Boko Haram not responsible for low-key independence celebration 'FG

THE FederalGovernment hasdenied that its decision to have a low-key celebration of the nation's 51st independence anniversary has to do with the fear of attacks by Boko Haram, pointing out that it was not the first time government would be avoiding a grand celebration on October 1.The Minster of Information, Labaran Maku, who spoke to State House correspondents in Abuja, on Thursday, stated that government has had two big celebrations in recent times and had, therefore, thought it wise to suspend such activities until Nigeria attained its centenary year in 2014.Maku appealed to the media to refrain from what he said were irresponsible reports that were capable of scaring away foreign investors from the country.According to him, 'I want to make it very clear here that the fact that this independence is low-key has nothing to do with the fear of Boko Haram or any insecurity. This is not the first time and we have just done two important ceremonies in one year and it will only be wise to say no, since we are going to be 100 years soon, it will only be wise that we devote energy to the centenary celebration.'The government spokesman recalled that successive governments in the past had opted against the celebration of independence day saying 'I know that in several years, we never celebrated independence with military parade where school children will come out and engage in March past. But particularly for this year, the Federal Government decided there will be no ceremonies.'He further explained: 'Nigeria was 50 years last year and there was a huge celebration as we never did before after 1960. This country, particularly at the federal level, we celebrated massively with full military parade that we never saw since our childhood days because last year was a special one for us.' Immediately after, we also had a huge inauguration celebration. We had the same in virtually all the 36 states. On May 29, several world leaders were here to witness the event. They were also here when we turned 50. These were huge celebrations that cost huge resources to organise.'And so it was in the wisdom of the Federal Government that this year's celebration will be low key. When Nigeria clocks 100 years in 2014, we will now have a full scale centenary celebration of our country,' Maku stated.The minister, who regretted that the media were creating an atmosphere of fear following their attention to certain stories that had security implications, noted that media practitioners needed to put the interest of the nation first in the performance of their duties.
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