paving the way for the coming investments.

The other agreement on Bilateral Services Agreement, BASA bears the imprint of Nigeria’s ambition of transforming into the international travel hub for West-Africa’s 400 million people.

The Qatari Emir gave a prompt directive for support and collaboration with Nigeria on  the plans to restart a national airline and a further development of airports infrastructure.

On security, the President made known the position of his administration to join the alliance of Islamic States against terror.

In an interview with the Qatar-based Aljazeerah TV, he made clear his intention to work everyone  and anywhere to fight terrorism.

“We are victims of terrorism,” meaning we know the pain and we feel it and that misguided sentiment will not detract him from clear national interest.

The President conveyed condolences, on behalf of himself and the nation to King Salman, The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques on the spate of deaths, including many Nigerians, in the course of last year’s Hajj pilgrimage.

He took note of the new concessions the Saudis have given Nigeria, among which is the increase in Umrah slots and asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Hajj Commission, NAHCON to request for more Hajj slots. He equally wants to see Nigerians pay less for their Umrah.

Clearly, the President seemed impressed by the willingness on the part of the Saudis to discuss all outstanding issues with Nigeria. Our side to the continuing discussions have 17 consular and other matters connected to the Umrah and Hajj.

Determined to give meaning to his expressed determination to produce enough food for the teeming population, bridge the infrastructure gap and putting in place measures for the diversification of the economy now precariously over-dependent on oil, the President returned home with a promise to set up a cabinet committee to identify some protects of priority to the nation.

These priority projects, when identified will be evaluated and costed, and thereafter placed for the consideration of the sovereign wealth authorities of the two states. It is hoped that once the states lead the way, the private sector in both countries will come in tow.

With the President promising to provide all the necessary support, both the Saudi and Qatari Chambers of Commerce and Industry are expected to visit Abuja in the course of this year.

The Islamic Development Bank, IDB which met the President presented a dazzling array of opportunities to assist in mobilizing domestic and external resources to finance Nigeria’s investment program in the wake of widening funding gap.

The Bank has offered to support the Federal Ministry of Finance in mobilizing resources from Arab Countries through assistance in organizing an Arab Donor financing roundtable in Abuja. It will leverage its traditional partners in the Arab Coordination Group (such as the Saudi Fund, the Kuwait Fund, BADEA, the Abu Dhabi Fund, etc.) in order to increase the quantum of funding available to the country.

The IDB has equally offered assistance to the Government of Nigeria in facilitating a proposed Sukuk Bond issuance program, aimed at mobilizing domestic and external resources to finance Nigeria’s investment program. The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Debt Management Office are in a discussion with the IDB on this idea.

In another breath, the IDB Group is committing itself to helping to mobilize investments from private businesses in Arab countries to assist in the development of solid minerals and commercial agriculture.

In the meeting with the Organization of Islamic States, OIC, the President obtained assurances of support for the resettlement and rehabilitation of of the more than two million Internally Displaced Persons in various camps in the North-East.

In line with his observation that it is only by educating people properly about Islam that terrorists will be deprived of legitimacy and a basis for the recruitment of followers, the OIC accepted the President’s request to partner with Nigerians in bringing a good knowledge and understanding of the Islamic religion.

The above snapshot may not represent a 360-degree view of all the things that happened. For instance, the Qatari who are being sought after by nations eying their reserve funds had shown interest in Nigeria’s favorable demographics and infrastructure deficit. The low-hanging fruit was ignored because a past president refused to visit.  President Buhari’s visit has deepened the enthusiasm of the Saudis and the Qatari in investing in Nigeria.

The most important challenge before him now is in packaging proposals acceptable to both sides, for business to start.

