The Founder of Rosslyn Group, a Washington-based government relations firm specialising in Africa, Mr. John Rosenberg, has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari’s August 15, 2021 article published in The Financial Times of London.
Speaking recently at 2021 US-Nigeria Investments Summit held in New York, a side event of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Rosenberg described that Buhari’s article as a sensible roadmap for US international relations.
The Rosslyn Group founder, urged his audience at the summit to revisit the Buhari’s article owing to its “profound recommendations” for the United States in Africa, specifically concerning its approach to counter-terrorism.
In the article, president Buhari had stated that with the United States pulling out from Afghanistan and the subsequent fall of Kabul to the Taliban, Africa had automatically become the new frontline of terror and global militancy.
He had stated that for Africa to defeat the growing terrorism on its soil, it would require more than the United States military aid but the entire world coming together for its sake.
Buhari had also stated that the outbreak of COVID-19 provided some form of oxygen for insurgents to sustain their hostilities globally, reiterated that Africa’s fight against terror was the world’s fight.
In the article, he had expressed optimism that Africa would defeat the terrorists, “one highway, one rail link — and one job — at a time.”
The article was coincidentally published the day Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, the global hub of America’s terror war, fell to the Talibans.
Buhari had said, “Though some believe the war on terror winds down with the US departure from Afghanistan, the threat it was supposed to address burns fiercely on my continent. Africa is the new frontline of global militancy.
But, Rosenberg, in his presentation at the US-Nigeria Investments Summit, profusely highlighted the importance of the president’s article, said Buhari’s caveat regarding military departure causing terrorism threats to return was a lesson, not only for Afghanistan, but policy makers within Nigeria and the African continent.
Rosenberg served as a senior intelligence analyst in Afghanistan, as well as Washington lobbyist for the government in Kabul during the Donald Trump administration.
He also underscored Buhari’s statement that “Africa is the new frontline of global militancy,” and without a bedrock of security, the prospects for attracting foreign direct investment remain dim.
Echoing Buhari’s call for increased US cooperation with Nigeria in terms of technical assistance, shared intelligence, aviation and other assets, Rosenberg tackled those in Washington who believe that investment and security support in Nigeria is wasteful.
Drawing upon his experiences in Afghanistan and other nations beset by terrorism, Rosenberg viewed the comprehensive partnerships laid out by Buhari as a sensible roadmap for US international relations.
Peter Uzoho
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