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Jonathan Lauds Anyaoku-led Council on Foreign Relations
From Madu Onuorah, Abuja
ACTING President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday commended the Presidential Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs, saying "the political developments in Niger are causing Nigeria some concern as any major crisis there could affect Nigeria due to its geographical proximity to Niger."
While receiving members of the council led its chairman and former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku in Abuja, Jonathan said he would continue to draw from the vast experience of members of the council from time to time through regular consultations with them for advice on Nigeria's foreign relations.
Earlier, Anyaoku congratulated Jonathan on his assumption of office as Acting President, saying the development has helped brought stability in the country.
He said: "I was on assignment in Switzerland and the United Kingdom three weeks ago and wherever I went, people were asking me what was happening in my country. There was understandable anxiety among friends not to mention the discernable tension on their faces. But your formal assumption of office as Acting President has had a tremendous effect in lowering the anxiety and the tension and introducing stability in the polity. And I can say that some of our major foreign investors with whom I interacted in Switzerland, who were sitting back and sceptical of the situation, are now assured. This is as a result of the new stability in the country."
Anyaoku said the council was established in 2001 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration to bring the collective experience of Nigeria's renowned former ambassadors to bear on governance by offering advice to the President on foreign issues.
He urged Nigeria to take steps on the situation in Niger, while sustaining interventions in other parts of the continent through the AU and ECOWAS.
He also enjoined government to take proactive steps in pursuing its post-amnesty programmes in the Niger Delta, adding that "the world is watching out for the successful outcome of the amnesty."
Source: Punch, 24th Feb 2010.
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US Gives Conditions for Dropping Nigeria from Terror List
By John Ameh and Kazeem Ibrahym
The United States of America has given four conditions that Nigeria must meet before it can be removed from the terror watch-list.
One of the conditions is that the Federal Government must make a public condemnation of acts of terrorism wherever they occur in the world.
The US also wants Nigeria to take urgent steps to address security lapses at its airports.
The third condition is that Nigeria must be a party to an agreement to deploy air marshals on all US-bound flights originating from Nigeria.
It also advised that the anti-terrorism bill is pending before the National Assembly must be passed into law.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, disclosed this to the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs in Abuja on Thursday.
The meeting between Maduekwe and the lawmakers took place behind closed doors but the Chairman of the committee, Alhaji Umar Bature, gave the highlights of the agenda shortly after the session ended.
According to Bature, the conditions came out of the ongoing discussions between Nigeria and the US State Department after the event of December 25, 2009, in which a 23-year-old Nigerian, Umar AbdulMutallab, attempted to bomb a Detroit-bound aircraft.
The lawmaker stated that in the course of the discussions, the US explained that Nigeria was placed on the list of 'countries of interest' due mainly to AbdulMutallab's case and not because of the internal cases of sectarian violence such as the recent Jos crisis.
Bature added that in spite of the clarification, Nigeria had sustained its protest and argued that it did not deserve to be on the list.
He said, "It is now very clear that it was the isolated case involving that young man (AbdulMutllab) that got Nigeria into this problem.
"It had nothing to do with reports on pockets of internal cases of violence in Nigeria.
"But, even the US does not see Nigeria as a terrorist country. No; they are saying that we are a country of interest.
"What that means is that there should be adequate security checks on 'anybody,' not just Nigerians, leaving Nigeria for the US.
"There are lapses at the airports and they have said that much."
Asked whether Maduekwe assured the committee that Nigeria was ready to meet the conditions, Bature replied that they should not be difficult for Nigeria to meet.
Regarding the anti-terrorism law, he noted that the condition had almost been met with the bill on terrorism already before the National Assembly.
"So, in a way, we have met one of the conditions; all that is needed is for us to hasten the passage of that piece of legislation," he added.
On security, Bature observed that the Federal Government reacted after the December incident by beefing up security at the airports, an indication that the country was committed to ensuring the safety of air travellers.
He, however, tried to avoid a question on whether US President Barack Obama and President Umaru Yar'Adua were able to communicate on the AbdulMutallab incident.
First, he claimed not to be aware that Obama tried to reach Yar'Adua on the telephone after the incident occurred but did not succeed.
But when pressed further, Bature said, "The issue you are referring to did not come up during our discussion with the minister.
"He did not come here to speak on that; we only took a brief from him on what the executive arm of government has been doing since the incident happened."
He also claimed that the issue was being handled at the level of the US State Department and Nigeria's Foreign Affairs Ministry, which did not require the participation of the presidents of the two countries.
Maduekwe did not offer any comments after the meeting.
However, he had said that Nigeria chose to handle the matter diplomatically rather than being confrontational.
The minister hinted that most of the steps the government had taken in addressing the issue were adopted after wide consultations with the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
"We want to thank the committee for the guidance and advice the members, especially the chairman, gave in the course of this matter.
"To a very large extent, those suggestions assisted us and we are optimistic that soon, this case will be resolved," Maduekwe stated.
The US Transportation Security Administration had on January 4, 2010 listed Nigeria alongside Yemen, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Somalia as countries classified as 'security risk states.'
Other countries listed by the TSA include Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria as 'sponsors of terrorism.'
THE PUNCH had reported that tough times awaited Nigerian travellers as a result of the decision of the US government.
