Former British Prime Minister Mr. Tony Blair has said President Goodluck Jonathan is focused and has the right priority to take Nigeria out of the woods.
Mr. Blair, who runs the African Governance Initiative, which has signed a working pact with the Elumelu Foundation, spoke yesterday when he visited Jonathan at the State House in Abuja.
The former prime minister, who spoke with reporters after the meeting, said Jonathan is in a position to meet the expectations of the people.
He said:“I think the President is absolutely focused on the right areas, which is improving the infrastructure in the country, making sure that in areas, such as agriculture and power and so on, that he is making the changes that are necessary.”
Blair, who said his talks with the President focused on relationships between Britain and Nigeria and the great expectations of the two countries, added that from his assessment, “I have found the President well focused and determined to improve Nigerian’s total potential and he is someone I have a lot of respect and regard for.”
He added: “I have been through Abuja a couple of times, worked with Nigeria for a couple of years and I just feel there is enormous promise and potential here and I will be glad to do all I can to improve relations between Britain and Nigeria.”
Blair said his passion for Africa dated back to when he was in office and he liked what he saw back then, adding, that “there are enormous potential here that can be exploited.
He challenged African leaders on the need to set their priorities if they are desirous to develop their nations.
The ex-prime minister urged them on the need to be focused on what they want to achieve.
A statement issued by the office of the Special Adviser to the President and signed by the Director of Press, Mr. Musa Aduwak, quoted the former British Prime Minister as saying:“There is a gap between vision and reality, and leaders must know how to do whatever they set out to do, given the reality of their situations.”
Mr. Blair also said leaders must recognise the importance of proper and efficient scheduling of their engagements, to make maximum use of the limited time available for governance.”
Responding, President Jonathan said Nigeria is committed to global peace, and would continue to support any efforts at peace and development.
He welcomed Mr. Blair’s collaboration with the Elumelu Foundation, saying that Africa would benefit from the former British Prime Minister’s experience and efforts.
The duo came together under the auspice of the Tony Blair Africa Government Initiative (AGI) and the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) for a three-year programme to strengthen the private sector’s role in the economic transformation of select African countries.
The countries are: Liberia, Sierra Leone and Rwanda.
Blair said: “We are beginning with three countries, Liberia, Serra Leone and Rwanda, and we have to focus more on what I think is the biggest challenge of modern day Africa, which is not really about ideology but about getting things done.”
He noted that they chose the three countries because Sierra Leone and Rwanda were the first countries he worked closely on when he was in government.
The former British Prime Minister said he chose to work with Elumelu because he came highly recomended
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Popular Lately
- Sex In Big Brother Africa Amplified House? (18+)-WATCH VIDEO:
- Big Brother Amplified: Ernest and Bhoke evicted after sex
- Big Brother Amplified: Naked Picture of Karen Igho
- EFCC Discovers $1 billion In Speaker Bankole's Proxy Account In UBA, Jonathan Wades In To Halt His Arrest
- Big Brother Africa Amplified: Miss p force alex to have sex with her
