By OKECHUKWU PEACE
United States Secretary of State, John Kerry and former NBA star, Hakeem Olajuwon as well as other members of a powerful US delegation have landed Nigerian soil for the inaguration ceremony.
Other members of the delegation are the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, and the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Department of State, Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
Also in the delegation are Commander, U.S. Africa Command, General David Rodriguez, and the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council, Grant Harris.10 world leaders arrive for inauguration
The US delegation touched down at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airprot around 3am for the ceremonies.
It was learnt that before 5pm on Thursday, the aircraft of over 10 African countries had touched down at the tarmac of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Officials at the NAIA stated that the Presidents of the different nations were sighted at the presidential wing of the airport while countries, whose Heads of State could not show up, sent representatives.
The flags of the visiting countries were displayed on the airplanes.
“Some of the countries whose Presidents or representatives are now in Nigeria include Mali, Sudan, South Africa, Namibia, Chad, Morocco, Burkina Faso, Senegal, the Gambia and Guinea,” an official of NAIA said.
The President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, was sighted at the airport, according to our source, who added that the advance teams of France and the United States were on the ground as of the time of filing this report.
The official stated that the flight of the US government was scheduled to land around 3am on Friday.
Our source said, “Other countries whose Presidents or representatives also arrived Abuja airport on Thursday included Togo, Angola, Lesotho, France, Ghana, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Brazil and Saudi Arabia. More are still coming, going by the manifest that we have.”
