President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday expressed\u00a0 optimism that the
\nabduction of over 200 school girls in Chibok, Borno, would be the end to
\nterror in the country.<\/p>\n
The President said this at the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum
\non Africa holding in Abuja.<\/p>\n
Jonathan, who said that Nigeria was proud to host the event for the first
\ntime it was coming to West Africa, thanked participants for coming at a
\ntime Nigeria was facing terror attacks.<\/p>\n
Jonathan thanked China, the U.S., United Kingdom and France who
\nvolunteered to assist Nigeria in the rescue efforts of the girls and in
\nfighting the terrorists<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me specially thank all of you for accepting to come. Especially this
\ntime that as a nation we are facing attacks from terrorists.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me appreciate you individually and collectively for your support and
\nyour sentiment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact by your presence here in Nigeria at this time, you have already
\nsupported us to win the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have refused to come because of fear, the terrorists would have
\njubilated and even have committed more havoc.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour coming here to support us morally is a major blow on the terrorists
\nand by God\u2019s grace we will conquer the terrorists.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me use this opportunity to thank the other countries who have
\nvolunteered to help us in terms of rescuing the abducted girls. The
\ngovernment of China has promised to assist us and I believe that
\nassistance will come almost immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cU.S., UK and France have also spoken to me and expressed their commitment
\nto assist us.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that the kidnapping of these girls will be the beginnig of end
\nto terror in Nigeria,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The President said that the theme of the Forum, \u201cCreating Jobs and
\ninclusive Growth\u201d, was critical to Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.<\/p>\n
He said that job creation was a global challenge and nearly all countries
\nof the world,of class and position, faced the problem of unemployment.<\/p>\n
Jonathan noted that the unemployment problem in Africa was compounded by
\nits youthful population.<\/p>\n
He, therefore, tasked African leaders to place utmost priority on
\nemployment creation to forestall damning prediction of additional 122
\nmillion unemployed workforce by 2020.<\/p>\n
President Jonathan said that wealth\u00a0 creation had been the main focus of
\nhis administration\u2019s transformation agenda through mobilisation and
\ndiversification of the economy.<\/p>\n
He also said that his government recognised that the private sector must
\nbe the agent of growth and job creation and it was, therefore, putting in
\nplace programmes to support the sector.<\/p>\n
Jonathan said that the Nigerian economy had grown rapidly at about seven
\nper cent in the last 10 years and the country was now the largest economy
\nin Africa and 26th in the world.<\/p>\n
He, however, said the robust economy was yet to translate into jobs
\ncreation and\u00a0 government was working hard to create job for people.<\/p>\n
Specifically, Jonathan said government was focussing on specific sectors
\nwhich has high job creation potentials such as agriculture, manufacturing,
\nhousing, construction and the servicing sectors.<\/p>\n
Jonathan said that government was also giving priority attention to small
\nand medium scale enterprises to create sustainable jobs.<\/p>\n
Chinese Premier, Li Kequang, in a remark, said that Africa was a continent
\non the rise with 54 united countries, over two trillion\u00a0 dollars economic
\naggregate in 2013 and having seven out of the 10 fastest growing economies
\nin the world.<\/p>\n
He promised that China would continue to support the much needed
\ninfrastructural development in African countries without\u00a0 interference in
\ntheir internal democracies and governance.<\/p>\n
Kequang noted that the economy of China and Africa was complimentary
\nbecause while Africa had practical need for infrastructural and rural
\ndevelopment\u00a0\u00a0 China had surplus in investments, construction and
\nproduction.<\/p>\n
He said\u00a0 China would increase its investment financing in Africa from 10
\nbillion dollars,\u00a0 create a 30 billon-dollar credit facilities and provide
\nan additional two billion dollars to China- Africa Development fund to
\nbring it to five billion dollars.<\/p>\n
Kequang also said that China would grant 18,000 scholarships in support of
\nAfrican Talent Plan and train 30,000 African professionals. (NAN)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday expressed\u00a0 optimism that the abduction of over 200 school girls in Chibok, Borno, would be the end to terror in the country. The President said…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n