High Commission of Nigeria in The Gambia

Nigeria Hight Commission in The Gambia
Garba Jahumpa Road
Bakau Newtown
P.O. Box 630
Banjul,
The Gambia
West Africa.

Telephone number:
(+220) 449 5803
(+220) 449 5804

Fax:
(+220) 449 6456

High Commissioner:

Mrs Esther John Audu

Gambia High Commission in Abuja, Nigeria

Gambia High Commission7 Misratah Street
Off Parakou Crescent
P.M.B. 5058 Wuse 2
Abuja
Nigeria

Tel: +234 09 5241224   

      +234 09 5241225   

Fax:: +234 09 5241228

E-mail: ghcabuja@yahoo.com

Liaison Office
162 Awolowo Road
P.O. Box 8073
S.W. Ikoyi
Lagos,
Nigeria

Tel:+2341 267 0829     

Nigerians in The Gambia Celebrates Golden Jubilee @ 50 Year of Independent

Banjul, Gambia - Nigerians resident in the Gambia on Friday joined their compatriots around the world to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of their country's independence.

Ms Esther John Audu, the Nigerian High Commissioner in The Gambia, in a speech described the day as 'very significant' in that it reminds Nigerians of when the y were left to stand on their own as a nation. She said: 'It was a challenge ... since then, we have been going through our kind of turbulence, teething problems and all that, and today we are where we are.'

The chief Nigerian diplomat in The Gambia highlighted the numerous achievements registered by her country over the past half a century.

Ms Audu said the Federal Government of Nigeria had achieved tremendous socio-economic and political developments and advancement over the past 50 years, underscoring that improvements had been made in many sectors like health, education, inf r astructure and agriculture among others.

'The type of roads we had at that time is not what we have today. Most of the roads that are being built today are dual carriage roads. I was a witness to the building of the Murtala Muhammed Bridge and the third Mainland Bridge. These are infrastructures that were never there before,' she said.

The High Commissioner also enumerated gains in the economic sector indicating that the country produces and manufactures items that are needed by her citizens.

She said The Gambia had remained one of Nigeria's closest allies in the sub-region and this was reflected by the high level of contact between the two countries.

She added that over the years business and investment activities have increased considerably between the two countries and these have contributed to better understanding between Banjul and Abuja.

Goodluck Jonathan: The Facebook president

At over 246,000 and counting, he has more Facebook fans than the combined tally of British Prime Minister David Cameron, German chancellor Angela Merkel, and South African head of state Jacob Zuma.

Since Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's president, created his profile in June of this year, rarely a day goes by without a fresh update -- which appear to be written by Jonathan himself -- concerning recent news events, government policy and, of course, the coming elections.

He also seized public momentum and stole a march on his rivals by choosing the hugely popular social networking site to announce his standing for the forthcoming presidential elections in 2011.

"I Goodluck Ebele Jonathan by the grace of God hereby offer myself and my services to the Nigerian people as a candidate for the office of President" read his Facebook status on September 15, ending a long period of speculation about the likelihood of his candidacy.

"This is the first time in our country that Facebook has ever made the headlines of a national newspaper," Chude Jideonwo, founding member of influential Nigerian activist site Enough is Enough, told CNN.
Video: No violence from Nigerian power bid.

Jideonwo notes that the surprise announcement was made at precisely the same time that one of Jonathan's main presidential rivals, former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida, put his own election hat into the ring.

"Many people believe this was a strategic move to overshadow Babangida's announcement -- and if it was, frankly, it worked," said Jideonwo.

But the Nigerian president's Facebook activity appears to go beyond headline-grabbing stunts. In one fairly typical instance, he addresses a Facebook user who has made a suggestion for meeting Nigeria's growing energy demands:

It's this direct and personal form of interaction that seems to be endearing the Nigerian president to his country's growing young and web-savvy electorate.

