US president Barack Obama welcomed Nigeria's freshly elected president to the White House yesterday, lending a personal endorsement after the African nation's first ever democratic transition.
By hosting Muhammadu Buhari in the Oval Office, Obama hopes to underscore that the African giant, also the continent's biggest economy, is vital to US interests.
Praise for Nigeria's recent elections - the first won by an opposition challenger against an incumbent - is likely to be coupled with tricky discussions on combating Boko Haram militants.
Nigeria would like to see more help from Washington in its battle against the group.
So far 15000 people have been killed and 1.5million displaced by the conflict.
Buhari's visit has been foreshadowed by an increase in terror attacks, including suicide bombings in neighbouring Cameroon and Chad.
Rights groups say atrocities have been committed both by Boko Haram and the Nigerian military.
US laws banning the transfer of weapons to countries suspected of rights abuses have sometimes pushed a wedge between the two allies.
Obama's administration last year blocked the sale of Cobra attack helicopters to Nigeria, hampering cooperation amid efforts to find the hundreds of kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls.
Since being elected in May, Buhari has indicated a readiness to address problems in the army he once ran as a general.
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