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Tag: President Buhari

  • The unravelling of President Buhari, By Chido Onumah

    By Chido Onumah

    One thing supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari can’t deny is that many of those who oppose him today, almost three and half years after he was sworn in as the fourth President of the Fourth Republic, rooted for him 2015. Many of them are not politicians; they are not angry because President Buhari has blocked their illegal sources of wealth; and they are not people who have cases with anti-corruption agencies. I am one of them.

    For this category of Nigerians, it was their belief in Nigeria and hope for an inclusive country and new ways of doing things that made them take that chance. After the Jonathan debacle, very few Nigerians imagined that the country could sink lower in terms of its leader’s capacity to understand and confront its problems. Expectations were high. Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress, had made promises.

    During the campaign, Candidate Buhari, without prompting, promised to declare his assets publicly on his first day in office and we believed him. The APC promised to address the vexed issue of national unity and integration and we trusted them. Four months after, journalists were still debating with Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity, on the meaning of public declaration of assets.

    It was in faraway Ghana, in September 2015, that President Buhari told curious journalists: “I have declared my assets and all that I have four times, and you (the media) have the right to go and demand my declaration. Instead, I am being harassed.” I am sure if the President had made his asset declaration public, as he promised during his campaign, journalists would have saved him the harassment and embarrassment.

    In July 2013, my colleague, Godwin Onyeacholem, and I, wrote a piece titled, “2015: Why Buhari Matters.” In it, we argued that Buhari was perhaps the only politician who could defeat former President Goodluck Jonathan. In another article in May 2015 titled, “President Buhari: Dead end or the rebirth of a nation?”, I argued, enthusiastically, that under Buhari, Nigerians didn’t expect it to be business as usual and that notwithstanding his foibles – “alleged provincialism and antecedent as a military dictator” – since corruption remains one of Nigeria’s biggest problems, perhaps, “President Buhari, ‘Mr. Anti-corruption’, can deal with corruption and get the Nigerian state to function.”

    That has turned out not to be the case. As we have seen, President Buhari’s foibles are not superficial. They are ingrained. On the issue of corruption, I will allow Senator Shehu Sani speak on Buhari’s anti-corruption war. A preeminent party man, Sani was in the APC until a few weeks ago when a combination of intrigues and highhandedness forced him to resign and join another party, the People’s Redemption Party. According to him, “When it comes to fighting corruption in the National Assembly and the Judiciary and in the larger Nigerian sectors, the President uses insecticide, but when it comes to fighting corruption within the Presidency, they use deodorants.”

    But, as we have noticed, fighting corruption should be the least of our concern under a President who seems to make a mockery of the very essence of our survival as a nation. The clear and present danger in Nigeria today is the existential crisis confronting it. Not since the civil war have Nigerians questioned their citizenship the way they have done in the last three and half years, thanks to a President whose philosophy and politics of exclusion and resentment, of “we vs them,” of “97 and 5 per cent,” is redefining what it means to be a Nigerian.

    Buhari has foreclosed the prospect of any kind of meaningful conversation on Nigeria and its existential crisis. It will be an egregious folly to allow this indifference to go on for four more years. If Buhari wasn’t sworn in on May 29, 2015, he would have remained “the best president Nigeria never had.” Now that we have watched him painfully flounder, not knowing exactly what to do and squandering the goodwill of a nation in search of direction, it would be catastrophic to reward him with another four years.

    The 2019 elections, therefore, will either be about enabling a tribesman or finding a patriotic alternative. As a people, we should be interested in President Buhari’s capacity -his ability to understand what the country needs- to steer the Nigerian state for four more years as he seeks a second term in the February 2019 general elections.

    President Buhari may have good intentions, if you believe those around him. But again, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. For a nation in a hurry, President Buhari’s tardiness goes beyond the pale. It took him six months to appoint some of the same people he campaigned with, as ministers, creating uncertainty and imperiling the economy in the process. The security situation gets worse by the day and you scarcely hear any coherent response from the President.

