US President Donald Trump says President Muhammadu Buhari has done “a great job” in securing Nigeria.

He said this during a joint press conference with Buhari on Monday in Washington DC.

The president is currently on an official visit to the US.

While responding to a question initially directed at Buhari about convincing him (Trump) to retain US military presence in Nigeria, Trump said: “The president, as he says, has come a long way; they are doing a great job (on the war against insurgency).

“We are contributing to that job, but they have done a great job. What we want to do with that is that we want to open Nigeria and other countries to trade.

“I have great respect for the president.”

He, however, added: “We are spending tremendous amount of money on policing the world but that should not be our priority. We want to police ourselves.”