President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday
said he believed that with the global efforts to find and rescue the
over 200 girls abducted from their school by Boko Haram
insurgents, an end to the reign of terror in Nigeria had begun.
Jonathan, who once again promised that
the girls would be rescued, spoke at the opening session of the
ongoing World Economic Forum for Africa in Abuja.
He thanked the foreign nations including
, the United States, Britain, France and China for their support in
trying to find and rescue the girls .
The President also lauded the delegates
for coming to Nigeria despite the danger posed by militants, saying
their presence was a big blow to terrorists.
Jonathan said, “Let me use this unique
opportunity to appreciate all the countries that have expressed their
commitment, especially in terms of rescuing these girls that disappeared
in one of our secondary schools.
“The government of China promised
assistance and I believe that assistance will come almost immediately.
The government of the US, the UK and France have also spoken with me
and expressed their commitments towards resolving this crisis in
Nigeria.
“I believe that the kidnapping of these girls will be the beginning of the end of terror in Nigeria.”
The President observed that if the
participants had decided not no attend because of the negative news
coming from the country, the terrorists would have jubilated and be
further emboldened to carry out more attacks.
He said, “Nigeria is proud to host this
event for the first time the conference is coming to West Africa. Let me
use this unique opportunity to appreciate you for accepting to come. As
a nation we are facing attacks of terrorists.
“Let me appreciate you individually and
collectively for your support for us, your sentiments and by your
presence here in Nigeria at this time. You have already supported us to
win the war on terror.
“If you had refused to come because of
fear, the terrorists would have jubilated and even committed more havoc.
But your coming here to support us morally is a major blow to
terrorists.”
During another session of the event
tagged, “Unlocking job-creating growth,” where he served as a panelist,
Jonathan identified one of the greatest challenges currently facing
Nigeria as insecurity , especially in the North-East.
He said though Nigeria did not expect
terror, his administration was working hard to build capacity and put
the situation under control.
Jonathan said although it was impossible to give a timeline on when peace would be restored, there was hope for the country.
The President disclosed that he recently
gave an approval for $1bn to be spent on the purchase of some
equipment needed to fight terror war.
He said, “The first time a Nigerian was
involved in terror was in December 2009 when a young Nigerian who
grew up abroad wanted to bring down a plane that was going to the US.
“The reaction of Nigerians then was that
that was strange; that it was because he grew up outside the country
and came from a very wealthy family. So, it was not an issue of poverty
but an issue of extremism.
“We never knew that we were really moving into crisis. It is a phenomenon that was never part of our problems.
“So it takes time for you to train the
people; it takes time for you to build the security architecture and
that is what we are improving on every day.
“Not too long ago, I gave an approval of
over $1bn for us to acquire what we require. That is just not enough
but that is just an example and it is of recent.
“I can guarantee that we shall bring
this(terrorism) under control. Yes, it is difficult for any nation to
say that it has the magic to wipe away issues of security challenges
otherwise , a place like the US ,with the money and technology, people
wouldn’t have been shot there as we hear every time.
“No one President can say yes, in a year
or in a month there will be absolute peace but we are working hard.
We are training our people and we are building capacity. And of
course, we are getting assistance from other places that have
experienced terror attacks.
The founder of WEF, Klaus Schwab, during
the plenary said participants by their attendance had spoken with one
voice that terrorism would never dictate the agenda for economic
development.
“We cannot allow terrorism to dictate our
agenda. For this reason, I am grateful to you because I know some of
you hesitated. I am very thankful that only few people cancelled their
participation. Again I thank you for supporting this programme,” Schwab
said.
He called for a one-minute silence in
honour of victims of terrorists in Nigeria and particularly in
solidarity with the government in its efforts at bringing back the
abducted schoolgirls.
On the purpose of the event, he said it
was WEF’s belief that economic growth without social stability and
inclusion would not be sustainable.
He also argued that social development would remain impossible without economic growth.
During the session, Jonathan said that job creation in Africa was compounded by huge youth population.
“Job creation is one of the concerns that
keep me up at night,” the President said, adding that because of this,
Nigeria’s budgets were structured in a way to provide employment
opportunities for youths.
He said his administration was also providing an enabling environment for the private sector to participate in job creation.
The President regretted that the recent
rebasing of the country’s Gross Domestic Product which placed Nigeria’s
economy as the best in Africa had not translated into into job
creation.
The Premier of the Peoples Republic of
China, Mr. Li Keqiang, who is the special guest at the forum, described
Africa as a continent on the rise.
Keqiang promised that his country would increase its financing in Africa.
Specifically, he said his government
would put additional $2bn into the China-Africa Development Fund to
make it $5bn among other grants he announced at the event.
While describing Chinese cooperation with
African countries as sincere and open, he said China would offer
scholarships and training of professionals in Africa.
“We will continue assistance to Africa
both in quantity and quality. We will direct over half of China’s
foreign assistance to Africa. There is no political strains attached to
our support,” he added.
A statement made available to
journalists after the session,said Jonathan met with the US Ambassador
to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle; the President of Ghana, Mr. John
Mahama; President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, the President of the
ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo; and the the WEF founder.
