President Barack Obama has pledged on Monday that his administration will partner with President
Muhammadu Buhari, to defeat the terrorist group, Boko Haram, which has wreaked havoc in the region.

Washington Times reports that in brief Oval Office comments ahead of a meeting with Buhari, Obama called Nigeria “one of the most important countries in the world” and praised its recent peaceful transition of power.

Former Nigerian President Goodluck
Jonathan left office in May, after willingly accepting defeat in Nigeria’s Presidential election.

“President Buhari comes into office with a reputation of integrity and a very clear agenda and that is to make sure that he is bringing safety and security and peace to this country.

“He is very concerned about the spread of Boko Haram and the violence that has taken place there and the atrocities that have taken place there and he has a very clear agenda of defeating Boko Haram and extremists of all sorts inside his country,” Obama said.

He added, “And he has a very clear agenda with respect to rooting out the corruption that has too often held back the economic growth and prosperity of his country.

“On both these issues, we’re looking forward to hearing more about his plans and how the United States can partner with Nigeria.”

TheStreetReporters.com recall that in the build up to the Presidential election, Buhari had decried seeking external effort in battle against the Boko Haram Islamic sect.

Recently, the fundamentalist group had aligned itself with the Islamic State (IS), the powerful terrorist group in control of swaths of Iraq and Syria.