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United States President, Barack Obama, and his Nigerian counterpart, Goodluck Jonathan, are expected to meet soon to discuss matters of mutual interest to both countries.

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman, who met with Jonathan at the State House yesterday, disclosed the likelihood of the two leaders meeting but did not give details on when and where the meeting would take place. Obama had snubbed Nigeria during his two African tours, leading to speculations that the US does not have much regard for Africa’s most populous country, but this appears not to be so.

A ThisDay report quotes Sherman, who is leading a delegation to the US-Nigeria Bi-national Commission meeting, as saying: “Our presidents will likely meet soon. I will leave that announcement to the President of the United States and the President of Nigeria.

“I have given him a letter from President Barak Obama and he was gracious enough to accept it and we look forward to working further on the basis of the letter.”

Sherman noted that “Nigeria is a very important country, not only here on the continent but around the world,” having served on the Security Council of the UN “and it is likely to do so again in future.” She also praised Nigeria’s leadership role in the Committee on Democracy and peacekeeping within the ECOWAS, describing it as “a partnership that is important to us.”

“Secretary Kerry had a meeting with President Jonathan in Addis Ababa at the AU summit and so we look for every opportunity to strengthen our relationship,” Sherman added.

•Photo shows Obama and Jonathan during a previous meeting.

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