The City Reporters

President Goodluck Jonathan has promised continuous encouragement and protection for emerging industries in Nigeria with a view to ensuring steady economic growth and creation of more jobs in the country.

Jonathan who stated this when he received the new Ambassador of the European Union to Nigeria, Mr. Michel Arrion noted that in protecting its emerging industries, Nigeria will not be acting differently from the advanced nations of the world who, at similar stages in their development, put measures in place to protect their domestic productions.

The president said, “we will need to protect the budding industries in Nigeria because we know that every country in the world that wants to grow industrially, at some stage, needs to put instruments in place to protect the upcoming industries in order to stimulate and sustain growth and employment. We have a lot of young people coming out of the universities and we have to plan for them.

Jonathan who identified adequate power supply as essential for rapid economic growth and job creation, called on the European Union to support ongoing efforts to ensure stable and constant electricity in Nigeria.

He commended the European Union for its ongoing support for other developmental programmes in Nigeria.

In his remarks, Mr. Arrion assured President Jonathan that the European Union would give Nigeria all possible assistance for the development of its energy sector.

He applauded Jonathan over Nigeria’s improving economic outlook and promised that the European Union would continue to support growth and development in the country.

In a similarly development, President Jonathan received the outgoing Indian Ambassador in Nigeria, Mr. Mhesh Kumar Sached, assuring that Nigeria would continue to work for greater bilateral cooperation between her and India because of the many things both countries have in common such as huge markets, entrepreneurial skills and human resources.