THE Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama has stated that despite all the challenges facing Nigeria, the country is still on the right path towards development.
Mr Onyeama, who made this known during the hosting of the diplomatic community to a dinner in Abuja, a programme organized by a United State-based Echoes magazine, said Nigeria was so blessed with human and natural resources and despite all its numerous challenges, the country would definitely reclaim her lost glory.
He stressed further that the Federal Government was doing all it could to ensure that Nigerian populace makes use of those natural resources.
While commending the organizer for hosting such an event in Nigeria, the minister said: “it was past time Africa had effective platforms through which the world would get to know the continent better. There are countless success stories about the continent in all spheres of life, to be told and that the onus is on Africans to get the stories out there.”
Mr Onyeama expressed hope that more and more people would see the need to project the continent in its true form because of its natural endowment.
Earlier in his speech, the Editor-in-Chief, Echoes Africa Magazine, Ify Ezinwa called on Africans across the world to always tell their positive stories and live according to the cherished African values wherever they are.
She said it was imperative to focus the searchlight on the positive happenings and strategically position it on the global front for recognition and development.
“Our thinking is that, for every negative story coming out of Africa, there are several other positive ones that go untold. While the stories of a very minimal percentage of Africans are making the headlines, the world also deserves to know about the real Africa and her people. Presenting balanced accounts of issues is the hallmark of professional journalism and, what Echoes Africa magazine is all about.” She added.
She explained that the event was organized to drum support “for Africans to tell the African stories by themselves and not as presented by the western media. Africans should not leave their stories in the hands of others who mostly focus on negative news about the continent.”
Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Salladeen Abbas, equally praised the sentiment behind the creation of Echoes Africa magazine and charged the Heads of Mission to take advantage and get the publishers to visit their various countries and tell the world the stories that don’t make the headlines.
Another speaker, former Nigerian Consul-General to Atlanta and, retired Permanent Secretary of the Federal Cabinet, Ambassador Joe Keshi, commended Ezinwa for her the vision, as well as steadfastness and dedication in promoting Nigeria’s huge human resources across the globe
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