The United States Chargé d’Affaires, Kathleen FitzGibbon, has expressed the country’s military willingness to partner the Nigerian military to put an end to violent extremism in the country through training, air base construction and logistics planning.



A statement on Tuesday said FitzGibbon disclosed this while inspecting six new American Sierra Nevada Defense and Security A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft with the Nigerian Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, and his team in Massachusetts.

She was quoted as saying, “Beyond the new hardware that you see on this runway, this programme has brought our two militaries closer in formal training, professional development, air base construction, logistics planning, and negotiations. We are proud to partner Nigeria in its approach to end violent extremism and ensure a more stable, prosperous country for all Nigerians.”

The Super Tucano aircraft for Nigeria is a combat air platform valued at about $500m.

“The Super Tucano platform for Nigeria is the United States’ largest foreign military sales programme in Sub-Saharan Africa, valued at almost $500m. This follows the Department of Defense’s ‘total package approach’ model and includes spare parts for several years of operation, contract logistics support, munitions, and a multi-year construction project to improve Kainji’s infrastructure,” the statement added.