Buhari returns to Abuja after official engagements in Lagos, Senegal, Kano, others

President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to Abuja after official visits to Dakar, Senegal, as well as five states of the federation where he inaugurated several developmental projects in the affected states.

The states are Bauchi, Lagos, Katsina, Kano and Jigawa.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that before departing for Lagos on 23 January, Mr Buhari had attended political rally of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi, Bauchi State.

The president departed Lagos for Senegal on Tuesday after a two-day official visit to the state where he inaugurated some developmental projects.

While in Lagos, the president inaugurated the Lekki Deep Sea Port and the Imota Rice Mill which are projected to create more than 300,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Mr Buhari also inaugurated the Bestaf Lubricant at MRS Holdings Company Limited, Apapa, as well as the historic first Phase of the Blue Line of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit, and the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History on Tuesday.

The first phase of the Lagos Blue Rail Line, taking a ride from the Marina Station to National Theatre Station, executed by the state government, which spans 13 kilometers, has five stations – Mile 2, Suru-Alaba, Orile Iganmu, National Theatre and Marina.

The Nigerian leader arrived Senegal on 24 January. to attend the 2nd Dakar International Conference on Agriculture.

The high-level Dakar 2nd Summit hosted by President Macky Sall of Senegal and the chairperson of the African Union was held under the theme “Feeding Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience.”

The conference, which seeks to create favourable conditions toward achieving food security in Africa, was convened jointly by the government of Senegal and the African Development Bank.

In his goodwill message to the Feed Africa Summit of Heads of State and Government on Wednesday in Dakar, Mr Buhari welcomed the provision of 538.05 million dollars for the first phase of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) for Nigeria programme.

The facility was provided by the African Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Mr Buhari held bilateral meeting with the President of Ireland, Micheal Higgins, on the sideline of the 2nd Dakar International Conference on Agriculture.

Mr Buhari, who returned to Nigeria on Wednesday night, embarked on another official visit to Katsina State on Thursday.

While in Katsina, the president inaugurated developmental projects across the state and visited the Emir of Daura, Farouk Umar Farouk.

Mr Buhari inaugurated the Muhammadu Buhari Meteorological Institute undertaken by the Ministry of Aviation, the Darma Rice Mill in Batagarawa and the Katsina State General Hospital.

He also inspected ongoing work on the first flyover in Katsina, which had reached 90 per cent completion in the Government Reserved Area.

The president also hosted the Presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Tinubu, who was accompanied by some progressive governors, at his country home Daura, Katsina State.

Mr Buhari had on Monday and Tuesday visited Kano and Jigawa States, respectively, where he inaugurated Federal and State Governments’ projects.

During his one-day official visit to Jigawa on Tuesday, the president visited four local government areas to inaugurate projects.

The projects included the Hadejia Valley Irrigation Scheme at Auyo, Birnin Kudu Specialist Hospital, Malam Alu Integrated Agro-Allied Farm, Birnin Kudu, and the dualised Unity-Pentagon-Fanisau Road.

At the farm, the president unveiled a 50.3 metres flag pole, described as the tallest in the country by Faruk Aliyu.

The president also had an aerial view of some of the roads, infrastructure, bridges and places affected by the flood disaster in September 2022, which affected many parts of Jigawa, before returning to Abuja on Tuesday evening.

(NAN)