Presidential Delegation - Pan - Nigerian News Bulletin - President Goodluck Jonathan Sworn

Jonathan brings the world to Nigeria

Monday, 30 May 2011 00:00 From Laolu Akande (New York) and Oghogho Obayuwana (Abuja) Nigerian Guardian

NIGERIA yesterday got more attention from the international community as close to 30 world leaders and representatives of global and regional bodies witnessed the inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan at the Eagle Square, Abuja.

An elated Jonathan told his guests that he had chosen the path of peace and rededicated Nigeria to the cause of global peace and development.

United States (U.S.) President Barack Obama was represented at the event by the Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Ambassador Johnnie Carson.

A White House statement at the weekend said President Barack Obama announced the designation of a presidential delegation to the Federal Republic of Nigeria to attend the inauguration of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on May 29, 2011.

The face of one of Africa s longest serving Presidents, octogenarian Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, was very visible among the colony of the visiting world leaders. There was also President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, who was recently sworn in for another five-year-term after spending 25 years in office. Jonathan was present at his swearing-in.

Other leaders present at the occasion included Presidents Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson (Liberia), Atta Mills (Ghana), Yayi Boni (Benin Republic), Faure Gnassigbe (Togo), Abdoulaye Wade (Senegal), Jacob Zuma (South Africa), Mgbaso Ngueso (Equatorial Guinea), Joseph Kabila (Democratic Republic of Congo) and President Fradique de Menezes of Sao Tome and Principe.

There were also Presidents Amadou Toumani Toure (Mali), Idriss Deby (Chad), Denis Sassou Nguesso (Congo Brazaville), Bacai Sanha (Guinea Bissau), Alpha Conde (Guinea-Conakry), Ali-Ben Bongo Ondimba (Gabon), Mahamadou Issoufou (Niger Republic), Allassane Ouattara (Cote d Ivoire), Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Ernest Bai Koroma (Sierra Leone), Prof. Emeritus George Maxwell (Trinidad and Tobago), Blaise Compaore (Burkina Faso), Francois Bozize (Central African Republic), Mohammed Ould Abdelaziz (Mauritania), Hifikepunye Pohamba (Namibia) and Rupiah Banda (Zambia).

After a colourful military parade, calisthenics display, some cultural performance and the swearing in proper, Jonathan said in a sombre mood among others: This is a new dawn for Africa. Nigeria will continue to play an active role in the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and in the Gulf of Guinea. We fought for the de-colonisation of Africa. We are now fighting for democracy.

The commitment by President Jonathan of Nigeria to global peace may have to do with the renewed confidence secured during the recent visit of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The U.S. delegation included Terence McCulley, the country s Ambassador to Nigeria.

The designation of a presidential delegation by Obama, according to American sources, is an indication of the personal approval, friendship and support for a new president, each time the White House makes such a decision, in this case, President Jonathan.

In the 2007 inauguration of the late President Umaru Musa Yar Adua, the White House did not designate a presidential delegation even though the U.S. government representatives were present ostensibly because of the alleged rigging of the polls.

Obama s action is already raising expectations in diplomatic circles in Washington DC on the possibility of a presidential visit either way between Presidents Obama and Jonathan, both of whom have met personally last year in Washington DC at the invitation of the U.S. leader, who hosted a select number of world leaders to a Nuclear Security Summit.