By Henry Umoru
ABUJA – MINISTER of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, Musa Bello Bello Monday presented the key to the city of Abuja to the President of Liberia, George Oppong Weah who arrived Nigeria on a courtesy call on President Muhammadu Buhari.
The President of Liberia who was conferred with an Honorary Citizenship of the city, is on his first diplomatic visit to Nigeria since his election as President.
According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the FCTA Minister, Cosmas Uzodinma, George Weah’s aircraft arrived the Presidential Wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at 11.31am and on hand to receive Weah was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama.
In a brief interview with the media, Mr. Onyeama who expressed delight in the visit, said, “We are happy to receive him. He is a very colourful personality. We met with him actually in Addis Ababa when he came to greet the President. We are very willing to support the government and people of Liberia towards ensuring a success of the democracy in that country.
“We are very happy of course that the elections were very peaceful. We look forward to working with him and we believe that he will be a success for his country. We will do everything possible to help him to succeed.”
In the same vein the Liberian Ambassador to Nigeria, Al-Hassan Conteh, disclosed that the visit was a courtesy call on President Buhari and hopes he would also discuss bilateral issues with his Nigerian counterpart.
His words, “The purpose of the visit is for the President of Liberia, President Weah to make a courtesy call on President Buhari in order to discuss some bilateral matters of interest. First of all, he would like to express Liberia’s thanks for the role Nigeria has played in the Liberia’s peace process, particularly in the recent election that we had, which had not happened for more than seven decades, the smooth transfer of one democratic government to another. So, that is the essence of the visit.”
At the airport to receive the Liberian President were a number of important Liberian government officials who were already in Nigeria ahead of his visit, including the majority leader of the Liberian Parliament, Hon. Munapena Youngblood.
