BANQUET SPEECH BY GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN ON THE OCCASION OF HIS STATE VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA

BANQUET SPEECH By GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, GCON, GCFR  President  Federal Republic of Nigeria AT THE  STATE BANQUET HELD IN HIS HONOUR ON THE OCCASION  OF HIS STATE VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA  BY  HIS EXCELLENCY, MR JACOB ZUMA  PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA 7 MAY 2013

Your Excellency and Dear Brother

President Jacob Zuma and  Mrs Zuma

Cabinet Ministers here present

Your Excellencies

Members of the Diplomatic Corps

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

1.   On behalf of my delegation, I wish to express my profound gratitude to my brother, President Zuma, the government and people of South Africa, for the very warm reception accorded us since our arrival in this beautiful city of Cape Town. We have really experienced true South African hospitality.

2.   I am delighted to be hosted in this manner and to be in your midst this evening, especially as this visit is a demonstration and confirmation of the resolve between our two countries to enrich and deepen our relations for the mutual benefit of our peoples and, indeed, the long term gain of the African continent.

3.   As a nation, we see the special relationship between Nigeria and South Africa as a necessary building block towards the vision of a new Africa:  a continent that is economically vibrant and resilient and strong enough to withstand the new wave of global economic recession. Africa has to pull its resources together to weather the current economic storm occasioned by recession in the global economy.

4.   On this note, I wish to commend my brother, President Zuma on the initiative of forming a Tripartite Free Trade Area stretching from Cape Town to Cairo across 26 countries. This is a step in the right direction, towards the realization of Africa’s integration process, formulated in the Lagos Plan of Action in 1980.

5.   Excellencies, you will agree with me that without effective cooperation among African countries, the continent will not make the progress that we all desire. Nigeria and South Africa must continue to consult, collaborate and co-operate in all matters affecting the continent. My expectation is that this visit will further consolidate the political relationship between our two countries, friendship among our people and deepen the already existing economic relations between us.

6.   My current visit coincides with South Africa’s hosting of the World Economic Forum in this beautiful city of Cape Town. It is a measure of the confidence of the international community in your country that such an important event is holding here, and I commend you for this. My delegation and I will be participating in the Forum, in addition to having robust engagements with the South African private sector.

7.   I believe that both Nigerian and South African investors will seize the opportunity of our visit and the Global Economic Forum to further interact and forge partnerships for the benefit of our two economies.

8.   Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, earlier in the day, I held talks with my brother, President Zuma with the active participation of our cabinet ministers and senior government officials. Nigeria and South Africa have a working strategic partnership that has grown in leaps and bounds. In different fora, we have been working together on continental and global issues; our bilateral relations remain very strong and cordial, and we intend that they remain so.

9.   I am also delighted to note that the 8^th Session of the Nigeria-South Africa Bi-National Commission (BNC), has continued in the tradition set in 1999/2000, under the able leadership of then Deputy President Zuma and Nigeria’s former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.  As pioneer co-chairs of this bilateral mechanism, we commend their laudable efforts in laying the foundation for a structured and progressive interaction between our two countries.

10. I believe that most of the outstanding issues from the 8^th session of the Bi-National Commission have been resolved as this co-operation mechanism has always served and promoted our mutual interests.

11. Let me also congratulate President Zuma, on the successful hosting of the Climate Change Conference (COP 17) in Durban. The need to protect our planet cannot be over-emphasized. All hands must therefore be on deck to reduce carbon emission, environmental pollution and degradation to achieve a greener planet.

12. The rich industrial countries have to make concessions by contributing to the Green Climate Fund as part of mitigation and adaptation for the developing countries which certainly are at the receiving end of the adverse effect of climate change.

13. Mr President, I wish to felicitate with you on the singular African success story of South Africa’s hosting of the FIFA 2010 World Cup, which indeed was a great fore-runner to the just concluded, equally successful African Nations Cup (AFCON) which you also hosted.  

14. Both events will remain in our memory for a long time to come. You and the people of South Africa made Africa proud with the impeccable organization of the tournaments.

15. Before I conclude, let me seize this opportunity to express my appreciation and that of Nigeria to you and the Government of South Africa for providing the facilities for the training of over 1, 043 ex-Niger Delta militants. Most of them have graduated in various fields of engineering and are now contributing positively to the development of Nigeria. This is indeed another example of the close collaboration between our two countries.  

16. Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, may I, at this juncture, invite you all to please rise for a toast to the good health and well-being of President Zuma and his lovely spouse, Mrs. Zuma, and for the peace and prosperity of the people of South Africa.

Long live the Republic of South Africa

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Long live African solidarity

Thank you and God bless.