THE picture and direction of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in the next four years, after his swearing-in on May 29, 2011 in the wake of his electoral triumph, is emerging.

The President yesterday gave hints of what he would do in some sectors. For example, Jonathan said his Administration would pay special attention to the strengthening of economic relations with the international community in the next four years.

He spoke during the presentation of their letters of credence at different ceremonies by five new ambassadors to Nigeria at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The new ambassadors are Nyahuma Mentuhotep Obika (Trinidad and Tobago), Mr. Alvaro Castillo Aguilar (Spain), Mr. Ali Abdo Suleiman (Ethiopia), Mr. Alain Aime Nyamitwe of Burundi and Mr. Issa Ibrahim of Chad.

According to the President, “in the next four years, we will pay special attention to the improvement and strengthening of economic ties with our partners in the international community, as a foundation for stability and growth of our country.”

He told Mr. Obika of Trinidad and Tobago that Nigeria was interested in co-operation in the oil and gas sector, while he welcomed the proposal for energy co-operation by Mr. Aguilar of Spain.

Also on another occasion yesterday, the President directed that Nigeria’s foreign policy be reviewed to “reflect current realities.”

Jonathan gave the directive during a breakfast meeting with the Presidential Advisory Council on International Relations at Aso Rock Villa Abuja, saying that “after 50 years of independence, it is time to review the country’s foreign policy in line with modern realities and international developments.”

The President agreed with Chief  Emeka Anyaoku, Chairman of the Advisory Council, that the “highly successful, transparent and credible elections conducted by Nigeria had elevated the country’s democratic credentials in the international community,” adding that he would ensure even better polls in 2015.

President Jonathan noted that “from 2007, we committed ourselves to credible elections by setting up the Muhammadu Uwais Committee. And this is the result of those efforts.”

The President expressed appreciation to members of the Presidential Advisory Council on International Relations for their consistent credible advice.

Earlier, Anyaoku had congratulated the President for his success in the elections, and for delivering on his ‘promise to conduct credible elections’.

The Council offered suggestions on several areas of national and international interest to Nigeria.

And to meet the country’s needs and challenges, President Goodluck Jonathan has assured of an improved budgetary allocation to the education sector.

He gave the assurance yesterday at the public presentation of the nation’s education data survey and the Digest of Education Statistics for the period 2006 to 2010.

The President frowned at the situation where the federal budget had continued to increase, while that of education had remained static.

“This will not continue. However, this lacuna has been addressed in the 2011 budget,” he said.

Represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo, the President reiterated that it was only through improved and quality education that his administration would achieve its plan to transform Nigeria.

He said that to tackle the challenges of inadequate and irregular power supply, quality health provision, enhanced transport system as well as overall development, the role of educated Nigerians could not be over-emphasised.

“For instance, the issue of ensuring that we have adequate power supply, we need to get the plant, develop expansion and operate and manage the facilities. We need Nigerians to do all these and they must be educated Nigerians. It is only educated Nigerians that can run efficient seaports, rail system, health and other sectors of the economy.

“The myriads of our problems as a society can be achieved through a responsive education system. None of our developmental goals would be achieved if the education system cannot produce men and women to provide solutions to the problems.”

President Jonathan also told the gathering that he had requested the Minister of Education and the Chairman, National Population Commission to make a formal presentation of the report to the National Economic Council, where the governors of the 36 States of the Federation would be present.

Commending the Ministry of Education for its foresight, the President said it had not only shown how well it understood the challenges of the sector but also how focused it had been in tackling the challenges headlong by ensuring that up-to-date information on the sector was made available for developmental strategies.

In her remarks, the Minister of Education, Prof Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufai, said that with accurate data at their disposal, the ministry and its team would be able to effectively deploy resources to tackle identified challenges.

According to her, even before arriving the Ministry as a Minister, her major concern had been the availability of credible data on the nation’s education sector.

Presenting the key findings on 2010 Nigerian Education Data Survey (NEDS), the Chairman, National Population Commission, Chief Samu’Ila D. Makama, stated that education enrolment between age six to 16 in the North West and North East geo-political zones of the country ranked lowest with 72 per cent compared to Southern zones, where it was only three per cent.    Meanwhile, Imo State recorded zero per cent non-attendance.

Speaking on states with children between ages five to 16 that we are able to read, he said that while North East and North West zones recorded less than 40 per cent, Ekiti, Lagos, Abia, Osun, Ondo and Akwa Ibom, recorded 70 per cent and above respectively. Yobe State was ranked lowest with only six per cent.

-Guardian

Posted by admin on May 17 2011. Filed under Goodluck Jonathan (2010-present), Latest Politics, Presidency. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry