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  • Akande, Babalola, others renew call for regional autonomy

    Akande, Babalola, others renew call for regional autonomy

    FORMER All Progressives Congress (APC) National Interim Chairman Chief Bisi Akande and Aare Bamofin of Yorubaland Chief Afe Babalola have renewed call for devolution of more power to regions as basis for the federating units.

    Akande and Babalola said the fragmentation of the country into states by the nation’s military weakened the unity of the Southwest states and stalled the region’s socioeconomic growth with each state pursuing different goals.

    They spoke at the Cinema Hall within the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, during the maiden edition of the Southwest Stakeholders Education and Economic Development Summit.

    The summit was organised by the Southwest Patriots Movement (SPM), where both Akande and Afe are patrons.

    In his keynote address, Akande, who was the special guest of honour, said the zones or regions should be recognised as the first line federating units.

    He added that the exclusive functions of the Federal Government must also be offloaded and shared among the federation.

    According to him, this would be the panacea to the state of economic chaos in Nigeria, which, he said, were manifesting as Boko haram, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) among others.

    The former Osun State Governor, who was represented by Deputy Governor Titi Laoye-Tomori, called for a truly negotiated federalism.

    He explained that as being witnessed in Nigeria, there are global demand  for devolution of more power from the central governments to the constituent groups as being witnessed in Catalonia(Spain), Lombardy(Italy), Scots, Welsh, Irish and England (United Kingdom).

    He noted that negotiated federalism as was done in bringing about the 1960 Constitution of Nigeria without coercion would engender a harmonious co-existence among various nationalities and religious groups.

    Chief Babalola, in his presentation, said for the Southwest to record appreciable success in education sector, it must devote 52 per cent of its resources to the sector, as was the case in the old Western Region under the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

    He said it was quite unfortunate that aside Awolowo and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who devoted substantial portion of government budgets to education, every other administration had consistently spent about seven per cent.

    He blamed the military coup of January 15, 1966 for the sorry state of Yoruba nation.

    He said the military supplanted the people’s constitution, which allowed each region to develop at its own pace.

    According to him, the then people’s constitution also engendered healthy competition among the regions and made the Western region emerged as the clear leader.

    “Unfortunately, we have been operating a military constitution since 1999, because the people of Nigeria had no input whatsoever in the constitution, which was foisted on Nigerians by the military.

    “As a result of this military constitution, which gave Nigerians a unitary government in disguise, the spate of development initiated by Chief Obafemi Awolowo was unfortunately put in abeyance to the disadvantage of all of us,” Babalola said.

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Chief Tolu Odebiyi, called for establishment of Sovereign Wealth, Oodua Television and Oodua Anthem to further strengthen the unity of Yoruba people.

    Ambassador Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu said her late father, Chief Awolowo, succeeded with free primary education programme because it was well-defined and implemented.

    She noted that her father prepared policy papers and developed the party manifestoes beforehand and ahead of the formation of the two political parties – Action Group and the Unity Party of Nigeria, which he led.