TSA, in its statement, had said that air travellers with Nigerian passports and any of the above-listed nations would henceforth face thorough screening.
It had said, "Beginning from (today) January 4, 2010, passengers flying into the United States from certain countries will be subjected to enhanced screening techniques, such as body scans and pat-downs. The order includes the requirement that all passengers on US-bound international flights will be subjected to random screening."
But the Minister of Foreign Affairs had denied that Nigeria was listed by the United States as a terrorist state.
Maduekwe had earlier explained that Nigeria was on the list of US friendly countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and 14 other nations.
He said, "Let me use this opportunity to clarify this controversy. Nigeria is not on US terror watch list. We do not believe that the current event, which involves a Nigerian in terrorist act, will alter that.
"Nigeria is not accused of sponsoring terrorism; we cannot be because it is not in our character and not in our culture.
"Being on the list of countries of interest implies that citizens from these countries will be subjected to thorough checks, just like Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan etc. These countries are not on terror list, just like Nigeria. But even at that, it is not acceptable to us.
"US said there is need to enhance security control for reasons which are clearly stated by them, they will naturally in their own judgment look more closely about traffic, in respect of 14 listed countries."
Source: Punch, 12th Feb 2010.
Terror Blacklist: US Gives Nigeria Four Conditions
From Sufuyan Ojeifo and Onwuka Nzeshi in Abuja
Nigeria would have to meet four conditions before it could be removed from the list of 14 "countries of interest", a group whose nationals are under heavy scrutiny by the United States for potential terrorist activities.
And in another development, Britain has commended Nigeria for the way it resolved the political crisis caused by President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's prolonged hospitalisation in Saudi Arabia.
Removing Nigeria from the terror blacklist is being seen as a major challenge for Acting President Goodluck Jonathan.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, revealed the conditions given by the US during a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday.
The conditions, he said, are: public condemnation of any form of terrorism anywhere in the world; improvement of security in the nation's airports; deployment of air marshals on board aircraft and passing legislations geared towards combating terrorism in the country.
Although the meeting held behind closed-doors, Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Honourable Bature Umar, said it was convened to get an update on the December 25, 2009, botched bombing of an American airline by 23-year-old Nigerian, Farouk Umar AbdulMutallab.
Nigeria was placed on a list of "countries of interest" shortly after the attempted bombing incident.
During the meeting, Maduekwe was said to have briefed the lawmakers on how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been handling the diplomatic row that followed after Nigeria was listed.
Maduekwe also briefed the committee on issues of common interest to the US and Nigeria, particularly the deployment of troops in Sudan; the transformation of the Africa Union (AU) and the recent controversy over the failure of the Nigerian Embassy to pay about $16 million tax on its property located in New York.
The interaction, Bature said, had put paid to insinuations that the inclusion of Nigeria on the watch list makes it a terrorist country.
According to him, "Nigeria was listed as a 'country of interest' which requires that anybody flying from or through Nigeria to the United States should be subjected to extra security check irrespective of his citizenship."
Meanwhile, the resolution by the National Assembly empowering Jonathan to take over as Acting President pending the return of the president has been commended by the United Kingdom.
Maduekwe, announced UK's statemnent yesterday at an interactive session with the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Maduekwe said that the British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, called him to express the British Government's profound appreciation at the effective management of the crisis by the National Assembly, the Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) and the entire leadership of the country.
He also confessed at the session that Yar'Adua's absence made his assignment in diplomatic circles very difficult.
"Just before I came in here, the British Foreign Secretary called me and he expressed his government's profound appreciation that a challenging time like this is being managed very well by the National Assembly, by the Executive Council of the Federation, by the entire leadership; that Nigeria has justified the confidence many of Nigeria's friends have in this country," the foreign minister stated.
In response to a question on the difficulty encountered in managing diplomatic relations during the period, Manduekwe stated that "One cannot divorce the issue of diplomacy from the issue of the domestic situation."
He stressed that "all over the world, wherever I go, the challenge is made even more difficult for me with the unfortunate indisposition of the President".
He added: "Of course, the Vice-President himself cannot travel. Where the President should normally be and he is unable to be there, it should be the Vice-President.
"But if the President is outside the country, it means the Foreign Minister will be instructed through the then Vice-President, now Acting President to represent the nation.
"So, through my encounters with presidents, prime ministers, they asked about their brother, our President, and I had a very difficult challenge to explain things to them, to assure them that Nigeria is going through a very difficult moment.
"We miss our President but the country is not about to implode as they all think. Of course, that has its own security implications.
"But I assured them and the National Assembly has vindicated me in that assurance. I assured them that whatever happened, the constitution of the country; that the robustness of our democracy is intact and that we will come out of this strong, respected, appreciated and will play very vital role in how this country will move forward."
According to him, "When the National Assembly took the historic decision they took a few days ago, not only did it bring stability to the nation, it also assisted the Foreign Minister in his task of engaging the rest of the world."
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Jibril Aminu, had told Maduekwe that the Senate Committee on Appropriations had rejected the Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposed miscellaneous budget of N2.4 billion.
He said the Appropriations Committee had maintained its position on working within the framework of the budget and had advised that the Ministry should consider areas of its N44 billion budget where adjustments could be made.
Source: This Day, 12th Feb 2010.
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