Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on Thursday, declared he felt “perfectly safe” during his visit to Nigeria, dismissing negative security reports that had preceded his trip to Owerri, the Imo State capital.
Johnson made the statement while delivering the keynote address at the Imo State Economic Summit 2025, hosted by Governor Hope Uzodimma.
“I want you to know that when I decided to come to Owerri, I read some things, and there were people saying, ‘There may be some security problems in Nigeria.’ Have you heard that? And I said, ‘Well, I am going to go anyway.’
“And let me ask you: do you feel safe here today in this conference? Yes, we all feel safe. And I feel perfectly safe. Thank you, governor, for what you are doing,” Johnson said.
His call came amidst abduction and gun attacks in some parts of the country.
President Bola Tinubu recently declared a security emergency in the country, following a series of abductions, including the mass abduction of schoolgirls in Kebbi and Niger states and the raid of Christ Apostolic Church, Eruku, Kwara State, where 38 members were abducted and three others killed.
On December 31, 2025, President Donald Trump of the United States designated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern,” following what he termed Christian persecution and killings.
Johnson, however, said that with what he had seen, he felt safe in Imo State.
The former prime minister said he was excited when Uzodimma invited him to the state for the summit.
He commended the governor for his push to provide 24-hour electricity in the state, as part of efforts to drive economic growth.
According to him, Artificial Intelligence would play a critical role in helping the governor realise that plan.
“Your focus on electricity is completely right. What is the future? The future is AI. For clean, sustainable electricity—and because of AI, it’s going to be colossal.
“I congratulate you for what you are doing to secure clean and sustainable power for Imo State and for the whole of Nigeria,” he said.
Johnson recalled that Nigeria and Britain share deep historic and cultural ties, strengthened by continuous exchanges of skilled professionals.
“I am very proud of what we export to Nigeria. We send you pharmaceuticals, bankers, services of all kinds, and automotive parts, and you send us so much in return: oil and gas, Nollywood movies, brilliant doctors, nurses, technicians, and tech geniuses from Nigeria. We are very, very grateful.
“We send you former United Kingdom prime ministers, and you send us future United Kingdom prime ministers in the form of Kemi Badenoch,” Johnson added.
Speaking at the summit, President Bola Tinubu said Imo State and Nigeria had investment opportunities ready to be tapped.
Tinubu, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, described Africa as the next continent for investment opportunities and called on investors to invest in Imo State and Nigeria.
According to him, the investment opportunities in Imo State were capable of commanding the attention of global investors.
He said Imo represented abundance in all sectors, with several untapped opportunities and called on investors to approach the state for investments.
He charged Imo people to embrace technology, noting that innovation would become the next chapter, and expressed hopes that the summit would yield a harvest of investments in the state.
“Imo is not just ready for investment, Imo is prime for transformation. Imo is open for business; Nigeria is open for business. The Asian Tigers are ageing, Africa, as a young continent, is the next destination,” the President said.
The President of Liberia, Joseph Boakai, said his country shared cultural similarities with Imo State, in population, size, and production of palm oil.
Boakai, who said Imo State is an inspiration, harped on the importance of partnership and innovation in the economic development of any nation.
First female President of Mauritius, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, described Nigeria as the power-house of talents and resources.
She promised to drive Imo investments in renewable energy and expressed optimism that Africa will soon take over the world economy.
Former Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, stated that Africa needed technological support and the benefits of switching from fossil fuel to green energy in order to save the climate.
Ki-moon commended Uzodimma for his investments in energy, education, infrastructure, digitalisation and other sectors.
Earlier, Uzodimma said the state was ready for an investment harvest.
He said Imo was blessed with huge resources, adding that the government had provided favourable conditions that investors could not resist.
Uzodimma said, “Imo is no longer rising, Imo has risen. When opportunity meets investment, what happens? Business happens. Business that transforms. Imo is ready to harvest your investments.
“We have provided security, we have provided power, we have provided infrastructure, we have provided ease of doing business. Imo is now the one-stop shop,” Uzodimma stated.
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