Each new post from Jonathan attracts thousands of comments and some have garnered in excess of 6,000 responses.

"What distinguishes Jonathan from other politicians is that he seems to have genuinely embraced Facebook," explained Jideonwo. "You can consistently hear his voice in the posts and it feels like he is really trying to communicate with the voters -- this is what makes him so popular."

With a population of over 150 million, Nigeria has just fewer than 44 million internet users, according to internetworldstats.com, and of these 1.7 million are on Facebook.

While this represents Africa's biggest internet market, as well as the continent's largest Facebook user base -- the numbers make up only a small proportion of the overall electorate.

Is it too soon then for social media platforms to play a meaningful role in Nigerian politics?

"What you have to bear in mind is that there is a critical minority of opinion leaders on Facebook -- local business CEOs, young activists, and university graduates," Ken Banks, founder of kiwanja.net, an information technology site that provides support for NGOs, told CNN.

The president's high profile on the world's biggest social network has not, however, escaped criticism. In a post that made international headlines, Jonathan claimed that a decision to reverse his proposed two-year suspension of the Nigerian football team following their early exit in the 2010 World Cup Finals was prompted by a wave of opposition from his Facebook followers.

But, as Nigerian journalist Tolu Ogunlesi told CNN: "The fact is his hand was forced by FIFA regulations preventing political interference with the national football team. His comments on Facebook were really just to protect his image."

For some, this is a worrying reflection of the incumbent president's use of social media to, perhaps cynically, bolster his election hopes.

"It's obvious that this is a calculated attempt to win the heart and minds of Nigerians who are active on Facebook, in a bid to secure electoral victory," Nigerian Internet entrepreneur, Oluniyi Ajao, wrote in a recent post on his popular blog.

Similar criticisms have been voiced by a number of the Facebook users Jonathan is attempting to engage: "We are tired of rhetoric, what we need is action," wrote one commentator in response to a post concerning Nigeria's frequent power shortages.

But, for the time being -- at least as far as Facebook is concerned -- any disparaging remarks are drowned out by a bellowing chorus of support.

"Whatever his motives," Jideonwo concluded, "the president has opened up a new channel of popular involvement in Nigerian politics, encouraging young people to feel like they have a voice. This can only be a good thing."

Nigeria @50: Why some ex-heads of state were not honoured – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan has reacted to the controversy that trailed the omission of some former military heads of state in the list of 50 distinguished Nigerians he honoured to mark the country‘s 50th independence anniversary.

The 50 distinguished Nigerians, or their representatives, were presented with 18 carat gold medals at a state banquet in the Presidential Villa on Thursday night.

Among the country‘s post-Civil War rulers, only two former heads of state, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar made the list.

The others, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and the late Gen. Murtala Muhammed, failed to make the list, leading to questions over the yardstick employed by Jonathan in approving the list.

The fact that Babangida and Buhari are challenging Jonathan in the 2011 presidential elections led to insinuations that the omission of their names might be politically motivated.

However, in an apparent reaction to the insinuations while presenting the medals to the recipients, Jonathan explained that the former heads of state were selected because of specific achievements they recorded, and not because they once held the position of head of state.

He said, ”Normally, the anniversary banquet is not meant for speech making, but this is a unique ceremony.

”When this anniversary celebration was coming up, we felt that it was good to recognise 50 people, who had one thing or the other to do with the realisation of the country‘s independence.

”But we also felt that if all of us had been complacent, we would not have reached the point where we are today as a country.

”It was extremely difficult for us to select the 50 – I know there were protests – and I plead with those protesting to bear with us.

”We are recognising these former heads of state not because they were former heads of state: look at Abubakar, who served for just 11 months and handed over to a democratically elected civilian government.

”He could have stayed on; there were serious pressures on him to stay on.

”As for Obasanjo, Biafra handed over to him in the war field, and he handed over to a civilian government for the first time in our history.”

