By Innocent Odoh
ABUJA – An eight -member Congressional Delegation from the United States is visiting Nigeria from August 28 – August 31 to attend to issues concerning the Boko Haram insurgency and the attendant humanitarian situation in the north east of Nigeria.
A statement issued on Monday by the Public Affairs Division of the US Embassy said the delegation is led by Senator Christopher Coons (D-Delaware). Senator Coons is a member of the Appropriations, Foreign Relations, Judiciary, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Ethics committees.
The delegation also includes Senator Gary Peters (D-Michigan); Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colorado); Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Delaware); Representative Terri Sewell (D-Alabama); Representative Charlie Dent (R-Pennsylvania); Representative Barbara Lee (D-California); and Representative Frederica Wilson (D-Florida).
The Congressional delegation is visiting Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and The Gambia in addition to Nigeria during their West Africa tour.
While in Abuja, the U.S. legislators will meet with a range of high-ranking leaders to gain a fulsome picture of the bilateral relationship. They were briefed by Ambassador W. Stuart Symington and staff after which they met with Vice President Osinbajo, Senate President Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives Dogara, other members of the National Assembly, and religious and civil society leaders.
They will also visit Lagos, where trade and investment relations will be the theme. In the country’s financial capital, they will meet with Nigerian business executives, tour the Egbin Thermal Power Plant, participate in an American Business Council roundtable, and conclude with a reception featuring alumni of the Young African Leaders Initiative and the Tony Elemelu Foundation, the statement added.