    It seems Buhari hardly knows what is happening around him. A few months ago, at the height of the herdsmen killings in Benue State, the President sent the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to personally take charge of the situation. When the President finally visited Benue State, after weeks of public outcry, and was confronted by residents who said the police chief was a no-show, he told a bewildered nation that he did not know that his police chief defied his orders. And, of course, he did nothing.

    No wonder when asked in February what he would tell President Buhari if they met, Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, replied: “I will say to him, Mr. President I think you are under a trance.” There couldn’t have been a more apt description of a President we elected almost four years to take charge and pull the country from the brink. I don’t think President Buhari has woken up from that dream. What we have in place of an elected President is a space holder surrounded by a bunch of nefarious enablers.

    Buhari’s listlessness and nonchalance are only matched by his parochialism. Take his handling of the crisis at the National Health Insurance Scheme or the appointment of a new head for Nigeria’s internal security agency, the Department of State Services. In August 2018, while President Buhari was away on medical vacation in the UK, the acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, sacked Lawan Daura, the notorious director general of the DSS and Buhari’s kinsman after a botched DSS invasion of the National Assembly. He was replaced by Matthew Seiyefa, from Bayelsa State, the most senior director at the DSS. Seiyefa appeared, at least from media reports, to be doing a good job at his new post, clearing a backlog of unpaid allowances and repositioning the institution in accordance with equity, fairness and respect for the rule of law.

    For someone who had been assailed for his manifest nepotism and utter disregard for the country’s diversity, it was expected that the President would allow the appointment to stand. Not President Buhari. A month later, the President, predictably, had to recall “one of his own”, Yusuf Magaji Bichi, from retirement, to replace the acting President’s appointee.

    It is an understatement to say President Buhari is stuck in the past. But if that alone was the problem, then it wouldn’t matter. The President has no notion of nationhood. He certainly needs a lot of lesson in running a modern, diverse and multi-ethnic nation like Nigeria. Unfortunately, it is too late.

    The beauty of democracy – if we follow its tenets – is the prospect of peaceful and periodic transfer of political power. As a nation, let’s not be afraid to take our chances, to try something different. It may not always work out, but it deepens our sense of understanding and purpose.

    We took our chance with Buhari in 2015 and it has turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. Now is the time to move on.

  • 2019 election will be easiest for Buhari – Festus Keyamo

    Festus Keyamo (SAN) has said President Buhari will win the 2019 general election easily.

    Keyamo who is now the Director, Strategic Communication of the president’s campaign organization said the 2019 election will be easier for the President to win than even when he was elected in 2015. The lawyer said this while speaking with Channels Television on Sunday:

    “The 2019 election will be the easiest election for president Buhari despite what the nay sayers are saying, it will be the easier the president than 2015 and all the indices are there, because since that time the president had won over the heart of other sections of the country at that time that may not have voted for him, between then and now he has won their heart” he said.

    He pointed out that this was because the President already has many achievements he can boast of. Look at the second Niger bridge it is 40% complete and has been expanded from a 2km to a 7km bridge, look at the railway tracks they have increased them from single gage to standard gauge railway tracks the one between Lagos and Ibadan and Kano and Abuja is 80% complete.

    Nigerians will see that despite all the negative talks here and there, that it will be the easiest election for the president more than that of 2015,” said the lawyer.

  • PDP reacts to Obasanjo’s ‘bombshell’ letter to President Buhari

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the counsel by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to President Muhammadu Buhari as courageous, timely and patriotic.

    The party said in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, on Tuesday in Abuja, that the advice had vindicated its position on Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Obasanjo in an open letter to Buhari, which went viral on the social media on Tuesday, advised him not to re-contest in the 2019 general election.

    The PDP, however, rejected the call by Obasanjo for a “third force’’ saying that such would amount to repeating the same “blunder that brought in the APC and Buhari as president’’.

