A university lecturer, Dr Olawale Lawal, has described the recent international engagements by President Muhammadu Buhari and his recognition as good for the image of Nigeria.
Lawal, who teaches at the Department of Diplomacy and Foreign Policy, Lagos State University (LASU, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos.
“You can see that, on the last count, the Nigerian President has been appointed as Africa’s anti-corruption champion, he was invited to International Criminal Court (ICC) and was recently elected as the ECOWAS Chairman.
“All these are indications that the world now takes Nigeria more seriously and Nigerians will appreciate this better when they travel overseas and experience the respect the Nigerian passport now attracts ” he said.
The Don said that the ICC invitation was particularly important to government anti- corruption drive.
” The ICC visit is particularly a boost to the government anti-corruption fight. Most Nigerians are not aware that the president went there to talk about challenges regarding anti-corruption.
“The whole world has been made aware of the level of corruption in Nigeria and how people use “human rights” to try to blackmail government and escape justice.
“The visitation to the ICC is the cleverest visitation of the present administration,” he said.
NAN reports that Buhari was July 31, elected Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State at the 53rd Ordinary Session of the Authority in Lomé, Togo. (NAN)