US Still Insists Dipreye Alamieyeseigha Pardon Was Wrong

If the Federal Government was expecting any retraction of the United States (U.S.) comment on the Dipreye Alamieyeseigha pardon, it may have been disappointed.

The US said yesterday that its position on the issue remained unchanged.

The Political Counselor, Embassy of the United States Mr. Gregory Lawless, at a teleconference on US-Nigeria Binational Commission in Abuja, said: “The situation has not changed.”

The US, he said, has put the issue behind it, and it is carrying on with its relationship with Nigeria.

“We have a very mature relationship. So, we can recognise our differences and opinions on issues. We are moving on; we have a lot of things to do.”

Lawless, who also spoke on the proposed amnesty for Boko Haram members, said: “We are a working group as government of Nigeria embraces a more holistic approach to the issue of violent extremism, whether it is in the North or other areas. We think it is a positive development. We will work with Nigeria government as it develops its own policy approach to counter violent extremism.

“We provided lessons learned from our post-September 11 experiences in an effort to strengthen Nigeria’s community engagement and strategic communications efforts.

“We offered to help Nigeria develop an intelligence fusion centre to improve their intelligence, analysis and dissemination efforts, although Nigerian officials are still deciding their scope and mission requirements for such a centre.”

Besides, Lawless said his country “is also committed to partner with Nigeria to enhance regional maritime security and to reduce the inflow of small arms and light weapons”.

On the achievement of the Bi-National Commission, Lawless said it had successfully integrated civil society into the electoral process prior to the 2011 elections.

He also noted that the commission, among other things, had been able to sustain and elevate dialogue with energy sector officials on energy policy reforms to increase investment.

US and Nigeria, Lawless said, have also agreed to explore a partnership with the Nigerian Army to build its civil affairs capacity, to build trust between Nigeria’s citizens and the military.

The Energy and Investment working group has focused primarily on reform of Nigeria’s power and hydrocarbon sectors.

“We have been heartened by Nigeria’s ongoing progress on comprehensive power reform incentivises for private investment in infrastructure to address massive power shortages,” Lawless said. He added: “The United States is providing policy support to strengthen Nigeria’s domestic agricultural policies. The United States supports efforts to expand agricultural lending and otherwise improve private agriculture sector growth.

“We agreed to collaborate further to build on Nigeria’s amnesty programme by advancing economic development and environmental protection of the Delta.”

The U.S.-Nigeria Bi-National Commission is a high-level forum for advancing issues of mutual concern. Inaugurated in April 2010 by the former US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Yayale Ahmed, the Commission’s five working groups meet regularly to focus and deepen engagement on issues concerning governance, energy, security, agriculture, and the Niger Delta.

The Working Groups include: Good Governance, Transparency, and Integrity; Regional Security Cooperation, Energy and Investment, Food Security and Agriculture as well as the Niger Delta.

The groups are responsible for establishing benchmarks for transparent and inclusive elections, including registering voters, appointing electoral commission leaders, and allocating independent election funding.