    It added that “Chief Obasanjo’s counsel has rekindled the fate of the people in the democratic process.

    “However, the solution does not lie in creating another political quicksand in a third force but consolidating on a rescue mission with the repositioned PDP which Nigerians have already embraced.

    “Nigerians would recall that in the heat of 2015 elections, many citizens, who claimed to have become tired of the PDP and its government, opted for a coalition.

    “They opted for collation of strange bedfellows who had little or no experience in governance as a vehicle for electoral victory.

    “Expectedly, in their confusion, they have plunged us into this regrettable situation that has brought our nation to its knees.

    “Repeating the old mistake of congregating political strangers cannot help our nation at this time, more so, when the few concerns raised by the former president about the PDP no longer obtain under the refocused and rebranded PDP.’’

    The party said that it was now standing on a truly democratic ground that perfectly represents and reflects the hopes and aspirations of all Nigerians irrespective of their class, creed or tribe.

    “That is why our great party has now, more than ever before, become a centre of the new patriotic and broad-based engagements by well-meaning Nigerians and coalitions across board, including past leaders.’’

    It said that the fact was that Nigerians overrated Buhari in 2015 but that they had now seen the reality.

    “This accounts for the reason former President Obasanjo, just like most Nigerians today, are concerned about the quality of presidential candidates to be presented by various parties for the 2019 election,’’ it said.

    The party added that fact is that while APC was already considering Buhari for its 2019 ticket, “PDP is open for a new engagement that will produce candidate that Nigeria truly deserves at this crucial moment.

    “We therefore call on Nigerians, including all our leaders across board, to come together to rebuild our nation on PDP’s consolidated base rather than traversing on another learning curve.’’

     

  • Boroh says President Buhari will not abandon Ijaw Youths

    The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh (Rtd), has assured Ijaw youths that President Muhammadu Buhari would not abandon them.

    Boroh, also the Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) said this when 25 Ijaw Youths groups held a rally at the gates of the Presidential Amnesty Office in Abuja on Tuesday.

    The groups include the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) and the National Association of Izon-Ebe Students.

    Boroh described the rally as a demonstration of their support for the Buhari administration and assured them of Federal Government’s commitment to create mass employment, sustainable peace and development of the Niger Delta.

    “The President, who is interested in your matter, will ensure your welfare by sustaining the Programme.

    “The President plans to create mass employment through the Agriculture Initiative and the Modular Refinery in the region; he is a President you can trust.

    “There is going to be mass inclusiveness of all of us in the Niger Delta Development Programmes.

    “If you go to Gelegele today, the people are happy with the Quick Impact Project and the government will do more,” he told the youths.

    Responding to the youths anxiety that the PAP may be shutdown, the presidential aide said this was not on the cards, but explained that some aspects of the Programme are winding down.

    Boroh gave an example of the off shore education programme in which 92 per cent of the beneficiaries have graduated from various universities, especially in Europe and America.

    The leader of the youths, Mr Priye Ebizimo, who is also the Chairman of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Abuja Chapter, expressed delight that the Programme is not being shut down.

    Ebizimo said: “While the Amnesty Programme cannot last forever, it is more of a journey than a destination”.

    He expressed their appreciation to the presidential aide on his achievements, adding that the youths at their meeting and news conference passed a vote of confidence on his leadership style.

    He pleaded with the presidential aide that the resultant increase in the production of oil and gas companies in the region should be retained.

    NAN recalled that the PAP coordinator recently disclosed that the training of delegates has commenced in cluster farms in the nine oil producing states.

    He said, “my office has projected to empower and create 10,000 new farms owners, who will then employ 40,000 farm workers.

    “Their logistics and processing agricultural value chain will also create additional 30,000 new jobs, thus making our Agricultural empowerment scheme to provide 80,000 new jobs.”

