{"id":5300,"date":"2013-06-21T12:27:21","date_gmt":"2013-06-21T12:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigeria-news\/we-are-winning-war-against-terror-jonathan\/"},"modified":"2013-06-21T12:27:21","modified_gmt":"2013-06-21T12:27:21","slug":"we-are-winning-war-against-terror-jonathan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/we-are-winning-war-against-terror-jonathan\/","title":{"rendered":"We are winning war against terror \u2013 Jonathan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Agency Reporters<\/p>\n

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President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday in Abuja assured international investors that Nigeria was winning the war against terrorism, and that the climate had become more conducive for investment.<\/p>\n

Jonathan gave the assurance in his opening remarks at the 14th<\/sup> Meeting of the Honorary International Investors Council (HIIC) held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa.<\/p>\n

HIIC, co-ordinated by Baroness Lynda Chalker, was inaugurated in 2004 as a Presidential Advisory Council to attract global financial players in to the nation\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the council is charged with the responsibilities of looking into the country\u2019s investment environment to see how it can be improved.<\/p>\n

It is also to advice on areas to improve on and attract businessmen across the world to take interest in investing in the country.<\/p>\n

Jonathan said there had been significant improvement in national security with the declaration of state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa on May 14.<\/p>\n

He said the emergency rule had attracted unprecedented support from the local communities in the affected states, adding “this shows that the residents are also disenchanted with the level of insecurity\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n

“The development has confirmed government position that the various insurgencies witnessed in the country have nothing to do with religion.<\/p>\n

“They are actually activities of internationally-backed terror groups determined to destabilise the country,\u2019\u2019 the president said.<\/p>\n

“My administration understands that security is key to attracting investment and development, and will leave no stone unturned to guarantee safety of lives, property and investments.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

He thanked members of the HIIC for their efforts at attracting business and investment into the country and encouraged them to do more.<\/p>\n

Jonathan said the nation\u2019s economy was growing, but he would like to see it improved to double digit growth.<\/p>\n

He informed the Council that he presented a mid-term report of his administration\u2019s performance on May 29 to correct the “lots of misinformation\u2019\u2019 going on among the people.<\/p>\n

Jonathan said the presentation had helped to correct the negative projection of the administration, particularly through the media.<\/p>\n

He also said that government would encourage the growth of micro and medium scale businesses in addressing the high rate of unemployment in the country.<\/p>\n

On the challenge of high statistics of school drops-out in the country, the President said “there is a need for an interface between the federal and state governments to end the menace.<\/p>\n

“The Federal Government will organise a forum of stakeholders from the federal and state levels on the problem, after resolving the political impasse within the Nigeria Governors\u2019 Forum.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Also, Jonathan said that oil theft in the country had reached an alarming rate and was affecting not only the economy, but the country\u2019s image and aiding insecurity.<\/p>\n

He, however, assured that government would continue to work hard to address the problem.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Chalker, who is the HIIC Co-ordinator, had said that government must take proactive action to address the problem of oil theft, which she said was “diminishing income into the treasury\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n

She also charged government to double its drive on the development of infrastructure, such as roads, railway and power, which she said “are key to solving other problems\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n

At the occasion, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga, gave account of the impact of the activities of HIIC on national development.<\/p>\n

He said there was significant increase in foreign direct investment in the economy.<\/p>\n

“Specifically, the petro-chemical sub-sector attracted over 20 billion U.S dollars investment with over eight billion dollars contribution by the Dangote Group,\u2019\u2019 Aganga said.<\/p>\n

He said the investment in petro-chemical had encouraged value addition into the oil and gas sector and also generated employment.<\/p>\n

The minister said the country would soon launch its auto-programme with a plan by Nissan Automobile to launch an assembly plant in the country.<\/p>\n

He said the telecommunications sector had attracted over 6.9 billion dollars.<\/p>\n

Aganga said there had been an influx of foreign investment from Brazil, Canada and the Netherlands, while Turkey had signed an agreement to build an industrial park in the country.<\/p>\n

He, however, said that some of the investors had asked for increased incentives to invest in the rural areas, while some had\u00a0complained of skill-gaps.<\/p>\n

The minister decried the situation where many Nigerians were unable to take advantage of the investment opportunities in the country because of lack of access to fund.<\/p>\n

He said government must design programmes for local investors to access long-term finance to encourage re-distribution of wealth.<\/p>\n

Present at the meeting were Vice-President Namadi Sambo, the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah; and the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo.<\/p>\n

Other ministers present were Dr Akinwunmi Adesina (Agriculture), Mrs Dieziani Alison-Madueke (Petroleum Resources) and Abba Moro (Internal Affairs).<\/p>\n

Some foreign investors at the meeting were Hruki Hayashi, Simon Hayford, Olivier Suinat, Guillaume Roux, Jacques des Grottes, Andrew Brown and David Haworth.<\/p>\n

Nigerian businessmen at the meeting include Aliko Dangote,\u00a0Emmanuel Ijewere, Femi Otedola, Umar Mutallab and Sam Jonah.<\/p>\n

Also in attendance were Comptroller-General of Customs Abdullahi Dikko, CBN Gov. Sanusi Lamido, Group Managing Director of NNPC Andrew Yakubu, and the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Investments Promotion Council (NIPC), Mr Mustafa Bello. (NAN)<\/p>\n

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Source: Citizens Platform<\/p>\n

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