Nigeria safe for visiting world leaders’ –Yar’Adua

President Umaru Yar’Adua yesterday, declared that Nigeria is very safe for world leaders desirous of visiting frowning at a suggestion that world leaders were scared stiff of visiting the country because of security threat.

The president, who was fielding questions from State House correspondents at a joint briefing with visiting Togolese President, Mr. Faure Gnassingbe in Abuja yesterday, said no foreign leader had ever called him to say he was scared to come to the country.

Reacting to a question alluding to President Barrack Obama’s preference for Ghana in his next month’s trip, blaming it on insecurity in the country, he said, despite the on-going battle between the military and the militants in the Niger Delta region, the security situation in the country had not changed significantly in the last eight years to warrant any world leader’s refusal to visit.

“I am not aware that many leaders are scared stiff of coming to Nigeria. I am not aware of any world leader who has called me to say he is scared to come to Nigeria. The situation in Niger Delta region has been there remotely for decades and the escalation of violence and criminality that has taken root has been there for about between eight to nine years.

“There is no different situation that has happened today to warrant the statement you have made. I think that statement is just your own judgement of the situation but I am not aware of any leader, anywhere in the world, who has that position because I am not aware. I don’t know how to answer your question,” a disturbed President Yar’Adua told the reporter who had asked for the comment of the leaders on the current situation in the region over which he said world leaders were scared stiff of visiting Nigeria.

President Gnassingbe, on his part, said: “I think everybody recognizes that President Yar’Adua has started many political processes to wards solving the problem of Niger Delta. But we have to make a clear separation between economic and political agitation and criminality.”

Stressing the need for a halt in the criminal activities, he expressed the hope: “There will be a national consensus to condemn what is seen as national criminality and I hope there will be a strong will also to solve the problem through dialogue. From our modest experience in Togo, that is what we can say.”
The Togolese leader said he was in the country to brief President Yar’Adua on the progress made so far with the disturbing political situation in his country last month.