The Oba of Benin, Omo n’Oba n’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Erediauwa I, has sent a blessing to President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term in office as President of Nigeria from 2015.

The Oba’s special mission to President Jonathan who is the Benin Kingdom’s Crown prince, Ambassador Eheneden Erediauwa arrived at the Presidential Villa, Abuja today, accompanied by chairman, Ocean Marine Tankers Limited, Captain Hosa Okunbo with the message from Oba.
Ambassador Eheneden told newsmen shortly after conferring with the President that Oba Erediauwa, his father had been praying the President in the Benin Kingdom.

“He is praying fervently for him to be able to withstand the pressure. He sent me to let Mr President know that the spirits of the ancestors of the kingdom are with him and they will see him through. And also to pray that the opportunity will come for him to continue the good work he is doing in Benin and other parts of South South for at least another term.

“That is the commitment we have in this kind of special prayer coming from the Oba of Benin, my father. He is sending me as his eldest son to bring such a message. So, you can imagine the importance that my father attaches to such a message.”
He said that his father sent him to convey the message to the President “that we have been following the things that have been happening in the country. All these disturbances; the distractions that the President has been having. My father considers the President as his own son and he has sent me to present this special message to him.”
Ambassador Eheneden said that his father has also invited the President to kindly find time to have an audience with him in Benin, adding that the Oba does not travel so much now because of age.

“Basically, we are looking forward to receiving Mr. President for Baba to give him some fatherly advice and hopefully, it will be the beginning of continuous and continual pieces of fatherly advice my father will be given to Mr. President to guide him in facing future challenges and to urge him to continue his good work for the country.”

Nigerian political, religious and security leaders have come up with a verdict that Boko Haram, a deadly group that has been engaged in terrorism in mainly North Eastern part of the country has nothing to do with Islamic religion.
The expanded security meeting which held today at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, with President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, security cheifs, religious leaders, including the Sultan of Sokoto and President of Chritian Association of Nigeria (CAN) concluded that Boko Haram has been killing both Muslims and Christians in its deadly attacks.
Briefing state House shortly after the meeting which held from 12.10 noon to 6.40pm today, the leaders, led at the briefing by minister of defence, Lieutenant General Aliyu Gusau said that they were unanimous in condemning the increasing spate of deadly activities of not only Boko Haram but kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminals across the country.
Others who briefed the newsmen were the Niger state governor, Babangida Aliyu, Ekiti state governor, Kayode Fayemi, Abia state governor, Theodor Orji and Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima.
The meeting, they said, agreed that “Boko Haram is not a religious war because they attack and kill both Muslims and Christians.”
They said that the meeting took a look at a memo written by Adamawa state governor, Murtala Nyako to his Northern colleagues and unanimously condemned it.
Governor Nyako, they said, was given the chance to read the content of his letter at the meeting at the end of which the leaders condemend it.
The meeting autioned leaders to be careful about what they say in public so as not to encourage terrorists, adding that they thrive in an environment where there is conflicts amongst the leaders that should have united to fight them.
In the same vien. The meeting asked media practitioners to be compassionate about the unity of the country in matters concerning terrorists and the nation.
The meeting also resolved to establish preaching board in each state of the federation to regulate both Islamic and Chritian religious preachings as a way of stemming instigative ones.
The leaders set up a committee to work out details of move to domesticate Fulani pasturalists to stem frequent clashes between them and farmers in their areas of residence, even as they resolve to abbrogate the issue of state indigenship that has made some people settlers in states they have spent almost all their live times.
Names of the committee members were not disclosed at the briefing, even as questions were not entertained from the newsmen.
“We stress the need for wholistic measures to stem terrorism, including anti poverty strategy, soft approach in addition to hard approach that has been in operation through deployment of Joint security Task Force.”

President Goodluck Jonathan has reassured the global community of the safety of all participants in the next month’s World Economic Forum on Africa scheduled to hold in Abuja, the nation’s federal capital territory.

Speaking at an audience with China’s new Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Gu Xiaojie who presented his letters of credence to him at the Presidential Villa today, President Jonathan said that the security challenges being experienced in parts of the country will have no adverse effect on the safety of participants in the forum.

The President welcomed the confirmation by China that its delegation to the Forum, which will bring together regional and global leaders to discuss innovative structural reforms and investments that can sustain the continent’s current growth trajectory and create jobs, will be led by Premier Li Keqiang.

“I am quite pleased that the Premier of the People’s Republic of China has confirmed that he is coming. We will be addressing the World Economic Forum on Africa together. We will also sit down together to discuss shared national interests.

“We will give all participants a good reception in Abuja. We have faced challenges in the area of security, but we will overcome the situation so that our economy can move forward faster. Participants will not have a problem with security during the summit.”

The Ambassador assured the President of China’s confidence in Nigeria’s security measures and the country’s ability to host the World Economic Forum on Africa successfully.

“From our assessment, we are confident that all is under control and we have relayed that to our people,” Mr. Gu Xiaojie said.

He applauded Nigeria’s re-basing of its GDP and the country’s emergence as the number one economy in Africa, noting that it will certainly stimulate the inflow of more foreign investors.

Also today, at the Presidential Villa, President Jonathan received the letters of credence of the new Malaysian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Lim Juay and the new Ambassador of Thailand, Mr. Chailert Limsoboom.

The President urged all three new Ambassadors to do their best to further expand areas of bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and their respective countries.