  • No $25 billion contract was awarded by NNPC, says Akande

    No $25 billion contract was awarded by NNPC, says Akande

    The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President, Laolu Akande, on Sunday maintained that the claims that $25 Billion contracts were awarded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)  were false.
    A leaked letter to President Muhammadu Buhari from the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, had made the allegations stressing  that the contracts did not follow due process.
    But in a statement titled ‘It is Important to set the Records Straight’,  Akande said “Claims on social and traditional media that $25BN worth of oil contracts were awarded by the NNPC or that $25BN in NNPC funds is missing are both false.”
    “No contracts were procured by the NNPC based on the leaked memo of the Petroleum Resources Minister of State, even though such impressions have been maliciously created in the past few weeks.”
    He said that a closer look at each of the said projects indicated clearly that “these are not procurement contracts.”
    He added “When I tweeted on Thursday morning last week, I had indicated that the Vice President, while acting as President approved Joint Venture Financing arrangements. But for some curious reasons, a few media reports used that tweet to report that I said the then Acting President approved N640 Billion worth of oil contracts. Such reporting is both false and misleading and therefore ought to be completely ignored by all seekers of truth.”
    “What is more important is that when you look diligently at the referenced projects/transactions one by one, you will see, as NNPC has shown, that none of them was actually a procurement contract.”
    “Take both the Crude Term Contract and the Direct Sale, Direct Purchase (DSDP) agreements for instance, these are not procurement contracts involving the expenditure of public funds. Both transactions are simply a shortlisting process, in which prospective off-takers of crude oil and suppliers of petroleum are selected under agreed terms, and in accordance with due process.
    “It is therefore wrong and misleading to refer to them as though they’re contracts involving the expenditure of NNPC funds, or public funds of any sort. As you now know, the Honorable Minister of Petroleum Resources himself has in fact clarified that he meant to focus on administrative and governance issues, not red-flag any fraud – because no fraud exists in this matter.”
    For both transactions, Akande said it is not true and also inaccurate to attach $10B and $5B values on them.
    “Attaching monetary values to these contracts is an arbitrary act that completely distorts understanding of the situation.” he said
    According to him, Nigerians ought to be informed clearly that “whenever there is a monetary value on any consignment of crude oil lifted in this country by any firm, the proceeds go directly to the Federation Account and not to any company. In fact, the Buhari administration in the implementation of the TSA has closed down multiple NNPC accounts in order to promote transparency and probity.”
    Akande also explained that even in compiling the shortlisting for the prospective off-takers of crude oil and suppliers of petroleum under agreed terms, “there were public placements of advert in the mass media seeking Expressions of Interest (EoI). Bids were publicly opened in the presence of NEITI, DPR, BPP, Civil Society groups and the press. In some cases even, these events were televised live.”
    “For the sake of emphasis let me state clearly that both the Crude Term Contract and the Direct Sale and Direct Purchase agreements are not contracts for any procurement of goods, works or services, and therefore do not involve the use of public funds. Instead, they are simply a shortlisting of off-takers. And unlike what has been reported in the media so far, it is important to set the records straight that the list of approved off-takers does not carry any financial values but simply states the terms and conditions for the lifting and supply of petroleum products.”
    He also disclosed that the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Contract “is a contractor-financed contract which has not yet been finalized or awarded; it is still making its way to the Federal Executive Council, FEC.”
    He noted that there were also three presidential approvals given on Joint Venture financing arrangements, meaning loans to cater for cash call obligations. One of these was okayed by the President in 2015, and two by the then Acting President in 2017.
    Lastly, on the NPDC, he said there is no contract in the $3BN to $4BN range as reported in the media.
    “You can then see from the foregoing that the $25BN being bandied in the media does not exist. There is no $25BN missing,” Akande stated.
  • Akande: I’II build on Ajimobi’s achievement

    Akande: I’II build on Ajimobi’s achievement

    All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Oyo State Prof. Adeolu Akande spoke with BISI OLADELE in Ibadan, the state capital, on his ambition and the need for a government of continuity in the Pacesetter State.

    What is your mission in politics?

    My coming into partisan politics, and seeking the office of the governor of Oyo State is borne out of my experience. As an academic, I studied political science and I have been exposed intellectually to how government is organized around the world so that the government could satisfy the yearnings of the majority of the people. Secondly, I have worked at the federal and state levels, as Special Assistant in the Presidency and Chief of Staff to the governor of Oyo State, where I had practical experience of the potentials we have as a country and as a state. When I combine my intellectual experience with my practical experience, I have no doubt that these things have great potential that we could explore to make life much more meaningful. I am in politics because I believe I have been equipped with theoretical intellectual background and I have the practical experience to know all the challenges and the potentials that we have in Oyo State and I believe I will make a difference, if I have the opportunity of serving as governor.

    Do you think you can survive now that you really want to go into it as a major player?

    As a journalist I have had first-hand experience about the dirty side of politics, I reported politics all of my life as a journalist. So, I have firsthand experience of the downside of politics in Nigeria. And as an academic, I have done extensive research on politics and government in Nigeria, and I also have the experience and as somebody who had been in the government I have been directly involved in the formulation of policies and practical politics. So, I am aware that there are so many challenges in partisan politics in Nigeria. But my conviction is if everybody who feels he is clean runs away from politics, then you leave it for the so-called dirty people, and the consequences of bad leadership will affect you regardless of your comfort zone.  If everybody keeps saying politics is dirty, you don’t want to go in there, then you leave politics for people who are not equipped to make life better for the people. We grew up knowing the likes of Wole Soyinka, Tai Solarin, Dele Giwa. I have come to the conclusion that it is not sufficient to stand by the ring side and criticize, we need to step into the arena and make a difference if you could, and the only way you can make a difference is be part of politics, be part of those who determine who governs, if possible, offer yourself, work with people of like minds to form a government that can bring about the Nigeria or Oyo State of our vision or of our dream.

    What difference do you intend to bring to the table now that you want to become a major player?

    There are so many challenges we have in the society. If you look at Oyo State today, I am not sure there is any household you go that you don’t see young men who have been out of the university for three to four years and are unemployed. I believe that youth unemployment is the number one problem that we have to solve in Oyo State. The incumbent government has done well to address the problem of security. When this government came in 2011, security was a major problem. No one was sure that if they leave their home and before you get to anywhere in Ibadan they will get there in one piece. The incumbent government has successfully resolved that. The government has also done well in the area of infrastructure. Now we need to shift to how do we provide jobs for our teeming youths. We have the national statistics that about 40 per cent of our graduates are unemployed and it can’t be different in Oyo State, if it is not worse. So, we need to address that. What is the way out of this problem? That is an area I am passionate about. We need to look at our education system and bring in vocational training and skills acquisition so that we will equip our youths. Before they leave secondary school they have a vocation with which to earn a living. We need to increase the budgetary allocation to education. Today, the allocation to education is not enough to prepare our youths  for the challenges of the future. So, we need to address that. We need to ensure that our schools are well equipped with laboratories, they are well equipped with libraries, they are well equipped with computer work stations. The educationist says that the illiterates of the future are not those who cannot read and write but those who cannot use the computer. Yet, computer is not commonplace in our schools. So, we need to focus on all of these so that our youths, by the time they leave secondary schools, can earn a living, so that when they go to universities, regardless of the course they study they will be able to employ themselves and employ two or three other people. It is through education that you can provide manpower for small and medium scale enterprises. If you look at the economies that are doing well all over the world, 65 per cent of employment is provided by small and medium scale enterprises and the only way that can come about is through the development of manpower in the education system and in the informal sector. We have people who are bricklayers, who are tile layers, who are mechanics, who do not have appropriate training. Many of our mechanics trained with old technology, and now they cannot handle the new cars that are coming up. When people in Oyo State are building their houses they go to Ghana and Republic of Benin to bring in brick layers because they say the brick layers here are not good. As a society we have the duty to retrain them. You cannot simply say they are not good and then when you bring in people from Ghana or from Togo, from Republic of Benin to do these jobs, you are exporting the jobs that are meant for our youths. So if there is a social problem, that our brick layers are not good, rather than all of us going to Ghana or Republic of Benin, it is the duty of the government to design a retraining programme so that all these people can now develop the manpower, so that people can earn decent living. I want to make difference in all that. I also want to look at our health sector, I am bothered because we have a huge population but our hospitals are far behind in the use of technology. The infrastructure is not good enough, and we do not have enough manpower.

    Even Oyo State is grappling with scarcity of funds. What magic are you bringing to the system?

    The first thing you need to do is to expand the economy of Oyo State. You know we are operating with an annual budget of about N50 billion. If you look at the finance of Oyo in the last one year, what we got from federal allocation is between N2.5 billion and N3 billion  per month. If you add that up in a year, that gives you about N30 billion  or N36 billion at most. If you add Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) at 1.5 billion per month, you will get about N48 billion. We are operating a budget of about N50 billion for a population of about 8-9 million. It is really inadequate. We need to expand the local economy so that we create more opportunities. We need to expand the taxable revenue because the primary source of government revenue is tax. But in good conscience, there is little you can tax if the economy itself is not expanding and that’s why we keep saying the government has to provide a conducive environment for the private sector to thrive. The comparative advantage of Oyo State is in agriculture. There is vast arable land that we need to explore as a comparative advantage. Within agriculture our priorities, our advantages are cassava cultivation because we are the largest producer of cassava. In poultry, because we are the largest producer of poultry and in fishing with Ikere Dam which we are not yet exploiting. If we take cassava, Nigeria produces 54 million tons of cassava every year. Not up to 1 per cent of it is exported. What that means is that we are importing more indeed. If we look at cassava product, if you take ethanol alone, Nigeria imports 98 per cent of its ethanol consumption and that is at a value of N800 billion. So if you produce tonnes of cassava in Nigeria and Nigeria still imports cassava products in excess of N1 trillion every year then the logic of it is that multiply what you are producing, can you multiply it? Can you triple it? Can you produce it ten times fold because the market locally is huge and then the market internationally is yet unexplored. So if you do that, focusing on agriculture, we are going to quickly expand the economy of Oyo State. How do we expand agriculture? One, encourage large scale commercial farming. Two, bring young men into agriculture. The average age of farmers in Oyo State today is between 55 and 61. Yet you have a youthful population. It is difficult for old men to feed young men. It is easier for young men to feed old men.

  • Why Nigerians must patronise local goods, by Akande, Okonkwo, others

    Nigerians must patronise local goods to aid socio-economic growth.

    This was the consensus at the 18th Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture in Lagos.

    Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) president Chief Nike Akande; chairman of Erisco Foods, Chief Eric Umeofia, and Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Church (TREM), Dr Mike Okonkwo, agreed with other stakeholders that increased patronage of local goods will take the nation out of the woods.

    Okonkwo, who celebrated his 72nd birthday at the event, implored Nigerians not to lose faith in the nation but encourage local manufacturers by patronising them.

    This, he said, will encourage the manufacturers to do more and get more Nigerians gainfully employed.

    He acknowledged that the present administration is working hard to reposition the economy but said it is also important for Nigerians to do their part by taking advantage of the campaign for made in Nigeria goods.

    Speaking on the theme of the lecture, ‘Made-in-Nigeria products: The Vehicle for Sustainable Development’, Umeofia, who was the special guest of honour, urged the current administration to implement many of his laudable policies.

    He said implementation remained an albatross for the growth of local entrepreneurs.

    Umeofia lamented that the difficulties in accessing Forex by local manufacturers remained a stumbling block.

    He advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to change its approach on FX distribution as the present arrangement favours importers instead of local manufacturers.

    He also called on the government to develop infrastructure if it is actually serious about its diversification agenda.

    The guest lecturer, Akande, said the current administration’s efforts at developing local industry are actually yielding fruits but pointed out that there are still rooms for improvement.

    The former Minister of Industry said Nigerians must also set their priorities if they want the economy to develop.

    “When you buy made-in-Nigeria, you are promoting local economic growth which will attract new talents and professionals, who may, in turn, create businesses of their own, enhancing the domestic economy,” she stressed.

    She cited the cement industry pioneered by Dangote Cement as well as Innoson Plc already exporting made-in Nigeria products to neighbouring countries.

    According to her, there are other inclusive ways to achieve sustainable development without building the right economic foundation of patronising made-in-Nigeria goods and services.

    Miss Alexander Nwigwe of Vivian Fowler Memorial College, Lagos, was the overall best student of the 14th edition of Mike Okonkwo National Essay for Secondary Schools.

    She went home with N100, 000 while the school got two desktop computers.

    Miss Jesuduntan Mercy of Corona Secondary School, Lagos, was second.

    She got N75, 000 and a desktop computer, while Master Akingbade Gbenga of Emerald High School was third.

    He won N50, 000 and a desktop for his school.

    The 4th-10th position winners received a consolation cash of N20, 000 and a certificate of participation each.

  • Akande condoles with Obanikoro

    Akande condoles with Obanikoro

    Former National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Bisi Akande has commiserated with former Minister of State for Defence, Mr. Musiliu Obanikoro over the death of his mother.

