President Goodluck Jonathan has assured the international investors that Nigeria was winning the war against terrorism, and
that the climate had become more conducive for investment.
Jonathan gave the assurance in his
opening remarks on Thursday at the 14th Meeting of the Honorary International Investors
Council (HIIC) held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa.
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’s economy.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
reports that the council is charged with the responsibilities of looking into
the country’s investment environment to see how it can be improved.
It is also to advise on areas to
improve on and attract businessmen across the world to take interest in
investing in the country.
Jonathan said there had been
significant improvement in national security with the declaration of state of
emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states on May 14.
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.
“The development has confirmed
government position that the various insurgencies witnessed in the country have
nothing to do with religion.
“They are actually activities of
internationally-backed terror groups determined to destabilise the country,”
the president said.
“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.”
He thanked members of the HIIC for
their efforts at attracting business and investment into the country and
encouraged them to do more.
Jonathan said the nation’s economy
was growing, but he would like to see it improved to double digit growth.
He informed the Council that he
presented a mid-term report of his administration’s performance on May 29 to
correct the “lots of misinformation” going on among the people.
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”.
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”.
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 among others.
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Politics