Garba Shehu Is Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari. [myad]

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello took over the mantle of leadership of the Federal Capital city on Wednesday 11th November 2015 with a promise to build on his predecessors’ achievements.
The Minister who was received by the equally new FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye, on arrival met briefly with some Directors and senior officials of the FCT Administration. At the occasion, the Minister paid tribute to former FCT Ministers and commended the staff of the Administration for the way they have worked very hard to build a modern city from the scratch.
After meeting with the various groups in the ministry, he swung into action by taking briefs from the heads of the Secretariats, Departments and Agencies, as well as meeting with stakeholders in the Abuja project, including the members of the FCT Council of Chiefs.
He followed this up with visits to several project sites, particularly those that have immediate and direct bearing on the lives of FCT residents. Some of the projects visited include the Abuja Light Rail and the knotty  Karshi – Apo – Arah road.
His prompt visit to the two famous projects was to show the importance of the projects to the smooth movement of motorists in and around FCT. The Minister equally toured the city at night to ascertain the functionality of streetlights in the capital city, following which, he charged the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) to fix all broken lights as quickly as possible. Though, he didn’t seem too happy with some of the reasons given for the non-functioning of streetlights as he charged the officials to be proactive in tackling the challenges.
“Quite frankly, the city is very dark. The city was much brighter than this in the past; instead of improvement, it appears we are going backwards and this is certainly not acceptable. Keeping the city bright enhances its beauty, eases the job of the security agencies in securing it and also makes it easier for the residents to come out in the night without any fear of being attacked,” he said.
As he toured facilities and project sites, the Minister inspected the on-going Abuja Rail Mass Transit and promised that his Administration would work assiduously to make the Abuja rail system operational in the last quarter of 2017.
More importantly, the Minister declared war on filth and paid unscheduled visit to the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) to signal the commencement of the war on filth (WOF) that must be won.
At the AEPB, Malam Bello admonished the staff to be up and doing in the discharge of their duties, warning that a new vista must be opened to clean up Abuja. During the visit, he vowed to recover the N10.5 billion owed the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) over the years.
Malam Bello’s coming equally brought to the front burner, the need to comply strictly with all applicable laws of the FCTA. As a new order in his Administration, these extant rules in the discharge of their duties and responsibilities must now be a guide for all official action.
“The laws are supposed to guide you and they shouldn’t be flouted; effective application of extant rules and regulations and publication of same to the public would ease your work. Abuja is the ultimate city in Nigeria and a model for Africa and we cannot afford to negate it,” the Minister noted.
He was also at the National Assembly severally. Expressing at every given opportunity, the commitment of his Administration to partner with the lawmakers to make Abuja a much better city.
This new order in administering the affairs of the 40-Year old city, also caught up with some Aides of the Minister as well as other staff of the Administration, when the man whom is often refers to as quiet but no nonsense ‘Oga’ directed that henceforth, all staff of the FCT Administration should wear their Personal Identification Cards, (ID cards) within the office premises for easy identification.
Malam Bello is of the view that wearing of ID Card will help improve security by promptly differentiating staff from other visitors. He, thus, directed that touts around the Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS) be sent away immediately.
On staff welfare, Malam Bello, after one of the FCT Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) meetings also directed the Chairmen of the six Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory to use their federal allocation, which was just released, to immediately clear the October salaries owed staff.
To instill discipline and professionalism, the Minister, during one of the visits by the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, called on all professionals operating in the Federal Capital Territory to make it a duty to always adhere to their sworn professional ethics in the discharge of their duties.  He also enjoined staff of the Administration to change their attitude towards service delivery in line with the change mantra of the Federal Government.
On security, the Minister assured of his Administration’s commitment to continue to support the Security Agencies in the Federal Capital Territory to make Abuja safer and announced his intention to resuscitate the G-7 Security Summit which is a group of the contiguous states with the FCT.
Fulfilling his heart desire to ensure uninterrupted supply of potable water across homes in the Abuja, the Minister was at various time at FCT Water Board facilities including the Lower Usuma Dam where he further assured that his Administration would work diligently to improve supply of clean water to the entire residents of the Federal Capital City in line with the vision of President Muhammadu Buhari’s led Federal Government.