    Boroh further disclosed that his office has concluded discussions with a trawler company, the Greek Fisheries Institute to use the Burutu sea port in Delta state to train and engage 1,000 ex-militants into commercial aquaculture fishing business.

     

  • Bike Accident: President Buhari’s Son, Yusuf, ready to be discharged – Presidency

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s son, Yusuf Buhari, who was admitted into Cedarcrest Hospital, Abuja, following injuries he sustained in a motorcycle accident, is ready to be discharged.

    According to a statement issued by Mr Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, in Abuja on Friday, the Medical Director of the Hospital, Dr Felix Ogedegbe, confirmed the “cheery news.’’

    Adesina quoted Ogedegbe as saying that Yusuf Buhari underwent successful emergency surgical operations carried out by a team of neurosurgeons and orthopaedic surgeons.

    A statement issued by Ogedegbe read: “Mr Yusuf Muhammadu Buhari, son of His Excellency President Buhari, was admitted into Cedarcrest Hospitals Abuja in the late hours of the Dec. 26, 2017, following injuries sustained as a rider of a motorcycle.

    “Following initial stabilization, he was taken into intensive care. He underwent successful emergency surgical operations the following morning carried out by our team of neurosurgeons and orthopaedic surgeons.

    “Over the following week, his condition improved remarkably and he was transferred from intensive care to the ward.

    “He has remained stable ever since and has continued to make remarkable progress. He is now ready to be discharged.

    “His extremely speedy response to treatment so far is testimony to the world-class early care he has received here in Cedarcrest, Abuja.

    “We are grateful to His Excellency, President Buhari and Her Excellency the First Lady Mrs. Aisha Buhari for the confidence in us and for allowing us to look after Yusuf.

    “This show of confidence goes a long way to strengthen our collective belief in our resolve to offer world-class health care locally.

    Ogedegbe also lauded the efforts of the two ministers of health, hospital team for their dedication and hard work during the operations.

    He added: “We are extremely grateful to our entire hospital team for their dedication and hard work during this period.

    “We are also grateful to the Minister of Health, the Minister of State for Health, and the eminent advisory team of specialists assembled by the Honorable Minister of Health who supported us in the course of looking after Yusuf.

    “We are grateful to all Nigerians who prayed for Yusuf, his family and his carers. His response to treatment so far is clear testimony to answered prayers.

    “We did note some very misleading reports about this incident making the rounds in some social media outlets. Most of them would not ordinarily need to be responded to.

    “Suffice to say that there was only one person involved in this incident. No one else required treatment for this incident or its aftermath. Yusuf’s friend was not involved in the accident and did not sustain any injuries whatsoever.

    “Her Excellency was not at any time treated for shock and she was not admitted into Cedarcrest at any time.

    “In addition, Cedarcrest Hospitals has remained open to other in-patients and out-patients and at no time were any patients denied access to the hospital.’’

     

  • Viral photo: President Buhari attends PDP’s National Convention? It’s a big joke!

    A photo emerged that went viral purportedly of President Muhammadu Buhari seen attending the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Elective Convention.

    The photo was first seen by TheNewsGuru on a tweet by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar congratulating the newly elected national chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus.

    The man, as seen in the picture Atiku shared on Twitter, was putting on a red skull cap and donning black sunglasses.

    Given the perspective the photo was taken, the man seems to look like President Buhari, and the photo has since gone viral.

    A closer look at the photo:

    Although the man in the photo is yet unidentified, President Buhari did not, could not have, actually attended the PDP 2017 National Convention.

     

  • President Buhari goofed- Seyi Law declares

    Nigerians on Monday reacted to Buhari’s first broadcast to Nigerians after a 104-day medical vacation in the United Kingdom.

    While some lauded the speech, others said it didn’t address the pertinent issues affecting the wellbeing of Nigerians.

    Nigerian comedian, Seyi Law faulted the president’s opinion on the unity of Nigeria. The outspoken comedian took to his Instagram page to express his grievance.

