Eminent world figures urge concerted effort to rescue abducted school girls

ANGERED by the cruel disregard for fellow beings by the Boko Haram sect members, a group of over 40 eminent individuals from around the world are calling for a global effort to free the more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls who were kidnapped last month in Borno State.
  Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan has, again, thanked the United States (U.S.), United Kingdom (UK), France and China for their commitment to help Nigeria defeat terror, especially in locating the abducted schoolgirls.
  Among the global business, civil society and religious leaders are Desmond Tutu, Bill and Melinda Gates, Aliko Dangote, Rupert Murdoch, Mo Ibrahim, Ted Turner and François-Henri Pinault, calling for urgent action and resources to #BringBackOurGirls.
   In an open letter published yesterday, the high-level group called on the Nigerian authorities and international community to mobilise all necessary resources and expertise to help locate and free the missing girls.

  The letter read: “On April 14, more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted at gunpoint from Chibok community in Borno State, Nigeria, and 24 days later, the girls are still missing.
 “We urge all local, national and regional governments, with the full support of the international community, to dedicate their expertise and resources - from satellite imagery to intelligence services to multinational corporations’ supply chains - to #BringBackOurGirls.”
  The letter was signed by: Mar‎tti Ahtisaari, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Member of the Elders; Mohammed Azab, Representative of the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar; Aïcha Bah Diallo, ‎Chairperson of the Forum of African Women Educationalists; Ela Bhatt, Founder of the Self-Employed Women’s Association of India and Member of the Elders; Bono, Co-founder, ONE; Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group‎ and co-Chair of the B Team; Gro Harlem Brundtland, Executive Chair of the UN Foundation and Member of the Elders;‎ Susan A Buffett, Chairman of The Sherwood Foundation, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and the Buffett Early Childhood Fund; Kathy Calvin, President and Chief Executive Officer of the UN Foundation and B Team Leader; President Fernando H Cardoso, Former President of Brazil and Member of the Elders; Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and Former Prime Minister of New Zealand; and Aliko and Halima Dangote, Dangote Group.
  Also, Bineta Diop, African Union Special Envoy for Women Peace and Security; Andrew Forrest, ‎Founder of the Walk Free Foundation; Bill and Melinda Gates, co-Founders and co-Chairs of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Helene Gayle, ‎President and CEO of CARE USA; Mort Halperin, Senior Advisor to the Open Society Institute and the Open Society Policy Centre; Arianna Huffington, Chair, President and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post Media Group‎, and B Team leader; Mo and Hadeel Ibrahim‎, Mo Ibrahim Foundation; Abdoulie Janneh, Former Executive-Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa; Guilherme Leal, ‎co-Founder of Natura and B Team Leader; Graça Machel, ‎Member of the Elders; Mark Malloch-Brown, Former United Nations Deputy Secretary-General; Strive Masiyiwa, ‎Founder of Econet Wireless and B Team Leader; Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women; Amina J Mohamed, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advisor; Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana, Chairperson of the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa; Rupert Murdoch, Chairman of NewsCorp and Chairman and CEO of 21st Century Fox; Jay Naidoo, Chair of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Finance Minister of Nigeria; Ronald Perelman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc.; François-Henri Pinault, ‎Chairman and CEO of Kering and B Team Leader; Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever‎ and B Team Leader; and Mary Robinson, ‎Former President of Ireland and Member of the Elders signed the letter.‎
  Others who appended their signatures are Salim Ahmed Salim, Former Secretary-General‎ of the Organisation of African Unity‎; Toyin Saraki, Founder of the Wellbeing Foundation; Bobby Shriver, Co-founder and Chairman of (PRODUCT) RED and Co-founder of DATA; Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Bishop-Chancellor, Pontifical Academy of Sciences, The Vatican; Ted Turner,‎ Founder and Chairman of the UN Foundation and Founder of CNN; Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Honorary Member of the Elders; ‎Muhammad Yunus,‎ Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and B Team Leader; President Ernesto Zedillo, Former President of Mexico and Member of the Elders; and Jochen Zeitz, ‎Former Chairman and CEO of PUMA and co-Chair of the B Team‎.
  Speaking at the opening session of the ongoing World Economic Forum for Africa (WEFA) in Abuja, Jonathan said the presence of the delegates and the fact that the forum is holding is already “a major blow on the terrorists.”
  According to him, “the kidnap of these school girls is the beginning of the end of terror in Nigeria.”
  Addressing the delegates, President Jonathan said: “We appreciate you, both individually and collectively, for your support for us. By your sentiment, backed by your presence here in Nigeria at this time, you have already supported us to win the war against terror. If you had refused to come because of fear, the terrorists would have jubilated and even committed more havoc. But your coming here to support us morally is a major blow on the terrorists. And by God’s grace, we are going to conquer the terrorists.
  “The governments of the United States of America, United Kingdom and France have also spoken with me and have expressed their commitments to help us resolve these crises in Nigeria. And of course, Premier Li has been with us since yesterday (Wednesday) and has promised the assistance of the Chinese government and I believe that the assistance would come in almost immediately.”
  Jonathan said that with the theme of WEFA, ‘Creating Jobs and Forging Inclusive Growth’, the world is coming to terms that unemployment is a global problem, with Africa having its own share of employment challenges. For example, he noted unemployment rates are over 20 per cent in many of the African countries, with Nigeria at about 24 per cent and South Africa at 25 per cent. In fact, he said unemployment problem in Africa is compounded by the predominantly youthful population of most African states.
  Jonathan says in Nigeria, the current job creation situation has kept him “up at night and it has been the main theme of our Federal Government Budget in recent years. We recognise that the private sector will be the engine of growth and job-creation. And we are putting in place the necessary conditions to support this private sector growth, such as ensuring a stable macro-economic environment (low inflation, stable exchange rates and so on), investing in critical infrastructure (roads, railways, power etc.), and investing in the development of skills of our people.”
  He expressed regret that despite the impressive growth rate of the Nigerian economy at seven per cent in the last decade and a rebased GDP of $510 billion for 2013, “the quality of our growth has been less than desirable in the sense that we are not creating as many decent jobs as we need to.”
  Because of this, he said his government is focusing on priority sectors with high job-creating potential such as agriculture, manufacturing, housing and construction, and the services sectors and “we are working to unlock the various obstacles faced by businesses so they create jobs. We are learning from the example of other countries – such as China – to see what they have done in this regard to create jobs for their citizens.”
  Jonathan noted that apart from unemployment, rising inequality is threatening the future of the African continent. He charged African leaders to ensure that economic growth is inclusive.
  Towards this, he said that “in Africa, most of our countries must begin to think about introducing social protection measures, building on the strong traditions we already have of caring for one another.”
   The Nigerian leaders stated that “Africa faces difficult challenges in the years ahead to provide adequate infrastructure, create jobs, and develop the skills of its young population. But the continent is also confronted by tremendous opportunity to harness its young population in a manner than can provide unique dividends to its people. As we debate these issues in the next two days, let us raise our sights, let us think big and bold, and let us think for the long-term. Together, let us work to realise the potential of this great continent. I believe that collectively, with the calibre of men and women we have here, and the institutions they represent, and given the fact that democracy has come to stay in Africa, and with the political will and commitment of African leaders, we will take decisions and the right steps to take Africa to greater heights.”