.

…says the US-Nigerian partnership remains massive

By Gabriel Ewepu, ABUJA

AS political actors strategise ahead of the elections, a United States-based election observer, National Endowment for Democracy, NED, yesterday, explained why the US is interested in Nigeria’s general elections, saying it is Africa’s largest democracy and fifth largest in the world, and also Nigeria and Nigerians are highly esteemed by America.

Speaking on the US interest was the President and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Damon Wilson, while fielding questions from journalists ahead of the 2023 general elections in Nigeria and why NED was in the country to engage with state actors and non-state actors including the media.

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is an independent, nonprofit foundation dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world. Each year, NED makes more than 2,000 grants to support the projects of non-governmental groups abroad who are working for democratic goals in more than 100 countries.

Since its founding in 1983, the Endowment has remained on the leading edge of democratic struggles everywhere, while evolving into a multifaceted institution that is a hub of activity, resources and intellectual exchange for activists, practitioners and scholars of democracy the world over.

He said: “The US-Nigerian partnership is massive. It should be the anchor of an American relationship with Africa. Nigeria is the largest country by population, and the largest economy and it has an incredible entrepreneurial energy.

“There is a lot more potential, untapped potential in the US-Nigerian relationship. We also have huge numbers of Nigerians that live in the United States. Now, many have become Nigerian Americans. The diaspora is quite strong and the connections are quite strong, whether it is the financial and fintech or Nollywood or diaspora ties or political ties. Look, this should be a gargantuan relationship.

“Nigeria and the United States are two of the largest democracies in the world. There should be more interest, more of a connection. So yes, we are interested, it has consequences for our relationship but we are hopeful that there will be enthusiasm and administration that can really build and is part of what we do in the endowment.

“We want to build the relationships between our peoples, between our civil societies’ organizations, and that is really at the heart of the strength of the connection between free societies. In Nigeria, the United States should be leading free societies around the world.”

However, Wilson further stated that “On how to develop public policies for the governance of the economy that can really help strengthen Nigeria’s democracy.

“Nigeria is a country over the past five we have seen from 50 million to over 100 million people move into poverty. We have seen income levels drop in Nigeria which is not great.

“We also support a lot of Nigerian partners that are doing human rights defending that are legal rights for artists or marginalized communities that are working on inclusion and political space that are doing youth empowerment, like Yiaga Africa they are supporting independent media.

“Sometimes, we support efforts that are Nigerian groups, working to fact check and expose disinformation, so it is a pretty diverse range of efforts that are related towards bolstering the democratic environment.”