     

    In his words:” I am one of those who waited for the President’s speech and if I say I am not disappointed at some part of his speech will be an act of hypocrisy. It goes without saying that the first quote up there by the President is a reference to Nnamdi Kanu and his people and the term, irresponsible elements shows serious condemnation with a follow up reference to Late Chief Ojukwu’s visit to him.

     

    “However the second and third quotes that should address the AREWA YOUTHS by Mr. President is a twist and not an outright condemnation. This is a big GOOF from the President and can be likened to President Trump infamous line that got the America media houses ranting for days unend. The line, I rephrase, there are good people on both side.

    “The President goofed big time on that one and he needs to do better. If the BIAFRANS are irresponsible then same goes to the AREWA YOUTHS. He should condemn them in totality and stop rubbing their egos. What legitimate concerns that are not good for both?

    “Mr. Kogi State Governor who declared public holiday for the Presidential return has displayed an equal act of irresponsibility as I am trying to avoid the use of the word stupidity. What is it that he is celebrating? Some people are just outrightly annoying. Unfortunately, the lazy ones in Kogi are celebrating another lazy day. Just a piece of my mind”.

     

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BYDggkvBcyZ/?taken-by=seyilaw1

     

  • Reno Omokri: President Buhari: Two Years and Forty Thousand Email Addresses Later

     

    By Reno Omokri

     

    After two years as President of Nigeria, the only area in which President Muhammadu Buhari appears to have superseded his predecessor, former President Jonathan, is in the area of creating email addresses. Other than that, he is trailing Jonathan by every scale of measurement and in every Index of human development or economic growth.

    And in case you are wondering what I mean by email addresses let me bring you up to speed.

    One of the President’s many media aides, a certain Bashir Ahmad, proudly revealed that one of President Muhammadu Buhari’s noteworthy achievements is the provision of “over 40,000 email addresses for government officials under the gov.ng and mil.ng domains”.

    I am using his exact words to show you the type of people the President has surrounded himself with.

    To crown it all, this media aide listed this ‘achievement’ under the hashtag #PMBTriumphsat2! You can thus see why many of us have said that this President is doomed to fail going by the characters around him.

    Since Mr. Ahmad likes bandying about big numbers, perhaps he should also list the massacre of 347 Shiites men, women, children and infants in Zaria as another of his boss stellar achievements.

    While he is at it he should not forget the bombing of hundreds of Internally Displaced Persons and the doctors and other medical professionals who looked after them at Rann IDP camp in Borno state. Those would make for some very nice ‘triumph’ for #PMBTriumphsat2!

    Now if this is a triump, then what would you call Jonathan’s achievements at the 100 day mark of his administration?

    Let me just list 20 key things that former President Jonathan was able to achieve in his first 100 days in office and I challenge the current administration to list what President Buhari has achieved in the last two years. If they are able to surpass what Jonathan achieved in 100 days then I promise to convert and become a Buhari change agent.

    By his first 100 days as President Jonathan had achieved the following and much more:

     

    1. Nigeria’s oil industry expanded by 20% and we reclaimed our position as Africa’s largest oil exporter which we’d hitherto lost to Angola. (Under President Buhari we have since lost the number one position to Angola again)

     

    1. Recognized by OPEC in July 2011 as the 2nd largest oil exporter in a he cartel, 2nd only to Saudi Arabia. It is the first time Nigeria recorded such a feat.

     

    1. Inflation rate reduced to single digit. In June 2011 the Consumer Price Index showed an inflation rate of 10.2% which dropped to 9.4% in July being the lowest rate in the last 4 years. (Under Buhari we are again at double digit inflation rate).

     

    1. Foreign Reserves rose by 10% to $35 billion.

     

    1. Nigeria’s GDP growth rate month over month grew from 6.7% in May to 6.9% in July of 2011.

     

    1. Nigeria declared top three investment destinations in Africa (number 2) by the independent Africa Business Panel in the Netherlands.