Coming to the FCT with a vast knowledge of Hajj Operation, Malam Bello instructed that all intending pilgrims who registered first with the FCT Pilgrims Welfare Board for the 2016 Muslim Pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia be first considered for slot allocation. This no doubt has brought fair play and transparency to bear in the religious obligation.
To make health services more accessible to the residents of the Territory, especially for those at the rural areas, the Minister ordered the management of the FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat to immediately commence medical services to patients at the Zuba Cottage Hospital which was completed over 5 years ago.
In order to prevent the spread of Lassa Fever, he personally led a campaign against the disease and directed the release of some useful tips on how to effectively prevent the spread of the disease, which has unfortunately claimed the live of its carrier, who was in Abuja on a visit.
He insisted that the proactive step became necessary in order to curtail the unfortunate incident, which led to the death of the victim thereby saving the Territory from any health epidemic.
Sequel to the earlier tips given on how to prevent the spread of Lassa fever in the Territory, the Minister also directed the medical and health workers under the services of the FCT Administration to remain on red alert to nip in the bud any suspected case.
During the just concluded continuous voter registration (CRV) exercise for the forthcoming FCT Area Councils’ elections, the Minister facilitated aggressive sensitization and mobilization, by calling on the residents of the Federal Capital Territory to come out en-masse to participate.
So far, he has given due attention to the development of the six Area Councils, and the Satellite Towns in order to decongest the Federal Capital City. He has moved the Satellite Towns Development Department (STDD) to Karshi to bring it closer to the rural people the department is meant to serve.
Malam Bello also took a bold step by visiting the Apo-Karshi-Arah Road where he made commitment to complete the road by promising to immediately pay the contractor a pending job certificate of N324 million.
Determined to ensure sanity in the Abuja Land Administration system, the unassuming Bello has put machinery in motion to sanitize allocation of land in the Federal Capital Territory, reiterating that the process must be done through the FCT Land Use and Allocation Committee. He revealed that henceforth, the FCT Administration would only allocate plots of land in the Abuja industrial zones to genuine manufacturers that have capacity to develop them for the purpose they are earmarked for and must be within a time frame.
On the problematic issue of commercial motorcycles (Okada) and tricycles (Keke Napep), the FCT Administration under him has carried out extensive sensitization, reminding residents that the means of transportation remain banned from operating within the 250 square kilometers of the Federal Capital City, Abuja; while the Keke Napep restricted to some areas.
In order to make life more bearable for the motoring public in the Federal Capital City, the Minister partially opened the Inner Southern Expressway (ISEX) otherwise known as Goodluck Jonathan Expressway, in the Central Business District, Abuja.
To bring the issue of personal hygiene and environmental nuisances to the fore, he introduced the FCT Household and Community Sanitation Exercise in the Area Councils and Satellite Towns of the Federal Capital Territory.
At the moment, the war against filth in the FCT appears to be enjoying the lion share of attention. Malam Bello believes that Abuja’s unique position as the nation’s Federal Capital remains the major gateway into the country as such the issue of keeping the city neat at all times cannot be over emphasized. Thus the FCT Clean-up exercise, he says, is not only a sanitation exercise, but also a re-orientation effort in line with the Change Agenda of the Federal Government.
The Minister canvasses the return of community efforts in ensuring clean environment, which he acknowledges has almost disappeared in our society. He says people now look up to Government to clean their environment for them, thereby neglecting household and communal efforts in cleaning, which often has led to spread of diseases such as Lassa fever. So far, he has flagged off the sanitation exercise in Kuje, Kwali, Abaji, Gwagwalada and Bwari with the grand finale scheduled for the Abuja Municipal Area Councils.
To further drive the policy, he promised to award a prize to the cleanest Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory by the end of the year, revealing that the award would be presented to the winner by President Muhammadu Buhari for a befitting golden prize.
The Minister has re-engineered various service delivery departments in proper synergy so as to effectively maintain existing infrastructure and provide quality services to residents of the Federal Capital Territory. And this is already working because the greening of Abuja is gradually returning despite the dry season.
From the foregoing, no one should be left in doubt as to the determination of the present crop of leadership in the FCT led by Malam Muhammad Musa Bello and ably supported by the FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye, to ensure better and meaningful life for residents. With the Minister enjoining the directors to work in synergy, one is sure that the Federal Capital Territory would witness improved infrastructural development and quality service delivery, thereby giving the residents a good deal.

Hazat Sule is a Deputy Director & Chief Press Secretary. [myad]