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President Goodluck
Jonathan yesterday said that he will not contest in the 2015 elections
and that he will ensure that free and fair elections are conducted
during the April polls. Speaking during an interactive session with
Nigerians, primarily diplomats working in the United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Union (AU), the president
assured them that if he is voted for the next four years, he will
ensure significant improvement in key sectors of the economy like
security, power, education, road, health among others.

“Without security
there is no government so it is not debatable, it is something we have
to address and we are working towards that with vigour. But if I am
voted into power within the next four years, the issue of power will
become a thing of the past. Four years is enough for anyone in power to
make significant improvement and if I can’t improve on power within
this period, it then means I cannot do anything even if I am there for
the next four years” he said.

Fielding questions
from those present at the session on whether Nigerians abroad will
vote, Mr Jonathan said “I would have loved that the Nigerians in
Diaspora vote this year but to be frank with you, that is going to be
difficult now. Presently, the law does not allow voting outside Nigeria
and so this year, Nigerians in Diaspora will not vote but I will work
towards it by 2015 even though I will not be running for election”, he
said.

On the issue of
security in the country, Mr Jonathan said the government is doing
everything possible to arrest the situation adding that all those
involved in the October 1st bombing have been arrested and are
currently being prosecuted. He also said he ordered the release of the
car dealers because they were just businessmen who could not have known
that the vehicles were to be used for such heinous crime.

As regards road
network and transportation in the country, he assured the audience that
the railway system will soon be revamped because presently, heavy duty
vehicles are destroying the roads. “Why we cannot have continuous road
maintenance for now is because no contractor wants to go into it
because of the continuous pressure on the road by heavy duty vehicles.
That is why we are working to ensure that we revamp the rail”.

Care for Nigerian Diaspora

The president also
addressed issues raised on having a database of Nigerian experts in the
Diaspora, Mr Jonathan assured them that he is working on creating a
forum for interaction between them and that the government will also
develop a database, where experts needed to address the various
challenges of the economy will be drawn from. He hinted that this is
why the Diaspora Commission is being set up and the bill is already
before the National Assembly.

The President also
disclosed that the government is planning to review the country’s
foreign policy to ensure that Nigeria gets maximum benefit from its
roles and contributions to international organisations like the AU, UN
and ECOWAS.

He further lamented
that right now, Nigeria’s contributions are not being recognised adding
that “there is need for Nigeria to have something in return for our
investments. We are investing so much but it is not being noticed and
there is need to reverse that trend.”

The President
further assured that Nigerians working in international organisations
and institutions will be issued diplomatic passports. Following this,
he directed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Odein Ajumogobia to submit
the list of those qualified within the shortest possible time to him.