    Chief Akande in his message said, “Her death at this time of Ramadan signifies peace with her creator,” he prayed to God to accept her soul and rest her in peace.

    The former minister’s mother, Madam Wasilat died last week. She was aged 95.

     

  • Akande links economic, political challenges to ‘obsolete constitution’

    Akande links economic, political challenges to ‘obsolete constitution’

    Former Interim National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Adebisi Akande has linked the socio-political and economic challenges bedevilling the country to its obsolete constitution.

    Speaking at the 2017 Distinguished Role Model Award of The Wings Schools, Iwo in honour of the late educationist and administrator, Ben Adisa Akinola, the former Osun State governor said Nigeria would have grown to its zenith, if not hampered by constitutional pitfalls.

    Akande, who was the chairman of the event, faulted the 1999 Constitution, which, he maintained, had created unwarranted challenges to the country and its federating components.

    He said: “There are many aspects in the constitution that are never workable to Nigerian socio-economic and political structures. There are anomalies, lapses and imbalance posing serious challenges to the nation’s constitution and the way it is can lead Nigeria back to greater poverty.

    “The constitution that can move Nigeria forward is the constitution that recognises the culture of the people in relation to their occupation.

    “The background of economic life of any community should be the type of its own culture. No nation practising federalism develops in a circumstance, where all or larger percentage of existing power is concentrated into a single hand.

    “For instance in Osun State today, one can’t drive five kilometres of roads leading to borders of Kwara, Ogun, Ondo and Ekiti states without potholes. The same applies to other states of the federation as many of them have been rendered subservient to the power that be at the centre.”

    According to him, until the constitution was “passionately and circumstantially” reviewed in consonance with the needs of various constituents, the nation would remain stagnant.

    Akande stressed the need for power to be properly distributed and devolved from the central to the federating units as being practised in other countries of the world.

    The APC chieftain said: “Nigeria Constitution (1999) serves as a platform for social economic inequality and now constitutes the major obstacle to peace among various generating country. Those who wrote the constitution did not realise that political denomination and subjugation breed revolt, community disharmony and national insecurity.

    “The bad constitution of 1999 has now begun to stimulate demand for ethnic self-determination and economic security, otherwise being called resource control or restructuring. Whatever name you call it, community disharmony is a burden on national security and it is dangerous for economic development and peace.

    “What we are saying, for instance, is that the constitution which (according to 1999 census ) gave Lagos State (with 5,725,153 population) 20 local governments,  also gave Kano State (with 5,810,494 population) 44 local governments. The same constitution, which gave Anambra (with 2, 796,510 population) 21 local governments, also gave Jigawa (with 2, 875,559 population) 27 local governments.

    “Such constitutional provisions seem capable of denying the federating components of Nigeria most importantly on their equal opportunity for accessing the national revenue allocations. Such agitations may not be healthy for community harmony, national security to influence the change for the better.”

    On the late Akinola, Akande urged the people of Iwo and other Nigerians to emulate the good deeds of the man.

    The guest speakers, Prof. Olasupo Akano and Prof. Lai Olurode, former Dean, Faculty of School Sciences, University of Lagos, described the late Akinola as a patriotic son of Iwo, “who during his life time strived towards the development of our town”.

    Secretary to the Osun State Government Alhaji Moshood Adeoti said the legacy the late Akinola left behind in the education sector would not be forgotten.

  • Amend constitution to guarantee council autonomy, says Akande

    Amend constitution to guarantee council autonomy, says Akande

    Local government councils will be accountable to their people, if they are elected. Caretaker committees are only accountable to their appointing authorities.

    A former Chief of Staff to Oyo State governor and Visiting Professor of Political Science at Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State,  Adeolu Akande,  has advocated local government autonomy as the panacea to the problem of local government administration in the country.

    Akande, who was a guest on a television programme monitored in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital at the weekend, said the local government system has failed to achieve the objective of grassroots development because of three factors.

    He listed these as lack of autonomy, direct financial allocation from the federation account and the failure to elect local government councils, explaining that the three factors boiled down to the issue of local government autonomy.

