Recently elected Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama on Monday in Washington, D.C. The sitting presidents are going to discuss international affairs, and then focus on the terrorist organization, Boko Haram. Viral Global News has written extensively about this faction for over a year. The group has murdered thousands of citizens, wiping villages off the map in the name of religion. Last year, more than 200 school girls were kidnapped and reportedly married off to jihadists.
As the world mourned the tragic deaths of 11 people killed at the French satirical weekly newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, earlier this year; Boko Haram opened fire and killed more than 2,000 people between a few villages.
For years, the group has remained unstoppable, and former president Goodluck Jonathan did little to curb the aggression of the group. Following the group’s deadliest attack in January, the world finally took notice, and started demanding action from global governments. Many Nigerians wanted Jonathan replaced for change, the previous leader denied the assistance of the U.S. and stubbornly refuted meetings. Washington hopes Buhari will be easier to communicate with the center of their discussions closing in on Boko Haram.
During the Nigerian presidential elections, Buhari called out the Boko Haram and promised the nation would stop the group from exploiting their idea of religion with violence and deaths.
Following Buhari’s win, he stopped to talk to the families of the missing school girls and pledged his support to finding out what happened to their daughters. When Jonathan was at the helm, Boko Haram refused to open discussions, but a Nigerian official claims the group has tentatively approached the idea of coming to the table for talks. Nigeria said they would be willing to sit down with the rebel leaders from a position of “strength” and not weakness.
Nigeria was once a booming region for oil reserves and energy. Following the continued demise of towns at the hands of Boko Haram, countries and private companies pulled out citing difficulities.
With Buhari at the helm, and the meeting scheduled with Obama, officials from both sides agree this could be the starting point of a strong relationship that will may just halt the Boko Haram in their violent path, while opening international talks regarding energy sources.