     

    1. Nigeria generated power at her highest level ever (4000mw) which is still far from enough but which will improve monthly.

     

    1. Nigerian Railway Corporation commenced Mass Transit Services in 5 of 6 geo-political zones. Last zone will come on stream by year’s end.

     

    1. Take off of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority. With the establishment of the NSIA the Jonathan administration planned to facilitate direct investments into infrastructure with priority areas being Power and Roads.

     

    1. The Federal Government also awarded contracts for various road projects across the country chief of which are the reconstruction of the Benin-Ore section of the Benin-Ore-Sagamu-Lagos road and the Kano-Maiduguri dualization.

     

    1. Launch of NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X Satellites to expand Internet Bandwidth and provide early warning to prevent natural disasters.

     

    1. President Jonathan introduced the policy of engaging the Private Sector on kerosine pricing and price reduced between May and September, 2011.

     

    1. In recognition of the sacrifices of youth corps members, President Jonathan approved the upward review of allowances from 9,700 to 19,800 Naira.

     

    1. Implementation of Minimum Wage Increase for Nigerian Workers to 18,000 Naira monthly.

     

    1. Fulfillment of the promise of 35% Slot For Women in the cabinet.

     

    1. Deepening Security and expanding Peace in the Niger Delta.

     

    1. Reduced kidnapping in the South East with the implementation of the President’s order to establish the 14 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Ohafia, Abia state.

     

    1. Ended piracy. Maritime Safety has been ensured and stabilized in the last 100 days.

     

    1. A stellar cabinet comprising former MDs of the World Bank & Goldman Sachs, Chairperson Accenture and multiple PHds.

     

    1. The National Automobile Council established an Automotive Development Fund to resuscitate the automobile industry and generate jobs.

     

    1. Approval for genuine foreign investors to obtain visas at the port of entry to facilitate FDI investments.

     

    1. Model Skills Training Centers set up in Abuja- collaboration between Industrial Training Fund & the Institute for Technical Education, Singapore.

     

    1. Establishment of the Nigerian Vehicle Credit Purchase scheme.

     

    1. Fought corruption at source with the introduction of IPPIS technology that eventually eliminated 50,000 ghost workers on the Federal Government payroll.

     

    Let me add that though thousands of email accounts were opened for government and military officials by the Jonathan administration during its first 100 days, it will be pedestrian of me or anyone connected to that administration to list such a mundane accomplishment as an ‘achievement’. Let us leave that achievement for the Buhari administration.

    Let us even go deeper. President Buhari and the All Progressive Congress called former President Goodluck Jonathan, who gave Nigerians YouWIN and SURE-P, and the Presidential Special Scholarship For Innovation And Development, clueless. So what do we then call the APC administration that gives Nigerians wheelbarrow?

    They said Jonathan was tribalistic yet his National Security Adviser, Chief of Defense Staff, Inspector General of Police, Chief of Naval Staff, Controller General of Prisons, Controller General of Customs and minister of defense were from the North. So what do we then say of President Muhammadu Buhari whose DG DSS is from his own hometown and whose Minister of Defense, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air Staff, NSA, IGP, CGP, CGI, CGP are all from his Northern Region? You see, no matter how far falsehood has travelled, it must eventually be overtaken by truth!

    In two years of Nigeria under President Buhari, the price of everything in Nigeria has gone up. In fact, the only thing that is cheaper in Nigeria today than it was in 2015 is the value of President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign promises!

    Even after he left office, Goodluck Jonathan was and is still keeping his campaign promises. He promised Abuja-Kaduna rail and finished it for Buhari to commission. He promised that his ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian and is keeping to that even today. But even while he is in office, Buhari cannot keep his promises. If you doubt me, then show me your job seekers allowance or your President that belongs to no one, yet gave all the sensitive military and security jobs to his fellow Northerners!