    “Local government councils will be accountable to their people, if they are elected. Caretaker committees are only accountable to their appointing authorities,” he said, explaining that it is when a government is accountable to the people that it is motivated to perform to the expectation of the people.

    He said the failure to make direct financial allocation to local government councils also inhibit local government performance.”The Joint State-Local government account system denies local councils the opportunity to determine projects that are relevant to their people. The situation where state governments award uniform projects for all local government areas is a negation of the principle of grassroots development that undergirds the creation of local councils as third tier of government,” he said.

    He suggested that the Joint State-Local Government account should be abolished while administrative guidelines are stipulated for the payment of teachers and other workers’ salaries as first line charge on local government accounts.

    Akande said the constitution should be amended to allow the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or a new national electoral body comprising representatives of states and political parties to conduct local government elections.

    He said the current system where ruling parties at the state level win all local government  elections that they conduct does not promote democracy, good governance and competent leadership at the local government level.”It is indefensible that no ruling party in any of the 36 states has ever lost a local government election in their state. This clearly makes a mockery of our democracy and there is need for an urgent review of this electoral embarrassment”, he submitted.

    Akande, who is also the Director of the Centre for Presidential Studies at Igbinedion University, said the conduct of local government  election by state governments had denied the third tier of government the opportunity to recruit competent and accountable leadership at that level. “The caretaker system has denied the people the opportunity of electing leaders of their choice at the local level. This is against the provisions and spirit of the 1999 Constitution,” he said, arguing that the conception of local government as a training ground for leadership at higher levels of government is lost because democratic tenets of governance are not allowed to blossom at the local government level.

    Speaking on the situation in Oyo State, Prof. Akande explained that the autonomy of local government could have been ensured, if local council elections had been held. He claimed that the governor had triggered the process of election twice but the process was truncated by court processes. “The governor triggered the process in 2011 but a court case instituted by the members of the state electoral Panel constituted by Governor Ladoja but dismissed by Governor Alao Akala resulted in a court injunction against the new Commission  constituted  by Governor Ajimobi.

    “The governor triggered the process for council elections again in 2016, but some parties aggrieved with provisions of the Local Council Development Authorities (LCDA’s) got a court injunction against the conduct of the election. He expressed the confidence that the resolution of the court case would restore local government autonomy in Oyo State.

