The Federal Government on Thursday said the recent spate of bombings being witnessed in the country would not, in any way jeopardise Nigeria’s hosting of the World Economic Forum.
World leaders and investors are due to attend the conference scheduled to hold in Abuja between May 7 and 9 and the Federal Government intends to showcase its newly acquired status as the largest economy on the continent.
Monday’s bombing at Nyanya, a suburb in Abuja which killed over 71 people is the deadliest attack on the nation’s capital.
The incident has raised questions about the government’s ability to protect the capital from Boko Haram attacks.
But the Supervising Minister of National Planning, Amb Bashir Yuguda, said during a chat with journalists in Abuja that already, a high powered security committee headed by the Inspector General of Police, had been constituted by the Federal Government.
The security committee, according to him, had been given a mandate to ensure that no threat to lives and property occur during the period that the event would be hosted.
Yuguda said that so far, over 1,000 delegates from various countries had registered for the conference, adding that the huge interest by delegates is a testimony on the confidence international investors have on the economy.
He said, “The government is stepping up security and its doing its best in arresting this ugly trend.
“It is not good for us to assume that the issue of security is for government alone, every Nigerian has a role to play and we believe we will soon come out of this problem.
“We want to assure all the delegates coming to the WEF that adequate security has been provided.
“We have nine committees for the conference and security is an important committee headed by the IG and I had a meeting with him yesterday (Wednesday) and he assured that all security arrangement is in place and be promised that the security of all the delegates would be guaranteed.”
The minster also added that the essence of hosting the international conference was to stimulate inclusive growth through job creation noting that with the event, more foreign direct investment would be secured for the country.
“The essence of hosting the WEF is in line with the agenda of President Goodluck Jonahan and we are looking on how to create jobs and ensure inclusive growth as we grow the economy.
“We are hoping that this should be the best WEF ever hosted by Africa. Investors don’t always look at only one variable when they are coming to invest in the country.
“Investors only get worried if there are security challenges and the government is not doing anything about it.
“We are happy that the FDI had been growing and this is a sign of the confidence that investors have in the economy,” he said. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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