WINDHOEK – Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan will be the guest of honour at this year’s independence celebrations scheduled to take place at Katutura’s Independence Arena next Friday.
Jonathana will pay a two-day state visit to Namibia, arriving on March 20 for a visit that is also expected to strengthen relations and deepen bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology said there would be a signing of agreements after bilateral talks between a Namibian delegation and the visiting Nigerian delegation.
Accompanied by a 30-member delegation, Jonathan is also scheduled to visit a few places of interest, such as the Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco) and Sat-Com Communication Solutions on the day of his arrival.
Jonathan was scheduled to pay Namibia a state visit last May, which was cancelled at the last minute after a bombing by Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, which claimed the lives of nearly 60 students in Yobe state in north-eastern Nigeria.
President Hifikepunye Pohamba visited Nigeria from February 26 to 28 2014, where he and 24 other heads of state and government from across Africa and from a number of other countries attended the centenary celebrations of that country’s amalgamation. Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north and Christian south were amalgamated under British colonial rule in 1914.
All the heads of state and government who attended the centenary celebrations condemned the Boko Haram killings.
Boko Haram is being held responsible for thousands of deaths over the past few years. The group is waging a campaign of violence in north-eastern Nigeria, and aims to enforce Sharia (Islamic) law.
Nampa