According to the statement by the Special
Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati,
Jonathan met behind closed doors with Entwistle on the sidelines of
the WEF over the modalities for the actualisation of the offer made by
President Barrack Obama to assist in rescuing the schoolgirls.
Abati quoted the President as reiterating
Nigeria’s appreciation of the US offer to deploy security personnel and
assets to work with their Nigerian counterparts in the search and
rescue operation, which was conveyed to him on Tuesday by the US
Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry.
The statement reads in part, “President
Mahama informed President Jonathan that to support Nigeria’s efforts to
rescue the abducted girls and defeat terrorism, ECOWAS leaders have
decided to invoke the community’s protocols on counter-terrorism.
“The Ghanaian leader said that a meeting
of Heads of Intelligence Services of ECOWAS member-countries will hold
in Accra next week to work out a new framework for intelligence sharing
in support of the effort to eradicate the threat of terrorism in Nigeria
and the entire West African sub-region.”
Abati said the President also met with
former President Lula Da Silva of Brazil and the Prime Minister of Mali,
Mr. Moussa Mara, also spoke on the telephone with the
Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki Moon.
Ban, according to him, conveyed the sympathy and solidarity of the global community with the government and people of Nigeria.
He said the UN chief assured the
President that the organisation was ready to help Nigeria in every
possible way to rescue the girls and achieve greater security of lives
and property in the country.
Pentagon to send less than 10 troops
Meanwhile, the US
Defence headquarters, the Pentagon, has said that only a handful of its
troops will arrive in Nigeria in the next few days to help rescue
the kidnapped schoolgirls.
Its spokesman, Col. Steve Warren, said
fewer than 10 troops were being prepared as part of the larger US
assistance team that would include State Department and Justice
Department personnel.
The military members will help with communications, logistics and intelligence-planning.
Warren said the US was talking with Nigeria about information and intelligence-sharing, but nothing had been decided.
At the State Department, the
spokesperson, Jen Psaki, said they were moving swiftly to put a team
in place at the US Embassy in Abuja that could provide military, law
enforcement and information-sharing assistance in support of Nigeria’s
efforts to find and free the girls.
She said,”Our legal attache has been in
touch with Nigerian police. The FBI stands ready to send additional
personnel, to provide technical and investigatory assistance, including
expertise on hostage negotiations and USAID is working with partners on
what we can do to be ready to provide victims’ assistance.”
An unnamed US official later said that
seven members of the military were scheduled to arrive in Nigeria
today to join a team of advisers supporting the efforts to rescue the
girls.
About 11 US Africa Command advisers are already in country working with the Federal Government, the official added.
FG responsible for Nigerians safety –US
The US Ambassador to Nigeria had on
Wednesday night said the safety of Nigerians was the responsibility of
the Federal Government.
Fielding questions from reporters during
a meeting between the USAID Administator, Rajiv Shah, and some
governors, Entwistle made it clear that the US military mission was
specifically coming in to assist in the rescue of the female pupils.
He said, “The question of safety in
Nigeria is up to the government of Nigeria. As a major security partner,
for years we have had military assistance programme, security
corporation, all designed to improve the Nigerian capacity to maintain
safety and security here.
“Our assistance is designed to help get
these girls back and increase the capacity of your services to maintain
safety and security that’s our intention.
“We are partners, we are not here to do
anything for you but with you, so in this particular issue, we are going
to try to support your government.
“The news here is that there is a specific plan to help get the girls back.”
The envoy also explained that he held a
meeting with Nigerian security officials to work out details of what
they would need to carry out the operation.
He said he did not have the details of
when the troops would arrive or the exact number of US agencies that
would be involved in the mission .
Asked if drones stationed in Niger Republic would be deployed, he said, “There are a lot of possibilities.”
Earlier, Shah said he was in Nigeria to
discuss areas of corporation with Northern Governors in the areas of
education and the eradication of polio as well as security.
The Chairman of the Northern States
Governors’ Forum, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, who led some of his colleagues
to the meeting, said the abduction of the girls would set back the
North about 50years.
Aliyu said, “Unfortunately, this happened
in the North, a part of the country where we are still having
difficulty getting girls to go to school. With this, it could give
people an excuse to further keep their daughters out of school.”
The National Security Adviser, Col Sambo
Dasuki (retd.) in company of Service Chiefs and the Inspector General of
Police, Mohammed Abubakar on Thursday visited the Government Secondary
School, Chibok in continuation of the ongoing effort to rescue the
abducted girls.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Director, Defence Information, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade, on Thursday.
While fielding questions from journalists
on the actual number of the missing girls, the Chief of Defence Staff,
Air Chief Marshal AS Badeh, who would not want to comment on the issue
of number, noted that every single life was important to the nation and
no effort would be spared at finding the girls.
He appealed to the members of the
immediate community and the general public to provide security agencies
with useful information that would lead to the rescue of the girls.
The team was conducted
round the school by the Vice Principal Administration, Bulama Modu.
Some of the facilities inspected include burnt classrooms, dormitories
and a laboratories. The team has since returned to Abuja.
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