Jonathan for G8 summit

President Goodluck Jonathan has been invited to this year’s G8 summit holding in Normandy, France on Thursday and Friday this week.

The President has been scheduled to meet with leaders of advanced economies in the world.

Empowered Newswire reports that the White House Deputy National Security Adviser for international Economic Affairs, Mr. Mike Froman, said nine African countries had been invited to the summit.

Apart from Nigeria, other invited African countries are Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea, Niger, Senegal and South Africa.

According to the White House official, the focus of the G8 meetings this year is on development, politics and security issues.

Jonathan had his first participation at the G8 summit last year in Canada, soon after he took office as the President. This followed the death of his predecessor, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

Before then, Nigeria had missed invitation to the meeting for some years. But the invitation of Jonathan last year and this year is seen as an outcome of what many of the G8 leaders consider as encouraging political and democratic signals from the country.