Chibok
The Federal Government yester­day took stock of the outgone year 2014, saying against all odds, the nation made monu­mental progress in critical sectors. This is even as it declared that it won’t relent in ensuring the safe re­turn of the over 200 abducted Chibok girls.

Speaking during a world press conference in Abuja to highlight the successes recorded in the economy by the Jonathan administra­tion, the Supervising Minister of Information, Dr Nurudeen Muhammad, said 2014 was a momentous year for the nation.
He said Nigerians celebrated the centenary as a united, indivisible nation, even as he said the real size and potential of the economy was acknowledged globally.
Muhammad, who is the Minister of State (11), Foreign Affairs, noted that the nation also faced an unprecedented public health emergency, as a result of the importation of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) into Nigeria by Patrick Sawyer, the late Liberian-Amer­ican diplomat, saying Nigerians triumphed over the EVD.
Muhammad, however, said regrettably, insurgency remained a challenge.
“But, by and large, an evaluation of the significant milestones would reveal that there were many more bright spots about 2014, that we can all look forward to an even brighter future,” Muhammad said.
He noted that terrorism perpetrated by Boko Haram was a source of negative attention to the country in 2014, adding that the painful kidnap of the Chibok schoolgirls readily comes to mind.
The government, he stated, had taken some measures to contain and defeat terror.
“In this respect, we must salute the gallantry of members of the Nigerian Armed Forces and personnel of security and intelligence agencies, who are making sacrifices so that the rest of us may be safe. Government is unrelenting in ensuring that the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls are released and reunited with their families.
“As part of the measures to defeat terror, President Goodluck Jonathan has initiated actions at both bilateral and multilateral levels, within the sub-region and beyond, to ensure concerted focus to bring the spate of violence to an end.
“The government wishes to reassure Nigeri­ans that every effort towards ending the insur­gency is being undertaken. There is renewed training and retraining towards enhancing the capacity of security services to combat the insurgents,” Muhammad stated.
The minister said last year, the President also introduced some of specific measures to address the fallout of insurgency in the three North-Eastern states of Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe, which were the worst-affected by Boko Haram.
The measures, he said, include the Safe School Initiative, the Presidential Committee on Victims Support also known as ‘Nigeria Terrorism Victims Support Foundation’ and the Presidential Initiative for the North-East (PINE), whose responsibility is to plan, coordi­nate and raise funds for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of places ravaged by insurgents.
On the economy, Muhammad also noted that in the last quarter of 2014, there was a drastic fall in oil prices, well below the budget benchmark of $77.5 per barrel of crude. It now sells for $57.
He stated that the uncertainty in the inter­national oil market had necessitated a range of monetary policies by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and fiscal policies by the Federal Ministry of Finance, saying that “while there is concern, the country is not in panic,” Muham­mad said.