  • Buhari’s health: Akande warns against confusion

    Buhari’s health: Akande warns against confusion

    Falana, others advise President to go on leave

    AFTER a short break, the President’s health returned to the front burner yesterday.
    All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Bisi Akande urged Nigerians to seek divine healing for President Muhammadu Buhari and warned power mongers of the danger of playing politics with the number one citizen’s health.
    According to him, the President has to be in a good shape to steer the ship of the nation.
    Chief Akande’s call came on a day some activists advised the President to proceed on medical vacation.
    The first APC acting chairman believes Buhari’s zeal and patriotism must have affected his health, which he said has direct impact on the health of the nation.
    In the statement, the APC chieftain noted that the President is surrounded by “mostly unpatriotic and greedy ruling class”.
    He also flayed the gulf between the Presidency and the National Assembly.
    The former Osun State governor warned those who plan to feast on the President’s health status for their selfish political gains, reminding them of the consequences of such behaviour.
    The statement reads: “The health of the leader is intricately intertwined with the health of the nation. It is more so in a delicately fragile Union of Nations called Nigeria. I did not see President Buhari at the wedding of his grand son in Kaduna last Saturday. I was sad and I wept.
    “When last we met at the wedding of his daughter in Abuja last December, I complained to him that I was not happy about his stressful looks. His reply connoted some allusions to circumstances where an honest man fighting corruption is surrounded mostly by unpatriotic greedy ruling class.
    “He felt painfully frustrated. He assured me he would soon be going on vacation. I then knew that corruption has effectively been fighting back. And I prayed for Nigeria.
    “That was why Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and I rushed to meet him in London in February
    this year when he was sick and could not return as scheduled from his vacation. The rest is history but we must appreciate that his poor health is already taking a toll on the health of Nigeria as a polity.
    “There are two challenges facing the country today. The first and most critical is the health of the President which, unfortunately, is a development beyond his control and for which we did not prepare. The second is the disorder and lack of cohesion between the National Assembly and the Presidency.
    “These are two great red flag dangers that have the potential of plunging the country into unprecedented chaos and of destabilising the gains of democracy since 1999.
    “The greatest danger however is for political interests at the corridor of power attempting to feast on the health of Mr President in a dangerous manner that may aggravate the problems between the Executive and the National Assembly without realising if, in the end, it could drag the entire country into avoidable doom.
    “As delicately fragile the Union of Nations making up Nigeria, so delicately fragile the democracy and the rule of laws governing the polity of the Union called Nigerian Federation. Certain Nigerian leaders, having been blind-folded by corruption, assume the possibility of using money in manipulating the national security agencies to intimidate, suppress and hold down certain ethnic nationalities or playing one ethnic nationality against the other with a view to undermining the constitution and perversely upturning the rule of law.
    “To avoid the ugly consequences of letting President Buhari’s ailments throw Nigeria into confusion, I am urging all Nigerians to begin to pray for his divine healing and perfect recovery.
    “Let me warn today that those who wish to harvest political gains out of the health of the President are mistaken. This is not Nigeria of 1993. We are in a new national and global era of constitutionalism and order. We hope Nigerians have enough patience to learn from history.
    “My greatest fear, however, is that the country should not be allowed to slide into anarchy and disorder of a monumental proportion.”
    Also yesterday, some eminent Nigerians urged the President to heed his personal physicians, advice and proceed on medical leave.
    Their advice was contained in a statement jointly issued yesterday entitled: “President Buhari should take medical leave immediately”.
    The signatories are: Femi Falana (SAN); Senior Fellow Centre for Democracy and Development, Abuja, Prof Jibrin Ibrahim; Executive Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), Mr. Debo Adeniran; Senior lecturer/Researcher, Centre for Peace and Security Studies, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa State, Dr. Chris Kwaja; Executive Director at Centre for Information Technology and Developmen(CITAD), Dr. Y. Z. Ya’u; and Country Director, Search for Common Ground, Mr Chom Bagu.
    The list includes: Chairman, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), Mr Olanrewaju Suraju; Chairman, Partners for Electoral Reform(PER), Ezenwa Nwagwu; Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Mr Anwal Musa Rafsanjani ; Executive Director of African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Rev. David Ugolor; a Senior Communication Officer (Policy) in the Operations Communication Department, External and Corporate Relations, Vice-Presidency of the World Bank Group, Dr. Sina Odugbemi; National Coordinator, Procurement Observation and Advocacy Initiative (PRADIN), Mr. Muhammed Attah, and Executive Secrectary, Socio Economic Rights Project (SERAP), Mr Adetokunbo Mumuni .
    Their advice was given against the background of Buhari’s absence at the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting last Wednesday and other state functions, in particular, a statement credited to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu in which he stated that “the President’s doctors have advised on his taking things slowly, as he fully recovers from the long period of treatment in the United Kingdom some weeks ago.
    The statement reads: “When President Mohammadu Buhari was recently in the United Kingdom on a medical vacation, which lasted 59 days, many public officers said that he was hale and hearty. But upon his return to the country, President Buhari disclosed that he had never been that sick in his entire life.
    “Even though the President did not disclose the nature of his ailment, he revealed that he went through blood transfusion. While thanking the Nigerian people for their prayers, the President announced that he might soon travel back for further medical treatment.
    “A few weeks ago, the Governor of Kaduna State, Mr. Nasir El-Rufai, urged Nigerians to give President Buhari time to recover from his sickness. The plea was made after the governor had visited and presumably assessed the state of the President’s health at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
    “However, due to the apparent deterioration in the President’s health condition, he has neither been seen in public in the last one week nor attended the last two meetings of the FEC. His absence at the last Jumat service in the villa has fuelled further speculations and rumours on President Buhari’s medical condition.
    “But instead of embarking on regular briefing on the actual state of the health of President Buhari, officials of the Federal Government have continued to assure the Nigerian people that there is no need for apprehension over the matter.
    “In defending the absence of the President at the last FEC meeting and other state functions, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu, stated that ‘the President’s doctors have advised on his taking things slowly, as he fully recovers from the long period of treatment in the United Kingdom some weeks ago’.
    “As we join the Nigerian people of goodwill to pray for a speedy recovery of President Buhari, we are compelled to advise him to heed the advice of his personal physicians by taking a rest to attend to his health without any further delay”.

