Nigeria Content Online

President Goodluck
Jonathan has been nominated to make key note presentations to world
leaders on peace keeping and conflict resolutions at the 25th
Africa-France Summit in Nice.

Mr. Jonathan, who
is attending the summit on the invitation of French President Nicolas
Sarkozy, arrived the Southern French city of Nice on Sunday.

Nigeria’s
Ambassador to France, Gordon Bristol, told journalists that Mr.
Jonathan was nominated by Mr. Sarkozy, the convener of the summit,
because of the pivotal role Nigeria played in peace, security and
conflict resolution in Africa and the world.

“From Kosovo to
Middle East, we have sent peace keeping troops under the banner of the
UN and AU. Nigeria has co-invented new approaches to peace keeping as
evident in Liberia and Sierra-Leone, using the instrumentality of
sub-regional organisation as envisaged under the relevant charters of
the UN.

Nigeria is well
suited to speak on the issue of peace and security in the world and
Jonathan will do that at the summit,’’ Mr. Bristol said.

Heads of States and
Governments from Africa, Asia and Europe are participating at the
two-day summit which opens today at the Nice Acropolis Convention
Centre.

As part of the
visit, the president has also been scheduled to hold meetings with Mr.
Sarkozy as well as Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Hosni Mubarak of
Egypt.

He will also hold a
business forum with Nigerian and international business communities as
well as meet with foreign ministers on the situation in the Great Lakes
Area.

The Bayelsa State
governor, Sullivan Chime and his Benue State counterpart, Gabriel
Suswan, are in the president’s entourage, to explore areas of
cooperation and investment in agriculture and tourism with foreign
partners.

Also in the
entourage are the ministers of petroleum, Deziani Allison Maduekwe,
foreign affairs, Odein Ajumogobia, national planning, Samsudeen Usman
and commerce, Jubril Martins Kuye.

Tagged a
“Renovation Summit,” the multi-national gathering is to revamp
relations between Africa and France and the growing awareness of the
changes taking place on the continent.

It will also
discuss Africa’s roles in global governance, peace and security as well
as climate change, economic challenges and the need for a development
leap.

The Africa-France
Summit was initiated in 1973 by two African presidents, Niger
Republic’s Mamman Troure and Senegal’s Leopold Senghor.

The summit
initially was to provide a forum for French speaking African countries
and France to discuss political and economic issues.

In 1975, however, the summit was extended to Asia, English and
Portuguese-speaking African countries and later to all African
countries.