Deji Elumoye in Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has extended the sympathy of Nigerian government to the United States President Joe Biden and American people over the demise of the former US Secretary of State, General Colin Powell.
The President, in a release on Monday by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, said he believed that as the first African American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the U.S. Department of Defense as well as the first African American Secretary of State, Powell was a great statesman and a global icon in every sense of it.
He recounted that as U.S Secretary of State, Powell played a very important role in advancing his country’s foreign policy and national defense interests and was also a great advocate of the eradication of Polio and in addressing the deadly spread of HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa.
President Buhari said his prayers and thoughts were with General Powell’s family and the people of the United States as they mourn the death of an exceptional leader and one of America’s greatest pride, who as a professional soldier, a distinguished public servant and an effective diplomat, gave his utmost for his country.