Jonathan stressed that the award was not because of the whole achievements of the selected individuals, but due to specific achievements highlighted in the awards booklet.

The awards booklet highlighted the reasons given for the selection of the various individuals.

The reasons given for Obasanjo’s selection were as follows:

Obasanjo: He is a Nigerian soldier and an elder statesman. As Commander of the Third Marine Commandoes of the Nigerian Army, he received Biafra‘s instrument of surrender from Maj.-Gen. Phillip Efiong at Amichi, near Nnewi.

He later, honourarily stepped aside for Nigeria‘s then military Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon during the final grand surrender at Dodan Barracks, Lagos on Jan. 15, 1970.

Life Begins @ 50 For All Nigerians

GOD BLESS OUR MOTHER LAND NIGERIA !!!!!!!

Pope congratulates Nigeria on 50th anniversary

Pope Benedict XVI has congratulated Goodluck Jonathan, the federal government and all Nigerians on the occasion of our country’s 50th Independence Anniversary celebrations.

A personal congratulatory message from the Pope was delivered to Mr Jonathan on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, by the Pope’s special envoy and personal representative, Cardinal Peter Turson. In the message to the president, Pope Benedict conveyed his “prayerful wishes for the continued well-being, growth and prosperity of Nigeria and its citizens”.

Responding, Mr Jonathan asked the Cardinal to convey the appreciation of the government and people of Nigeria to the Pope. He said that Nigerians appreciated the Holy Father’s prayers and will continue to have good relations with the Vatican.

Also today at the Presidential Villa, Mr Jonathan received the Chinese Minister of Industry and Information, Li Yizhong, who is representing his country’s President, Hu Jintao at the celebrations.

Nigeria @ 50: Kanu, Ajunwa, Igali get special anniversary awards

Sports circle is not left out of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, as three great Olympians and Sports icons were among those recognised by the Federal Government.

Those honoured at an elaborate ceremony held in Abuja include Nigeria’s most decorated footballer, Nwankwo Kanu, Policewoman Chioma Ajunwa and Dr.Daniel Igali, who were Thursday night in Abuja conferred with the Special Golden Jubilee Independence Anniversary Awards by President Goodluck Jonathan.

President Jonathan bestowed the honours on the distinguished sportsmen for their various outstanding roles and contributions to the development of the country through sports.
The gesture by Mr. President is a significant and important to the sporting family in Nigeria because often times, athletes perform at the optimum level with little or no recognition for their efforts.

Chioma Ajunwa it would be recalled in 1996, came from a four-year suspension and was nothing short of spectacular. Less than two months after her return, she finished fifth in her semi-final of the 100m at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games on July 27 and then in the long jump final on August 2, she produced an amazing first round leap of 7.12m to win the gold medal.

Nwankwo Kanu remains Nigeria’s most decorated footballer of all times with so many laurels to his name. He was also a member of the Nigerian national team for 16 years from 1994 until 2010. Kanu has won a UEFA Champions League medal, a UEFA Cup medal, three FA Cup trophies.

Winners Medals and two African Player of the Year awards among others. He is also one of few players to have won the Premier League, and he led Nigeria's Dream Team to an Olympic Gold Medal at the Atlanta'96 Olympic Games. He is also a UNICEF ambassador.

Daniel Igali on his part has captained Nigeria's wrestling team to Canada to compete in the 1994 Commonwealth Games but remained in the country while seeking refugee status due to political unrest in Nigeria.

While in Canada, Igali won 116 consecutive matches wrestling at Simon Fraser University from 1997 to 1999. He placed fourth at the 1998 world championships. He finished second at the 1998 World Cup and won a bronze medal at the 1999 Pan American Games.

At the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, Igali won a gold medal in the Men's 69 kg freestyle wrestling and made a vow to help put a stop to the sufferings of the children in the Niger Delta region. Since returning to Nigeria, Igali has remained an inspiration to many in his region as well as wrestlers to several international championships.