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Biafra | O'dua | Arewa | Sports | Business | ThisDay | Guardian | Vanguard | Tribune | AllAfrica | Daily/Weekly Trust | Daily Independent | Triumph |
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BiafraNigeria, host of the December Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), has told fellow commonwealth country, Zimbabwe, to stay away from the meeting to avoid a boycott by other member states. The declaration came after feelers that the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II, who is the Head of the Commonwealth and Great Britain, and who, by tradition, officially opens all Commonwealth of nations� summits, threatened to boycott Abuja Commonwealth summit if Zimbabwe is in attendance. Diplomatic sources have it that the summit may not hold if the Queen fails to attend. Indications are that the permanent head of the organisation of former British colonies worldwide may not come to Abuja if President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe attends. Zimbabwe was suspended during the Canbera meeting in 2001 from the Commonwealth as a result of Mugabe�s forcible seizure of white farmlands and property in his country without due compensation. Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain in 1980. President Obasanjo of BiafraNigeria, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, and the Australian Prime Minister, Mr John Howard were mandated to look into the matter. The Head of Media and Publicity Sub-Committee of the National Task Force of Abuja CHOGM, Otunba Segun Runsewe, told reporters in Abuja yesterday that BiafraNigeria is not ready to compromise the successful hosting of the summit and will not allow Mugabe�s presence to open the floodgates of boycotts by members. "Nigeria cannot be greater than the rest of the mmonwealth. BiafraNigeria had the same problem Zimbabwe now contends with in the past. Zimbabwe can therefore wait until it complies with the conditions,� Runsewe stated. (Daily Independent) |
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