  • Tinubu, Akande’s visit: The power in pictures

    Tinubu, Akande’s visit: The power in pictures

    With the release of the photographs taken last Thursday when the All Progressives Congress national chieftains, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande, visited President Muhammadu Buhari in London, two things are now clearer about the president’s present health situation.

    The first is the president is not dead as speculated and promoted in some quarters. President Buhari may be ailing but he is not dead. The other is the president is in a residence in London, where his health is perhaps being attended to, not confined to a bed in a hospital as some would want to have us believe. President Buhari received Asiwaju Tinubu and Baba Akande in the Federal Government’s official residence in London, called Abuja House. Not in a hospital. Information Minister Lai Mohammed had told the nation the president is not nursing a life-threatening ailment and not in a hospital. Despite all the verbal attacks on his person for mounting a bulwark for Aso Rock, it seems the minister knows more than we thought he knew after all.

    The shots were taken as Tinubu and Akande were received by Buhari in the living room, when they launched into a discussion with the president and when, as a mark of respect, he saw his guests off to the door. It is puzzling, therefore, that even after the release of the photographs, some have continued to live in disbelief and denial. The rumour mill has been agog with all kinds of speculations and innuendoes and conspiracy theories. I don’t need to dignify them by recounting all that here.

    But real pictures don’t lie. It is dismaying, however, that some still doubt or disbelieve what they see in pictures? Why do some still live in denial, even after being confronted with live pictures?  Let me hazard two guesses for this. One, having experienced something like this before, perhaps some Nigerians now, understandably, get skeptical when it comes to issues relating to their president’s health. Remember the case of late President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua. The information about the real health status of President Yar’ Adua was hidden for so long. Nigerians were kept in the dark until it engendered a big crisis.

    Two, you may say the way and manner the presidency has handled the present situation has not helped matters by not saying it all and you may be right. This may birth suspicions and engender speculations. But President Buhari told the nation he would use the opportunity of his vacation to undergo a check-up. Some other people will, however, choose to believe what they want even when confronted with facts.

    Like every other mortal, the president may fall sick at some point or another.

    For the life of me, is it out of place to expect a 74-year-old to have some health challenges? So what’s the big deal about the president falling ill?

    I’m not saying here that the president is at present enjoying the best of health. But why do we continue to distrust information around our leaders, particularly when they concern their health, even when we are presented with pictorial evidence to suggest that the situation may not be as bad as some would want us to believe?

    Now, back to the photographs in question, the persuasive force is not only in the pictures themselves, it is also in the people in the pictures. I mean the efficacy of the message is not borne by just the pictures. It is strengthened, in my view, by those captured by the camera, the political enigmas therein. This point becomes more salient when you recall that some others had visited Buhari before and the pictures rolled out with little effect. Within seconds of the release of Thursday’s pictures, they had become national and international headlines. They went wild on online platforms and social media. The major newspapers in Nigeria slammed them on their front pages the next day.

    Indeed, I cannot agree more with Amit Kalantri, who posited in his book “Wealth of Words,” that “a photograph should not just be a picture; it should be a philosophy”. What is the spirit behind the visit to Buhari and the pictures taken? In my view, it is to send a message to the whole world that though President Buhari may be ailing, his is not a bad case. Those photographs are not just pictures, they have meanings; they convey messages of truth, messages of hope. But I also know that, as pictures, they will conjure memories in the future. They will conjure memories of this period in our national history.

    • Rahman is Special Adviser, Media to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
  • Photo: Tinubu, Akande visit Buhari

    Photo: Tinubu, Akande visit Buhari

    Tinubu, Akande with Buhari in London
    Tinubu, Akande with Buhari in London