Lifeless President: Buhari Did Well By Ignoring Trump – Orji Kalu

Former Abia State governor and renowned business mogul, Dr. Orji Kalu, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for ignoring President Donald Trump of the United States of America (USA), over alleged comments that he (Buhari) is a lifeless president.

Describing Trump’s utterance as needless, the former governor urged the US president to sustain the age-long relationship between Nigeria and the US.

President Trump was quoted in Financial Times, a US newspaper, to have told one of his aides, that Buhari is a lifeless president.

Faulting Trump’s claim, Kalu urged world leaders to maintain decorum in diplomatic relations; for the sake of building a fair society.

Kalu, who was recently, installed as Dan Baiwan Hausa of Daura, Katsina State, said these, yesterday, when he hosted a cross-section of graduate African students of the National War College in Washington D.C.

While acknowledging the robust bilateral relations between Nigerian and the US in the areas of trade, security, politics and other interventions, he recalled that the same US President had, in the past, extolled president Buhari’s virtues.

Kalu, who called on Nigerians at home and abroad to sustain their support for the president Buhari-led government, urged politicians not to put the country on precipice with unsubstantiated claims, adding that the current administration will not lose focus in its efforts to rebuild the nation.

“The recent statement credited to president Donald Trump of the United States of America, describing Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari as a lifeless president, should be disregarded.

“The false claim, as reported in Financial Times, cannot be validated otherwise, president Trump would have come out formally and openly to make such an acerbic statement.

“The same US president had, in recent times, applauded president Muhammadu Buhari. It is no longer news that many world leaders have been visiting president Buhari in Nigeria. It is testament to the acceptability of president Buhari’s laudable programmes and policies.

“President Buhari has also been reciprocating the diplomatic gestures by visiting leaders across the globe. “We should not make issues out of a statement that is not official. Nigeria and the US have come a long way in bilateral co-operation. Both countries have been supportive of each other,” he said.

Speaking on Africa’s development, the Forbes-rated rated billionaire called on Africans across the globe not to hide their identity, and added that it takes the collective efforts of Africans, in different parts of the world, to build a prosperous Africa.

“Africans have intellectual skills in various fields of endeavours, which, if well harnessed, will impact lives positively on the African continent and beyond.

“The world is a global village and, as such, we must respect people of other continents and build a synergy that will translate into global development.”

In his remarks, leader of the delegation, Thomas Agbaje from Sierra-Leone, expressed appreciation to Kalu, who he described as a true Pan African, stressing that the international businessman has made tremendous contributions to social, political and economic development of Africa.

“We always appreciate the time we spend with you because we tap from your experience, be it business, politics and humanity, there is usually something to learn.

“With your business entities in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, The Gambia, Democratic Republic of Togo and Guinea, you are truly a leader in Africa…”