Inspite of the insurgencies threatening the nation World leaders on Thursday took turns to felicitate with Nigeria on her centenary anniversary celebrations. They urged her to take
her prime place in the comity of nations.
Meanwhile, free movement of Nigerians and foreign dignitaries in
Abuja as the nation celebrated its centenary yesterday was hampered by
fuel scarcity.
Some of the leaders who sent congratulatory messages to Nigerian
leader included;
the British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II; President
Francois Hollande of France, who personally attended the International
Conference on Human Security, Peace and Development: Agenda for 21st
Century Africa.”
Other leaders who were present at the celebration included the
Presidents of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh; Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaore;
Ali Bongo Odimba of Gabon; Idriss Deby of Chad; Yaya Boni of Benin
Republic; Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim, former Secretary-General of
Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Location ; Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime
Minister of Ethiopia.
Others included Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia;
Jose Manuel Baroso, President of the European Commission; Mrs. Joyce
Banda of Malawi; Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania; Ibrahim Boubacar
Keita of Mali; Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia as well as Mohamadou
Issoufou of Niger Republic.
The leaders spoke extensively on the warmth relationship between Nigeria and their respective countries.
In a written message delivered to President Jonathan yesterday by
Britain’s Minister for Africa, Mr. Mark Simmonds, Queen Elizabeth II
conveyed her best wishes for the happiness and prosperity of the people
of Nigeria.
“On the occasion of the Republic of Nigeria celebrating 100 years
since the amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria, I send the
people of Nigeria my warmest congratulations.
“I have fond memories of my first visit to Nigeria in 1956 and again in 2003 as Head of the Commonwealth.
“The links between our two countries have deepened over the past 100 years and I hope they will continue to do so.
“I would like to convey my best wishes for the happiness and prosperity of the people of Nigeria,” she wrote.
The Ethiopian premier, in his presentations, stressed the need for
African leaders to address the root cause of some of the problems
confronting the continent, more especially in addressing the needs of
the youths.
According to him, “ensuring security means we as leaders have to
address the issues that cause the untold human suffering which our
countries have been noted for, failure of which have been series of
conflicts.
“The only way Africa can break the cycle of violence is through the
promotion of good governance evolving policies that would guarantee
sustainable development of the continent.”
The Liberian President, who spoke on her country’s experience,
noted that the future of the continent would be guaranteed if strong
continental leaders like Nigeria showed clear example.
Johnson, who recalled the great role Nigeria played in restoring
law and order to her country during its almost decade-long civil war,
noted, however, that the country was yet to shed the toga of the
conflict as has been seen from her unstable economy.
Baroso, who commended Nigerian leadership both at regional and
international affairs, called for co-operation from other African
countries with Nigeria in order to ensure secured continent free of
crisis.
Simmonds, who read the speech of the British Prime Minister, David
Cameron, said Nigeria, despite her initial challenges, had the prospect
of leading other African countries, but noted that only Nigerians hold
the key to its development.
His words: “Nigeria has a great future of prosperity; the choice
that Nigerians make in determining their future is entirely theirs, but
the UK will continue to assist Nigeria in tackling extremism and
terrorism.”
He used the opportunity to challenge African leaders present at the
occasion to work towards producing leaders who will leave strong legacy
behind after they might have gone, citing the example of the late South
African President, Nelson Mandela who the world celebrated because of
his selflessness and spirit of reconciliation.
Banda, in her intervention, called on Nigeria not to shirk in its
responsibility of leading the continent to its destiny. She deplored the
recent attack on a college in Yobe State, noting: “As a mother and
grandmother, I see the killings in some parts of Nigeria as shocking and
saddening. But I can assure you that Malawi will continue to lend its
voice on matters that will help in restoring peace in Nigeria.
Among former Nigerian leaders that graced the conference yesterday
included Gen. Yakubu Gowon, former President Shehu Shagari, Chief Ernest
Shonekan, former Vice President Alex Ekwueme and ex-Chief of General
Staff (CGS), Lt.-Gen. Oladipo Diya. There was also former
Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, as well as
former Minister of External Affairs, Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari.
Though the situation abated later in the afternoon, fuel shortage
in Abuja caused gridlock as queues blocked most of the access roads
within the city.
Commercial taxi operators also took the advantage of the situation
by increasing fares which resulted in some dignitaries’ late arrival at
the International Conference Centre, venue of the event.
The Guardian gathered that the inability of the country to meet its
domestic fuel consumption has been linked to non-granting of autonomy
to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
It was gathered that government’s bureaucratic bottlenecks that
have been embedded in the operations of the national oil company often
resulted in operational delays, especially in the process of award of
contracts for the maintenance of critical infrastructure such as
refineries, pipelines, strategic reserves, among others.
Some of the reasons deduced for the consistently non-performing of
refineries is the lack of power to award contracts for the refurbishment
of the refineries and many layer of approving authorities that the NNPC
has to go through before core maintenance work can be executed.
