The federal government has welcomed a $2.3 billion US government assistance over the next five years that will support the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s programme to combat extreme poverty among the Nigerian population.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande said Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, conveyed this message during the past week while signing the billion dollar assistance agreement with the United States Agency for International Development, USAID at the Presidential Villa.

The statement quoted the vice president as saying  “coming from the United States, this is particularly heartening and we are pleased the US is able to do this.”

Speaking with a US delegation led by the USAID Head of Mission in Nigeria, Mr. Michael Harvey, during the signing event in his office, the vice president recalled that since Buhari’s visit to US President, Barack Obama in the White House in July, “we have seen much better cooperation from the US, there is a great deal of interaction on how we intend to implement our agenda. We know the interaction is because the US wants us to succeed.”

Osinbajo said the issue of extreme poverty of a vast majority of Nigerians “is a very important issue for us, it is at the heart of our economic policy, at the center of our agenda. You can’t have that vast number of poor people and don’t plan around that and for us, this is crucial, and absolutely important.”

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