Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has expressed hope in the future of the 24 abducted Chibok girls who managed to escape from the Boko Haram sect.
Visiting the American University of Nigeria in Adamawa state, Power expressed optimism that the girls would contribute to Nigeria’s development in future.
Premium Times reports that he U.S. envoy commended the management of the university for welcoming the girls and mentoring them in their studies.
“Let me say that these girls have so much to offer Nigeria. Having met with some of them, I cannot even imagine what these girls are going to do and the difference they are going to make.
“They are going to be doctors and engineers and accountants. They are going to help change this country,” she said.
Power noted that the situation would have been worse for the girls, if they were treated with suspicion and distrust after their escape from the terrorist group.
She praised the Adamawa Peace Initiative for promoting peaceful co-existence of Christians and Muslim in communities by bringing together the religious leaders in Yola.
Speaking about the aim of the visit, the ambassador explained she and her delegation came to Nigeria to see the progress so far made by the country in its ongoing war against Boko Haram.
“We started in Cameroon and we met even with Nigerian refugees in Cameroon, who are pained to come home. They desperately want to return to their communities.
“We met not only with government officials, but with religious leaders and civil society leaders and of course, students,” she added.
After the visit to the university, Power took to her official Twitter account to share her emotions and impressions.
On Thursday, April 21, Power visited Geoffrey Onyeama, the minister of foreign affairs.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting, she promised that the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria would help the country end the lingering fuel scarcity by giving technical advice, counsel and technical assistance.