    Can you imagine what President Buhari and the APC would have said and done if Jonathan had divided Nigeria between those that voted for him and those that did not? Yet, that is precisely what President Buhari is doing!

    I still find it hard to understand what could have possessed President Buhari to have said “The constituents, for example, gave me 97% [of the vote] cannot in all honesty be treated on some issues with constituencies that gave me 5%.”

    You see, the President has been too busy dividing Nigeria between 97% and 5% that he has not had time to focus on the economy and of course the economy has decided to join the unloved and unwanted 5%.

    For the fifth consecutive quarter, the Nigerian economy shrank instead of growing. Our GDP shrank by 0.52%. The sad thing is that the government seems to be celebrating the fact that the most recent contraction of the economy is not as bad as the contraction of the last quarter.

    Do you see the type of government we have? A government that compares which of their negative growths is better? Yet these people opened and still open their mouth to call a Jonathan under whom Nigeria became the third fastest growing economy in the world (according to CNNMoney) ‘clueless’.

    Jonathan’s cluelessness is 100 times better than Buhari’s clue-fullness and you do not need 40,000 email addresses to see this fact clearly!

    And the silly season in Buhari’s administration just continues. Their stories are just too silly. The other day we read that an administration official said President Muhammadu Buhari is taking made in Nigeria medicines in his London clinic. Almost a week after that made the press he is yet to deny it. Then the next day the minister of petroleum resources, Ibe Kachikwu, said the President is working and having meetings in London and then worst of all, Garba Shehu says (and I quote) “Nigerians are happy with Buhari and would still vote for him”.

    Sometimes I wonder if these APC people realize that they should have stopped lying after they won the elections. Propaganda can win elections but only proper agenda can govern a country!

    And then there was the coup warnings by the Chief of Army staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai, who warned the nation that unnamed politicians were actively procuring military officials for unpatriotic purposes.

    Let me be very, very clear and unambiguous. I am against any coup and will rise against it, but is it not ironic that the government of Muhammadu Buhari, a man who staged a coup against a democratically elected President Shagari today warns against coups?

    Some shallow people say Buhari did not plan the coup and he only benefited from it. To those who are shallow enough to believe that, I bet you also believe that President Buhari is taking made in Nigeria medication in London!

    Can you imagine where Nigeria would have been if an over ambitious Buhari had not toppled a government he swore by the constitution to defend? Under Shagari the Naira was 50 kobo to a dollar. You could actually step out of a plane at London’s Heathrow or New York’s JFK airports and convert the Naira to the pound and dollar because the Naira under Shagari was a fully convertible currency globally. Electric power was almost constant and NEPA would announce before taking power. Nigeria Airways and Nigeria National Shipping Line were thriving. The Federal Government NEVER owed salary for even one day. Yet Buhari toppled that government and said Shagari was bad.

    Today Buhari’s administration is by far WORSE than Shagari’s government in terms of performance. If you are one of those children who were deceived by the APC’s lies, go and ask your parents if I am lying in my testimony of the Shagari administration. I was five when Shagari became President and nine when he was toppled and I experienced everything I mentioned above. At age 9, my parents (civil servants) could afford to send me on yearly foreign vacations under Shagari. Don’t you dare believe the lies about his administration. Shagari is a decent man who did not loot!

    The bitter truth is that if President Muhammadu Buhari submits his certificate and his resume for a job as a bank manager in say the U.K. or the US, he will not qualify for the job! What success has he achieved in his private business? How can a man who cannot generate wealth for himself in his private business be expected to generate wealth for a nation? It is not just possible!

    If you think I am being overly critical then ask yourself why the economy and the value of the Naira picks up when Buhari is in London and tanks when he returns to Nigeria! Why does the Nigerian Stock Exchange contract when President Buhari surfaces and expand when he absconds to London? These are historical facts that cannot be explained away by the usual blame it all on Jonathan excuse!

