al-Qaeda, Boko Haram: Buhari, Kerry in crucial meeting

United States (U.S.) Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry, and President Muhammadu Buhari met on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja .
A presidential source told Freedom Online that top on the agenda of the meeting “were the twin issues of insecurity and state of the economy which the U.S. Government believes may affect its economic interests in Nigeria”.
Kerry arrived the Villa around 3:04pm.
He had earlier visited the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and others at the Sultan Palace.
Said the source: “The fear of the U.S. is the alleged link al-Qaeda has with Boko Haram. Nigeria, being the most populous black nation, is of strategic importance to the interests of the United States. And since the Barack Obama presidency has less than five months in office, the fear is that everything must be done now to ensure that al-Qaeda does not have such a strong linkage to Boko Haram so as to have a foothold in Nigeria.
“To the U.S., anything contrary will pose a very grave danger to its interests. That was why Mr. Kerry first went to Sokoto to see the Sultan and some stakeholders to ensure that insecurity in the North is tackled headlong.
“Another issue he discussed with the President is the subtle threat to oil interests in the South-South. This area and the Gulf of Guinea are of strategic and economic interests to the U.S.”.
Freedom Online learned that Kerry promised that the United States Government was ready to assist Nigeria in the area of intelligence gathering to quickly nip in the bud anything that can be a threat to Nigeria “now or in the future”.
He, however, told the President that the U.S. would not be able to deploy troops to Nigeria to battle insurgency “but intelligence gathering mechanism and financial assistance would be provided to ensure that insecurity is tackled immediately”.
The source also said “the hunger in the land” was discussed and the Nigerian government was advised “to have a second look at its economic policy to avoid an Arab Spring scenario in Nigeria”.
The fight against corruption and the rule of law and human rights were also discussed.
Kerry later met with some selected governors at the State House.