President Bola Tinubu on Monday received the United States Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Energy Resources, Ambassador Geoffrey Praytt, calling for stronger and better cooperation with the United States as Nigeria and the rest of the world move in the quest for renewable and other sources of clean energy.

According to a statement issued by Dele Alake, Special Adviser, Special Duties, Communications & Strategy, at the meeting, which took place at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, President Tinubu presented his own perspectives to the US delegation on the role of Nigeria as an oil producing country and the importance of revenue from fossil oil to national economic well-being.

Nigeria, according to the President, will honour all its obligations to climate change and its quest for clean energy.

President Tinubu appealed to the United States and other developed nations to recognize that Nigeria and Africa have a challenge of poverty that must be addressed, saying in the race for energy transition, the world must have the right balance between fossil fuel and green energy.

The statement quoted him as saying: “Nigeria is an oil-producing nation and a developing economy that needs revenue from fossil fuel for growth and development. The new energy we are talking about represents just 5% of global energy requirements. We must find the right balance between new energy and fossil fuel because we have the problem of poverty in Africa.”

On the nexus between the problem of poverty in Africa and the fragility of democracy on the continent, President Tinubu admonished the United States to work with Nigeria to protect the government of the people.

He also urged the Assistant Secretary of State to impress on his home government the urgency of responding to the needs of Nigeria.

“Our democracy needs protection like all other democracies in the world. We cherish our partnership with the US. My concern is whether the United States is giving us enough as much as we need. The US should not make us hungry to the point we will have to eat the dinner of our enemy.