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.
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