By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Foreigners doing various businesses in Nigeria have been assured of adequate protection of their investments.
This assurance was given by President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday night when he met with the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, on the sidelines of the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Nairobi, Kenya.
During the bilateral meeting with Mr Abe, the President outlined the several steps being taken by his administration to secure the country and ease doing business.
Mr Buhari said one of the steps is by ensuring the country is safe. He disclosed that at the moment, efforts are being made to speak with militant groups in the Niger Delta, but if they fail to ceasefire, they would be treated like criminals.
“We are talking to some of their leaders. We will deal with them as we dealt with Boko Haram if they refuse to talk to us.
“As a government, we know our responsibility, which is to secure the environment. It is clear to us that lenders won’t fund projects in insecure environments.
“We realize that we have to secure the country before we can efficiently manage it,” the President said.
He further said, “We have provided funds to our Navy to buy new platforms, train and effectively organize the personnel to protect the area. We are looking forward to support from developed nations for satellite surveillance covering the Gulf.”
In his remarks, Mr Abe said Nigeria and Japan must work together to improve the investment climate in view of the many Japanese companies wishing to invest in Nigeria.
He reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to rapid development in Nigeria through quality delivery of ongoing projects in the country, including Jebba hydro power scheme and the Lagos railway project.
Mr Abe congratulated President Buhari “for courageously tackling Boko Haram terrorism.”