    After two years in office, the most successful achievement of the Buhari administration is the President’s departure to London for whatever reason. One can only hope that his presence in London does not also tank the British economy!

    But there is one thing I commend Buhari for (although it is Asiwaju Bola Tinubu I should perhaps be thanking). His choice of a deputy in the person of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is “a breath of fresh air” (to borrow the words Tolu Ogunlesi, my successor in the Buhari administration, used to describe then President Jonathan).

    With Osinbajo, there is hope for Nigeria. I was touched when as acting President (not coordinator as Buhari would have him be) he personally attended the #Biafraat50 event that held on Thursday, May 25, 2017 in Abuja. For one, President Muhammadu Buhari would NEVER had attended such a function. But by attending the event, the acting President has applied a healing balm and a soothing salve on the injured feelings of pro-Biafra agitators. Without firing a bullet and using brute force, as President Buhari has been doing, he has done more to make those who self identify as Biafrans feel wanted by Nigeria.

    What a man, what a great man. If only he had a boss that was deserving of him!

     

     

  • We’ll shutdown Nigeria if Buhari fails to conduct a media chat in 14 days – Group

    We’ll shutdown Nigeria if Buhari fails to conduct a media chat in 14 days – Group

    A pro-democracy and good governance group, Concerned Nigerians, has threatened to shut down the country in peaceful protest if President Muhammadu Buhari fails to conduct a media chat in two weeks to let Nigerians know the true state of his health.

    In a statement signed and made available to newsmen by both its Convener, Prince Deji Adeyanju and the Secretary, Dr. John Danfulani, it said the secret handling of President Buhari’s health by those it called a cabal has placed the country in uncertain state economically.

    The group also threatened to call for Buhari’s resignation should he fail to address the nation. Muhammadu Buhari “For several weeks, the health of President Muhammadu Buhari has been the source of speculation. He has not appeared in public for several weeks and has failed to attend several official functions including Federal Executive Cabinet meetings.

    “The handling of the situation relating to President Buhari’s health has led to a lot of political uncertainty in the country. This economic uncertainty has in turn led to a lot of economic uncertainty as major economic stakeholders and players are unable to make short, middle and long term economic decisions.

    “Furthermore, the uncertainty about President Buhari’s health is stoking ethnic and religious tensions.

    Only recently a user of the social networking site – Facebook – threatened to kill 200 innocent Nigerians if President Buhari dies. This threat may not be unconnected with rumours making rounds in the northern parts of the country that President Buhari was poisoned.

    “To this end, we call on President Buhari to, as a matter of urgency, publicly address the nation on the state of his health and other national issues. Such an address will go a long way in assuaging the socio-economic and political tensions.

    “If President Buhari fails or refuses to address the nation within 14 days of this statement, we will commence a series of nationwide peaceful processions calling on President Buhari to resign from office.

    The processions will also call on the Federal Executive Council and the National Assembly to set up a committee to assess his health in line with Section 144 of the Constitution if he fails or refuses to do so.

    “While we recognise that illnesses can afflict anyone, particularly someone of President Buhari’s age, an occupant of the Office of the President has to be more forthcoming with information regarding his health.

    It is an obligation that the President bears to conduct himself in a manner that does not affect the peace, order and good governance of the country. “In all this, we wish President Buhari a speedy recovery from the illnesses that plague him. However, we believe that he can no longer recover in a manner that plagues the entire country.”

  • Nigerians storm Nigeria High Commission in UK, demand to see Buhari

    Nigerians storm Nigeria High Commission in UK, demand to see Buhari

    Several Nigerians in the UK are currently in front of the Nigerian High Commission demanding that President Buhari comes out to address them.

    President Buhari, who was meant to return to Nigeria yesterday, has asked for legislative powers to extend his vacation indefinitely due to incomplete medical check-up.