President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan today held bilateral discussions with his Ghanaian counterpart, President John Atta Mills, in State House, Abuja, with the two leaders pledging to advance development cooperation and better living conditions for their peoples and the ECOWAS sub-region.  

President Mills, who briefed State House correspondents after the talks, expressed confidence in President Jonathan as Nigeria’s leader and chairman of ECOWAS, saying “I am lucky to have such a friend in the sub-region and I will continue to dialogue with him and with other colleagues to build a better sub-region and a better Africa.”

Mills pledged Ghana’s unflinching support for Nigeria in her march towards free and transparent elections next year, which he said would signpost “positive signals to the rest of the world that our big brother, Nigeria, is following the path which has been blazed by other countries.”

“We will support and do whatever it takes to ensure that the people of Nigeria are given the opportunity to choose their leader,” he stated 

President Mills said he came to also personally congratulate President Jonathan on Nigeria’s golden jubilee anniversary as an Independent nation, being unable to attend the October celebrations as he was outside the continent.

He expressed Ghana’s desire to work closely with Nigeria in pursuing common interests and objectives. “I assure my brother, President Jonathan, of Ghana’s preparedness to work even closer with our brothers and sisters in Nigeria to exchange ideas about the way forward,” he said.

............FG TO REFURBISH INDEPENDENCE BUILDING IN LAGOS

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has said the Federal Government will give a face-lift to the abandoned Independence Building in Lagos in order to make it a befitting historical edifice and national pride.

Speaking with journalists shortly after inspecting the Independence Building and adjourning buildings in Lagos, Tuesday, President Jonathan said the Federal Government will not allow it properties in the nation’s economic hub to rot. According to him, valuable ones will be refurbished and put to productive use. 

"Some of the Federal Government’s properties in Lagos are in very poor state. We have to upgrade them, improve their face value, and put them to effective use," Jonathan stated. 

Consequently, the President has directed the Ministers of Works, Lands, Housing and Urban Development, and Commerce, to furnish him with the blue print for the renovation of the Independence Building by next Monday 

The President who lamented the poor maintenance culture in the country especially with regard to public properties, said government would ensure that the building is restored to its former glory through public private partnership.

The President also pointed out the need to develop adjourning properties around the Independence Building including the Cenotaph and the car park to international standard. He was accompanied during the inspection by Minister of Works, Sanusi Daggash, Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Nduese Essien, and Presidential aides. 

It would be recalled that the Independence Building, situated adjacent to the famous Tafawa Balewa Square in Marina, Lagos and which once housed the Defence Headquarters, was strangely gutted by fire during the regime of former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, the period that late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, was Chief of Defence Staff.

The 25-storey edifice, now a shadow of its former self, was once the tallest building on the Lagos Island.

Mitaire Ikpen

For: Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity