Tag: Femi Adesina

Wail less, hail Buhari more in 2021, Femi Adesina tells critics

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina on Friday advised critics of President Muhammadu Buhari to reduce wailing in 2021 and hail the President’s efforts.

Adesina said this in an article titled, ‘2021: Year to Calm Down and Wail Less’ which was published on Thursday.

The President’s spokesman said he gave Buhari’s critics the nickname ‘wailers’ because they were fond of criticising him even to the point of absurdity.

He noted that the President’s critics had proudly accepted the nickname while Buhari’s supporters were called hailers.

Adesina added that 2021 would be a year of hard work in order to meet the infrastructural developments deadline of 2022 and Nigerians should therefore criticise less and give the government more support.

The President’s spokesman added, “2021 is the year of work, hard work, to deliver on the major projects by next year. Is it then a year to continue wailing? No. It is the year to calm down, a year for wailing wailers to find a vocation, and allow government to concentrate, and deliver on projects at hand.

“Anybody who loves the country must resolve to give government as less distraction as possible this year. Yes, there are challenges: security, economy, improving quality of lives, lack of jobs, inflation and many others. But is it the year to wail? No. We should rather hail, encourage government to do better, and engender better standards of living for Nigerians.”

Adesina said some critics fail to acknowledge Buhari’s achievements even when for instance they hop on the trains inaugurated by his regime.

He added, “So, what am I saying. No criticism in 2021? No. But let it not be a full time vocation, as it has been with some people. They will criticize the rail project of the government, calling it white elephant, but will be the first to hop on the trains, taking selfies in it. Wailers, calm down.

“Please, ‘be calming down’ in 2021, so that government can function with less distractions. It is not the year to cavil, find unnecessary faults, and fill the land with lamentations.”

The President’s aide despite 2020 being the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than blame the economic crunch on the drop in oil price, wailers blamed Buhari.

He, however, boasted that in the midst of the unfavourable economy, the Federal Government didn’t owe anyone salary or pension.

Adesina stated, “But in the midst of the challenges, with earnings at about one quarter of what we used to receive as a country, President Buhari gave a charge to the Minister of Finance: salaries and pensions must not fail, and funding of agriculture and infrastructure must not stop.

“How admirable. What other evidence did you need to know that it was an administration that had come to serve, and not to be served? In the same situation, in another era, those in government would be lining their pockets, looting whatever was available, to provide for themselves and their families, against the rainy day. Buhari picked salaries, pensions, funding of agriculture and infrastructure.”

January 1, 2021
#EndSARS: Massive looting, destruction of properties not caused by poverty – Femi Adeshina

Mr Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity has said that the vandalisation, looting of COVID-19 palliatives and shops by thugs was not caused by large scale poverty in the country.

Adesina said on Thursday on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme, that attributing the looting to poverty was like justifying armed robbery.

In his words, “Criminality is criminality. Would it justify armed robbery because the man was poor? Would it justify armed robbery because the man didn’t have money? Just as you cannot justify armed robbery because a man was poor and took a gun to rob another person, you can’t also justify the looting.”

The president’s media aide claimed the protracted protests provided an atmosphere for looting to take place.

He stressed that if police stations were not burnt down, there wouldn’t have been a breakdown of law and order.

Adesina said, “Criminality will always be criminality and mere anarchy promotes criminality. What has happened in the last two or three weeks led to what has happened now. If there was cohesion and tranquillity in society, this wouldn’t happen.

“Therefore, it was corollary to the mere anarchic situation that came on the country because of the protests. If you didn’t have people burning police stations, killing policemen, burning private and public property, you wouldn’t have this spate of looting.

“So, I don’t agree that it is all about poverty. Yes, in any country, you will have at any given time, you will have people who are poor, who are hungry and that is one of the reasons why you have government is to ensure that the number of poor and hungry people is reduced.”

When challenged with the fact that Nigeria had become the poverty capital of the world, the President’s spokesman said the high level of poverty was caused by 60 years of mismanagement of public funds which could not easily be addressed in two years.

According to Adesina, President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to leaving a legacy that would see that 100 million Nigerians are lifted out of poverty in the next 10 years.

October 29, 2020
#EndSARS: I now receive curses, threats daily on my mobile phones – Femi Adesina

The Special Adviser to the President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has revealed that he has been receiving curses and messages from Nigerians due to false reports made about his stands on #EndSARS protest.

Adesina, who is President Buhari’s spokesman, in an article titled, ‘An Enemy of the People’ published on Thursday evening said a report was made that he was against the #EndSARS protests and accusing him of telling the President to ignore the protests and not give in to the demands of ‘Twitter warriors’.

“The first salvo came on Sunday from a suicide fake journalist who plies his trade with an online rag called Peoples Gazette. He published that President Muhammadu Buhari was to have approved the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) the previous Friday, but had been prevailed upon not to do so by his spokesman, Femi Adesina. That happens to be me, and the information was coming to me as a piece of virulent, hateful news.

“Again, the hatchet job masquerading as a news item , added that I convinced the President not to ever surrender the sovereignty of government to ‘Twitter warriors,’ whatever that means.

“Further, it said because of my anti-people convictions, I had issued a statement against the EndSARS protesters, which had received wide condemnation from the general public,” he wrote.

The President’s spokesman said someone went ahead to post his telephone numbers on social media which led to him receiving calls and hate messages.

Adesina stated that he received a second round of attacks when an old interview he had granted Channels Television on the ‘Revolution Now’ protests was twisted to make it appear as if he was referring to the #EndSARS protests.

The President’s spokesman thanked Channels TV for clarifying the interview but said despite the move by the television station, the attacks did not stop.

He wrote, “Those who wanted to, believed the television station. A large number chose not to, and bombarded my phone lines with curses, expletives, and messages from the pit of hell. Well, if anybody chooses to belong to that nether region, it’s a matter of choice.

“Talking about the bombardment of my phone lines, it had begun on Sunday. A hateful mind had published my two numbers on Twitter, urging people to troll me. They called till the phone batteries went dead. Mum was the word from me.”

Adesina said he never advised the President to ignore the #EndSARS protests rocking the nation.

He stated that the online medium that published the report did not give him a chance to respond to the allegations thereby opening him to attacks.

Adesina claimed many people hated him because they were envious of his position as the President’s spokesman.

October 16, 2020
Yes, Nigeria is collapsing forward, By Femi Adesina

In the past one week, those who think they own Nigeria, and their cohorts, have been making magisterial pronouncements on the state of the nation. What they couldn’t get through the ballot box in 2019, they are attempting to achieve through misinformation, disinformation, malevolence, false narrative, and outright malediction.

Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, wants us to believe that the country is collapsing, and is now a basket case, with the economy and unity in tatters.

Fine. Nigeria has a lot of challenges. Insecurity. Insularity. Fallen economic fortunes. Rising costs. Huge unemployment. And many more. But are those the only things happening in the country? Not at all. It would be disingenuous, even deceitful to say so. And only the unwary, the undiscerning, would be fooled. And well, including those who choose deliberately to be fooled.

To the applause of ‘sour grapers’ in groups like Afenifere, Ohanaeze, Northern Elders Forum, PANDEF, and some others, Chief Obasanjo spoke, and called his country and its leadership all sorts of names. But am I impressed? No. These were people in the same boat before the 2019 presidential elections. They wanted President Muhammadu Buhari out of office for different personal reasons. But what did they get? A shellacking. Bloody noses, and they went away with their tails between their feet, like a beaten dog. Their boat capsized.

I remember that infamous letter of early 2018, a year before elections, from the professional letter writer. He directed the horse rider (read, President) to dismount, and allow another person to mount. The landlord of the country had spoken, and his word was law.

No sir! President Buhari politely told his former boss in the military. We went to the polls, and the people spoke in a loud voice. The landlord was ejected, thrown out into the cold.

That is why anything Chief Obasanjo says about this government cannot carry weight. It is not a case of accepting the message, and ignoring the messenger, as some people canvass. The jaundice of the messenger can taint and corrode the message, and render it unreliable.

And for the cheerleaders, the different groups Obasanjo spoke to, and who egged him on, they are no better. They all took positions before last year’s elections. They threw in their lots with Buhari’s closest challenger, Atiku Abubakar. They all got beaten together, black and blue. And for all of them, they don’t seem to realize that the elections have been won and lost. Till 2023. They remain in pre-election mode, forgetting that the train had long left the station.

Their strategy is simple. Say so much evil about Buhari and his government, paint him black, confuse and discourage Nigerians, paint the picture of a bleak future, till the people become forlorn and disconsolate. What they lost at the polls, they want to get through some other means, as if Nigerians were fools, incapable of independent reasoning.

The former President says the country is collapsing. I agree. Nigeria is collapsing forward. In diverse ways, under President Muhammadu Buhari, the collapse is in a forward trajectory, despite all the odds.

I love what Temitope Ajayi, a public affairs commentator, posted on Facebook earlier in the week. Under the title ‘When Nigeria Was Not A Failed State,’ he listed atrocious developments that occurred between 1999 and 2007, when Obasanjo was President. His Attorney General and Chief Law Officer of the country, Bola Ige, was murdered in cold blood. A serving Governor, Dr Chris Ngige, of Anambra State, was abducted, and thugs unleashed mayhem on Awka, the state capital, burning and looting for many days. Yet, not a word from the President. Nor any action to restore sanity.

Zaki Biam, in Benue State, and Odi, in Bayelsa, were leveled by soldiers on reprisal missions. Scores were murdered. In Plateau State, which had become killing fields, he called the state chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) a fool, a compound fool, adding, “CAN, my foot!” Today, that same man, Rev Yakubu Pam, has been appointed Executive Secretary of Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission by Buhari, a Muslim bigot, as they claim.

And more. In his eight years in office, roads collapsed, rail became history, Supreme Court judgments were subject to his personal interpretations, Governors were wantonly removed without due process, yet, Nigeria was not collapsing then.

Temitope Ajayi summed it up this way: “Under the man that is turning Nigeria to a failed state, as at today, work is going on at a frenetic pace on Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonshoki-Alausa Toll Gate road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Lagos-Abeokuta Express, Ikorodu-Sagamu, among others.

“A rail line from Lagos-Ibadan is at final stage of completion. Now that Nigeria is failing, it should be noted that all these projects are in South-West, the same place where the ‘savior’ who couldn’t save himself came from.

“I still struggle to understand the logic of this so-called failed country narrative under the leadership of a man who is doing what his predecessors failed to do, across the entire country, under the most challenging circumstances of low revenue since he took office.”
Thanks Temitope Ajayi, for being so succinct. You nailed it.

And Kurtis Adigba, lawyer, and another good Nigerian, who loves his country dearly, drove the nail further in. Also on Facebook, he posted this week: “For some people, Nigeria is good and doing well only when they are in control of things. They go about sowing seeds of discord and division, and turn round to talk about unity as if unity happens through division and not by coming together.”
Very profound.

Chief Obasanjo talked about the mismanagement of our diversity, saying it is leading to collapse. True? False. Nigeria, since 1914, had been an uneasy Federation. There is hate, mistrust, unkind thoughts, ill will, among the Federating units. If you meet him, kill him. If you can’t catch up with him, poison his footsteps. That had always been the relationship. One government after the other had always done its best to promote cohesion and amity, but hateful things Obasanjo and his collaborators have been saying for months and years divide the country further. They can’t sow the wind, and not expect to reap the whirlwind. When things suddenly go bust, and there’s murder and mayhem all over the place, they are often results of evil seeds of division and hate already sown.

I have concluded that unless Nigerians want this country to work, we would just continue to labor and labor. Government after government would do their bit, but as long as divisive, vitriolic comments continue, there would be no nation in the true sense of the word. Not even after President Buhari leaves office. Adigba puts it this way:

“The next President of Nigeria will face the same problem as President Buhari, if we don’t choose to do things differently and treat the country better. Right now, we see Nigeria as an opportunity, not a country to be nourished.”

Home truth. Nigerians are the greatest problem of Nigeria. We continue to harp on the negative, deliberately closing our eyes to positives. Nigeria is collapsing. Yes it is collapsing forward. Revolution in infrastructure. Roads, rail, bridges, airports, and many others. Corruption is being fought, with verifiable results, insurgency and criminality tackled robustly. The economy is being diversified, agriculture is working, we can feed ourselves. But for the enemies, the country is collapsing. Yes, collapsing forward.

Those who claim to love this country, and pretend to be the landlords, actually may love just themselves, and not the country. Otherwise, they would mind their language, knowing that things they say build up tension and animosity, which eventually boil over, leading to sorrow, tears and blood (dem regular trademark).

We must test and examine our ways, and decide whether we want our country to work or not. There are challenges, stiff ones. But they will be overcome, if we all team up, and eschew evil thoughts and words. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.” (Psalm 122, verse 6).

May they prosper that love Nigeria, our own dear native land.

*Adesina is Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity

September 18, 2020
President Buhari focused on nation building and unity of Nigeria

By FEMI ADESINA

To state that we live in challenging times is perhaps an understatement and does very little justice in accurately capturing our current realities. Those realities include a world faced with a pandemic the scale of which hasn’t been seen in 100 years. The crisis has crippled economies, destroyed global supply chains and obliterated once productive and viable sectors of the economy.

Our dear nation has not been spared in this difficult period and, indeed, has felt the impact of the global crisis. But as a responsive government, the Buhari administration has within limited resources designed responses that are targeted at mitigating the full impact of this scourge.

The Economic Sustainability Plan has earmarked N2.7 trillion in spending to create and sustain jobs and livelihoods for those who have been impacted the most by this crisis.

Despite battling with low public revenues, and the hydra- headed monster of low oil price and a reduced production quota from OPEC, this administration remains committed to honouring the promises made to the Nigerian people across the key areas of Security, Economy and fighting Corruption.

At the just concluded InterMinisterial Retreat, where the entire Government apparatus was gathered under one roof to review performance over the last year; with a singular objective of identifying how to improve in those areas where successes fell short of target, and how to replicate those key elements that led to success in others.

A frank conversation took place between the participants and independent assessors. Amongst the critical themes that emerged from the two-day session was the need to improve focus, coordination and collaboration amongst Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and the importance of rigorous execution, monitoring and evaluation of projects and activities against set targets.

Regarding domestic policy actions, the last week has seen critical decisions around the economy being taken. These are decisions that for many years previous governments have shied away from, and as a result cost our country several billions of dollars.

This was funding that could easily have been deployed elsewhere in support of millions of our citizens, as opposed to subsidizing a small percentage of our population. If we continued along this path it would portend a very dark and uncertain future for our country.

As most crisis managers state, “Never allow a crisis go to waste.” Such periods present an opportunity to take stock and make difficult decisions. These domestic policy decisions were by no means easy, but are in the best interest of our nation.

The impact of this decision is to have an improved allocation of very scarce resources, create an opportunity for private sector investment to return to sectors where government intervention had created distortions in various ways. The return of the private sector promotes job creation and provides for the entrepreneurial genius that is embedded in Nigerians.

Leadership is about making tough and difficult decisions and not a popularity contest. President Buhari’s commitment to doing the right things in the best interest of our country should never be in doubt.

In the regional sphere, Mr. President has not shirked from his responsibilities of promoting alongside other subregional leaders the principle of non-acceptability of change of government other than by constitutional means, and the values of democracy in places like Mali and ensuring that peace and security are maintained in neighbouring countries as they have a direct impact on our own security and territorial integrity.

Mr. President is also fully aware that there are historic fissures that exist in various locations across the country, and has advocated for dialogue between key parties who are direct stakeholders in ensuring peace. An example is the recent peace dialogue that took place in Kaduna between warring groups that have been at each other’s neck for quite some time. Their efforts to sit across the table and dialogue on how best they can resolve their differences, is the pathway that needs to be charted in addressing our internal issues. Such peace moves, which would be deepened and extended to other parts of the country, are critical to our continued existence as a people and as a nation.

However, what is sad, and most reprehensible is the conduct of those who should know better and should be seen to be playing a leading role in bridging and or mediating these fissures that we have lived with, who now invest their time in trying to deepen those fault lines and stoking ethnic embers in very subtle and manipulative ways that eventually find their way to the public sphere.

Given the plethora of challenges that confront our nation, Mr. President’s attention is on how our growing youthful population can compete in a world that has no boundaries and barriers, given our very fertile land. Focus is on how we can best improve agricultural practices and increase yields per hectare, so our farmers benefit from their sweat and honest labor.

Also under attention is how connectivity between markets and people can be improved so that commerce and movement of persons can thrive and flourish.

How do we deepen technology penetration to ensure that we are not left behind in the digital race. These are a few amongst the things that occupy the thoughts of the President. All statesmen will be judged by their records long after they exit the scene, and President Buhari is focused on deepening Nigeria’s unity and laying a solid foundation for the transformation of our country so that future leadership can build on. Therefore, he will not be deterred by those whose singular objective, carried out through a veil of deception, is a cocktail of hate-inspired messaging and vitriol intended to distract and undermine our march towards prosperous nation building.

Adesina is Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity

September 18, 2020
I hate trains, I hate bridges, I hate rice, By Femi Adesina

Let me give the background to this piece. I was reading some comments on Twitter early in the week, when I ran into this one by one Dr Ben Gbenro: “Why are some people allergic to good news about Nigeria? You are angry about the test-run of Lagos-Ibadan rail, you are angry about the development in Onne Port, but will eagerly amplify any negative news even if it’s not true. Something is wrong with you and I am here to tell you.”

Of course, that comment generated responses, both positive and negative. But the one that caught my fancy specially was by Ayekooto, who declared: “We have got to a stage when GMB achievements can no longer be denied but hated. I hate trains. I hate bridges. I hate rice.”

Very profound. A lot of people can no longer deny the many achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari, particularly in the area of infrastructure, building a new Nigeria, and so, they have decided to hate it. Sad. Very sad.

Nobody can deny that there are very serious challenges in the country, particularly in the areas of security, the economy, and standard of living generally. But that is not all there is to Nigeria of today, and those challenges are being addressed very robustly. That hymn says “behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour.” We will surely see an end to the challenges, if we all work together, and eschew hate speeches.

Why then do some people choose to see and amplify only negative things? Why do they choose to remain willfully blind and deaf to positive things? And surrounded and confronted by salutary developments, they keep repeating; what has the Buhari administration achieved? Show us.

You tell them that just last weekend, there was a test run of the Lagos-Ibadan rail project, with brand new coaches that will begin commercial operation before the end of the year.That is happening in a country where we were told we couldn’t afford new coaches when our oil was selling at over 100 dollars per barrel. Now, at about 40 dollars per barrel, we are launching new coaches. Instead of giving credit to a prudent government, they just say; I hate trains.

Okay, if you hate trains, what of brand new airports in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, Enugu, and others in the works? There was a time we were said to parade the worst airports in the world. But not any longer. Buhari reversed it in his four years. What do they say about that? They look up, look down, scratch their heads, and say; I hate airports. I’ve never even boarded a plane in my life, and I don’t want to board. Will I ever enter a plane if I’d been killed by bandits?

Okay. You hate airports and planes. What of bridges being built over rivers in different parts of the country, most especially the Second River Niger Bridge, which the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) built with mouth for 16 years. You tell them that the bridge is almost 50% done, and should be completed in the first quarter of 2022. There’s also the Loko-Oweto Bridge, linking Benue and Nasarawa States. It was started by a previous administration, but almost completed now. Like a cornered rat, their eyes dart furtively from corner to corner, seeking a hole to enter. Finding none, they tell you deadpan: I hate bridges.

Okay. All those are physical structures. So they want stomach infrastructure. You then tell them of the rice revolution, which has freed us from being a net importer of the product in the world. You point out that if Buhari hadn’t put his money where his mouth was, and encouraged us to go back to the land, causing rice farmers to rise from six to 12 million, we would have been in serious trouble when COVID-19 struck. How would we have imported rice, with all international borders closed, and no foreign exchange to even place orders? They pat their tummies gingerly, belch after a hearty meal, and then declare: I hate rice.

A Cancer Centre has been built and commissioned by President Buhari at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). An ultra-modern diagnostic center also built and commissioned in Kano. And just this week, another diagnostic centre built at a cost of $5.5 million, was commissioned at the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, in Abia State. What do they say of all these? “I hate hospitals. May I never need to use any diagnostic centre. It is not my portion.”

You join them to say amen, since you don’t have a hateful heart. And you remind them that the largest ever vessel in the country, Maerskline Stadelhorn, with a length of 300 meters and width of 48 meters, berthed few days ago at Onne Port, in Rivers State. That is the biggest ever container vessel to berth in any part of Nigeria. Onne people were delirious with joy, and praised the government to high heavens, because no vessel had come to their port for 12 years, till August last year, under Buhari. You tell the naysayers the positive economic implications, but they refuse to listen. They dive under water, shouting as they go: We hate container vessels.

You then take them to Yenagoa, in Bayelsa State. Just last week, the skyline of South-south and South-East was transformed, as President Buhari commissioned the tallest Federal Government structure in the region, the 17-story Nigerian Content Tower, Headquarters of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

The architectural masterpiece occupies an area equivalent to four football fields, and has a 1,000 seater conference centre plus a 10 MW power plant. Started in late 2015, now completed, all under Buhari. Engineer Simbi Wabote, Executive Secretary of the agency paid tribute to the resolve, determination and encouragement of the President, that saw the structure to completion in record time. And Wabote, third E.S of NCDMB in its 10 years history, has written his name in gold. Just because he has a supportive President.

Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylvia, under whose tenure as Bayelsa State Governor the land was allocated for the project, declared: “The commissioning of this building is symbolic in many ways. It shows that Mr President is keen to see infrastructural development in every part of the country…It shows that skyscrapers and other laudable infrastructure can be built in the Niger Delta.”

But they say Buhari hasn’t achieved anything. You show them the 17-story building, and as they gaze skyward, their caps and headgear fall off. You pick the cap and headgear, dust and hand them back. And you ask, brothers and sisters, how now? Rather than admit defeat, they pull the caps and headgear over their eyes, and grumbled: We hate skyscrapers. They make us dizzy.

At that point, you pity them. You realize that they need prayers. They hate everything good. They hate anything uplifting. They hate development. They hate their country. They even hate themselves.

*Adesina is Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media an Publicity

August 21, 2020
Security chiefs don’t complain of weapons during meetings with Buhari – Femi Adesina

Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity has said that Nigeria’s security chiefs are not complaining or demanding for military equipment.

Adesina averred that Nigeria military is well equipped, maintaining that even in recent security meetings held with the President and other stakeholders, no agency complained lacking equipment to fight insurgents.

He said that the country is at the level of seeking practical solutions between the government and everybody, adding that those making allegations against the government concerning the killings in some parts of the country are not helping the situation.

The presidential aide made this known when he appeared on Channels Television on Tuesday evening shortly after President Buhari’s meeting with Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Nigerian Governors Forum, and heads of security agencies at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

“Yes talking of those allegations, I hear them, I see them. I see videos. [These allegations are coming from] people that you think should know [better]; people that you think are well educated; people that you think are large-minded enough but they are still operating from small prisms of ethnic consciousness and making wide allegations about security in the country. They are not helping the situation.

“But it’s a democracy. They can say whatever they want to say it doesn’t mean what they’re saying is founded or true but they should realise that when they make those wild allegations, those things are not good for the country.

“Those who are working on security are working and we must team up with them to find lasting solutions to these plaques.

“Today at the security meeting a lot was said about procurement and security agencies did not complain of equipment. Yes additional equipment are coming in from Jordan, China, United States but the complaint was not majorly about equipment.

“The military is well equipped. [Although] nothing spent on security is ever too much because every other thing revolves around security….”

August 12, 2020
Buhari praises Nigerian who returned missing wallet in Japan

President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday applauded a Nigerian doctorate student in the University of Tsukuba, Japan, Mr Ikenna Nweke, who returned a missing wallet with huge sums of money to the police, and also turned down offer of a percentage by the authorities.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, revealed this in a statement titled “Thank you for projecting values of honesty and decorum, President Buhari tells Ikenna Nweke who made the country proud in Japan.”

Adesina said the President saluted Nweke for projecting the values of honesty, integrity and contentment that should be the hallmark of a people.

He quoted Buhari as further noting that good virtues and decency are the hallmark of every culture in Nigeria, while crimes and criminalities are exceptions.

The statement read, “The President believes Nweke’s behaviour, coming at a period that the country needs a positive spotlight and close-up on its real values, clearly signposts what should hold the nation together, inspired by solid foundations laid by most families, religious bodies and communities for success in life.

“President Buhari wishes Nweke all the best in his studies and work as a teaching assistant in same university, urging all Nigerians, home and abroad, to keep celebrating the age-old, irreplaceable attributes of honesty and decorum, and shun the microwaved, get-rich-quick tendencies that bring individual and collective shame.”

July 4, 2020
Why Buhari failed to deal with Fayose, Wike – Adesina

Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Muhammadu Buhari , has said his principal chose to disregard the “combative, truculent, if not at times insulting” disposition of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.

The spokesperson said the President would have dealt with Wike and former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, for their “anti-Buhari tendency” but he chose to tolerate the duo as a father of the nation.

Wike, who belonged to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, had recently appreciated the President for approving the refund of N78.9bn to Rivers for the repair of federal roads. A total sum of N148bn had been approved by the Federal Executive Council to five states including Rivers, Cross River, Bayelsa, Ondo, and Osun.

In a piece published on Friday on his website and entitled, ‘Wike Vindicates Buharists’, Adesina described the recent action of Governor Wike as one that was in a “completely different direction compared to what he had always said of President Muhammadu Buhari”.

Adesina wrote, “The Wike we knew was either usually crying wolf where there was none, alleging that the Federal Government wanted to kill him, or claiming that he was not answerable to the central government at Abuja in any way, or even pontificating that the President and his political party, the All Progressives Congress, had failed the country in diverse ways.

“If not for the maturity, and the avuncular attitude of President Buhari to all state governors, it would have been easy for one to conclude that he and Wike were enemies. Forsworn ones.

“There was also the then Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, who had formed a tag team with Wike in the anti-Buhari tendency. The President could have dealt with them in many ways, either overtly or covertly, but he let them be. He was a father ready to tolerate his many children, irrespective of their differing idiosyncrasies, propensities and predilections.”

On the invitation extended by the Rivers governor for the President to visit the state to see what the money was used for, the President’s spokesperson said, “In January 2018, there had been vicious killings in some parts of the country. States affected were; Benue, Taraba, Plateau, Yobe, Rivers and Zamfara. The President decided to embark on sympathy and solidarity visits to the states. All the Governors were receptive, except Wike, who said the visit was a smokescreen, meant to revive the dying APC in Rivers State.

“When about 20 people were killed on New Year Day 2018, in Omoku area of the state, and the President wanted to visit, Wike demurred. He said there were killings everyday all over the country, and it meant the President must visit every State on a daily basis.

“The circle has turned fully round, and Governor Wike is inviting the President to visit. He says he’s “a President for every State of the Federation and all Nigerians.” Wonderful!

“Some people say it is N78.9 billion that is working, and the Governor is clearly inebriated by that windfall. But I don’t think so. Rivers is by no means a poor state. The amount is handsome, no doubt, but the state is oil rich, and can hold her own when it comes to finances. I rather choose to believe that Governor Wike had been playing a curious kind of politics all along, and now, fairness and justice have touched him in a positive way.”

July 3, 2020
A ‘Good Setback’ by 60 years, By Femi Adesina

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has a fixation with 60 years. At the height of its heady days in power, it challenged its Chi (personal god) to a wrestling contest, vowing that it would rule Nigeria for minimum of 60 years. We know how the story ended. The Chi gave the boastful party a thunderous pin-fall. So great was the fall that not all the king’s horses nor all the king’s men could put Humpty Dumpty together again.

The Sugar Candy Mountain of 60 years ended in 16 years, with the bloody nose Nigerians gave PDP at the polls through the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015.

Since that time, however, PDP has not stopped fantasizing about 60 years. Addressing the media recently on the 5th year anniversary of its nemesis, President Muhammadu Buhari, in power, the party, through Kola Ologbondiyan, its National Publicity Secretary, said the President and his team “have taken our country 60 years backward.” Lol. What a neurosis with 60 years.

When the PDP lies, it speaks its mother tongue, its natural language, “for he is a liar and father of all lies.” The party has become willfully blind and deaf to all progress going on in the country.

Back to English Literature class in secondary school, we were taught what an oxymoron was: figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction. That is why we want to examine the ‘good setback’ the Buhari government has given Nigeria, taking her back 60 years, according to the PDP.

There are minimum of 600 road projects going on in different parts of the country today. What a good setback. The Buhari government is doing what Napoleon couldn’t do, and so, it is taking the country ‘backward.’

Hear the story of the Bodo-Bonny Road. It had been on the drawing board for 48 years. It is supposed to be the first link road between Bonny, where the country’s cash cow, the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) project is sited, and the rest of Rivers State. But no access, except by boats and helicopters.

For almost five decades, the Bodo-Bonny Road was only in the realm of imagination. Till Muhammadu Buhari came. Work commenced on the $333 million project in 2017, and estimated time of completion is 2022.

The 38 kilometers long road runs through low lying marshland swampy terrain, with many culverts, two creek bridges of about 500 meters in length, and a major river bridge of about 713 meters length. Yet, Buhari is building it, in conjunction with NLNG. What a backward movement!

We have said a lot about the Second Niger Bridge. And we shall never stop talking about it. The project makes our heart to beat Du du ke, du du ke, each time we remember it.

The first bridge was built in 1965, and is the major gateway to the land of the wise men-the East. But the sole bridge has become grossly inadequate, and people virtually see hell on it at major festive times.

Government after government had built a new bridge-with their mouths- particularly since we returned to democratic rule in 1999. Whenever elections approached, and they needed the votes of the people, they would take cutlasses, hoes and shovels, go to the site of the bridge, and pretend to be digging the ground. Once elections were over, and they had got the votes they wanted, it’s goodbye basket, I’ve carried all my apples.

Till Buhari came. Without fanfare, no bravado, no theatrics, he set to work. The bridge is 48% completed today, with sights firmly set on the first quarter of 2022 as delivery time. What a backward move, according to PDP. And to think the party can’t even complete its head office, despite raising billions of Naira, which developed legs and vanished.

What about rail? Have you seen the Warri-Itakpe line, which had vegetated for over 30 years? What about Abuja-Kaduna, already put to use? And Lagos-Ibadan, about 90% done? Ibadan-Kano has been awarded, there will be Lagos-Calabar, and many others. But PDP says the rail lines are leading us backwards by 60 years. What a good backward movement!

Airports. The country was rated as having some of the worst airports in the world before Buhari came. But today, see ultra-modern terminals in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Kano, and Enugu is coming on stream shortly. But they say it’s a flight backwards. Oh, I see. Such people may never then fly forward ever and ever. They are perpetually stuck in reverse gear.

Agriculture. We used to import everything. Even when we had a celebrated farmer as President, we brought in rice from all over the world, and beans from Burkina Faso. Maize, wheat, sorghum, millet, we imported everything. Fertilizer was one huge scam, when we planted nothing.

Then Buhari came. He told Nigerians to return to the land. And he put his money where his mouth was. Agriculture was massively funded, and today, we have pyramids of rice round the country. We no longer import any type of grains, rather our neighbors come to buy here. We are almost self-sufficient in food.

Imagine if such hadn’t happened, and COVID-19 came. No foreign exchange to import food, all international borders closed, nothing to eat. Nigeria would have been in terrible crises. But we thank God Buhari came this way. He made all the difference. Yet PDP (Papa Deceiving Pikin) says it’s backward movement. I like that kind of backstroke, don’t you?

Eleven quarters of consecutive GDP growth, before Coronavirus threw a spanner in the works. Yet, they say it’s all backward movement. Non-oil exports have grown highest in the country’s history. We are taking massive leaps in the Ease of Doing Business. Light appears at the end of the long tunnel of lack of electricity, with a transparent deal with Siemens of Germany. For the first time in over ten years, Nigeria is conducting transparent bidding process for 57 Marginal Oil Fields to increase revenue. Insurgency, crime and criminality are being robustly fought. COVID19, which has humbled the great powers of the world, is also being battled relentlessly. What of corruption? No retreat, no surrender. Do the crime, do the term. More than 1,400 convictions, and over N800 billion recovered in recent times. Yet PDP says it’s backward movement. I hear.

When AfDB President, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina came to see President Buhari recently, I had a private dialogue with him. And he told me of an African leader who met him and said: “Those who don’t want you for a second term in office say you are not doing well. But if what you are doing is a bad thing, please continue with those bad things for the sake of Africa. We appreciate what you are doing.”

Doing admirable bad things. Another oxymoron. But some morons don’t know oxymorons. So they talk of Nigeria being taken back 60 years. What a good backward movement. Nigerians want more of such.

*Adesina is Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity

June 19, 2020