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The maiden presidential retreat with the private sectors, initially scheduled for Obudu Ranch Resort, Calabar, was moved to Abuja to ensure air safety of the participants, President Goodluck Jonathan has said.
Declaring the retreat open on Thursday in Abuja, Jonathan explained that after invitations had been sent out, his office was informed that the airstrip in Obudu had not been officially re-opened.
He said it would be illegal on the part of the Federal Government to move his guests to the venue using a facility that had been closed down by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
“We were to go to Obudu for this retreat and then we announced a sudden change. I felt so sad.
“We were to travel to Obudu yesterday (Wednesday), before I got a signal that NCAA, that has the sole mandate to declare whether airspace is safe or not has not re-opened the airport.
“Sometimes ago they have closed down the airstrip near the ranch.
“And when they mentioned that they have not opened it. There is no way I can drag these top Nigerians and top business executives of this country to go there when they said they have not re-opened the airstrip.''
The president said that for the fact that some private individuals had been using the airstrip was not enough for the government to join in the illegality.
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He, however, promised that subsequent retreats would be hosted at the resort and other prominent ones across the country.
Jonathan seized the opportunity to call on the private sector to always patronise resorts in Nigeria for their events, particularly their annual general meetings.
He decried a situation where Nigerian companies moved their meetings to neighbouring countries, adding that there were good facilities in the country for such events.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the retreat on economic development and job creation was convened by the president to bring the public and the private sectors together to chart a course for moving the nation forward.?