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Tag: Bayo Onanuga

  • RE: “MISERY, HARSH POLICIES DRIVING NIGERIANS TO DESPERATE CHOICES” – OPEN LETTER TO THE GUARDIAN

    RE: “MISERY, HARSH POLICIES DRIVING NIGERIANS TO DESPERATE CHOICES” – OPEN LETTER TO THE GUARDIAN

    By Bayo Onanuga 

    The Guardian newspaper’s lead story of Friday, October 25, 2024 with the title: “Calls for military intervention: misery, harsh policies driving Nigerians to desperate choices,” openly incites unrest against President Bola Tinubu’s administration and advocates regime change under the guise of journalism. The inflammatory headline and content deviate from responsible reporting.

    The Guardian’s agenda is unmistakable from the cover illustration to the article. In attempting to create a balanced veneer, the author condemns military rule while fanning the flames of military intervention. 

    This is evident in the introduction to the article where the newspaper wrote: “Nigerians were exhilarated with the return of democracy in 1999, but 25 years on, the buccaneering nature of politicians, their penchant for poor service delivery, morbid hatred for probity, accountability, and credible/transparent elections, among others, are forcing some flustered citizens to make extreme choices, including calling for military intervention in governance. .. Deep despondency permeates every facet of the polity consequent upon soaring cost of living. And while the political elite splurge on fine wines and exotic automobiles amid poor service delivery, calls for regime change could become more strident in the days ahead even though military insurrection holds no solution to the country’s woes.”

    We must question how The Guardian can present an argument for military intervention while superficially denouncing it unless it harbours a deliberate agenda. 

    This latest editorial reflects a troubling trend in which the publication has persistently propagated inflammatory and negative narratives, stepping dangerously close to undermining the very fabric of responsible journalism.

    Moreover, the lead story relies heavily upon emotive language and imagery—such as an illustration of military armoured tank—to bolster its argument while neglecting to present a balanced view. 

    It indulges in lampooning the current administration while ignoring positive developments in Nigeria’s economic landscape. The report lacks empirical data and fails to exhibit the journalistic rigour that the situation demands. 

    It appears lost on The Guardian that such narratives could embolden anarchists intent on disrupting our democratic process.

    Military rule is an anachronism in modern civilisations, irrespective of its framing, due to the oppressive nature typically associated with its practice. Guided by its experience in 1984, when two of its journalists were jailed by the military regime for reporting the truth,  The Guardian acknowledges that military rule is terrible. 

    Yet, it attempts to provoke public ire against President Tinubu by suggesting he governs with less regard for citizens than military dictators once did. 

    This narrative neglects the hard-fought battle that birthed our democracy and serves only to undermine the hard-won freedoms that Nigerians now enjoy.

    Good journalism is characterised by restraint and a commitment to national interest. Media outlets must propagate responsible reporting that contributes to an informed citizenry. 

    During times of political and economic crises, the media, as a force for good, should rally the public around their leaders, fostering unity and patience as reforms are introduced. 

    President Tinubu has consistently called for understanding and patience amid our nation’s challenges. This plea is not a sign of weakness but an affirmation of his dedication to a brighter future for Nigeria.

    Moreover, recent policy changes have initiated a turnaround, yielding positive economic indicators. 

    According to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, the revenue-to-debt service ratio has notably declined from 97% in 2023 to 68% in 2024. 

    Nigeria’s foreign reserves rose to $39.1 billion on October 22, with GDP growth achieving 2.98% in Q1 2024—an increase from 2.31% in Q1 2023. 

    This growth was driven by sectors beyond oil, including the financial services sector, mining, and quarrying, marking a significant shift in our economic structure. 

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    We are now exporting more than we are importing, with trade surpluses recorded in two consecutive quarters.

    In the light of the positive developments, it is unacceptable for any publication, including The Guardian, to incite calls for military intervention based on transient difficulties. 

    A more cautious and responsible approach would have better served its readers and the nation. 

    Journalism—like our democracy—thrives on fairness and objectivity, and all media outlets must uphold these standards.

    We encourage The Guardian and similar platforms to prioritise balanced reporting that fosters dialogue and understanding rather than division and unrest.

    At this time, we need our people and the media to rally around the government as the Tinubu-led administration steers our country through this challenging period to a better future. 

    Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President (Information and Strategy) 

  • In defence of Bayo Onanuga

    In defence of Bayo Onanuga

    Bayo Onanuga, the much maligned president’s spokesman, is a Nigerian patriot. He secured his place in Nigerian history with his 1992 heroic deployment of journalism as a weapon of warfare against military dictatorship.  He was to later fight side by side with NADECO and other Nigerians, to secure the freedom that children of anger and social media terrorists who go by the name ‘Obidients’, a euphemism for unquestioning  mob, today take for granted.  Of course those who hobnobbed with the military for a port of porridge or organize ‘one million march for Abacha’ in Abuja, singing ‘Abacha today, Abacha tomorrow Abacha forever” cannot appreciate the value of freedom they never fought for.

    Speaking for government can sometimes be a nightmare especially when rising expectations of the governed are not being met or during social dislocations.  However the   ongoing smear campaign against the person of Bayo Onanuga is for daring to accuse  Peter Obi, a serial cross-carpet politician  and  Pat Utomi, a serial seducer (with his insightful diagnoses of Nigerian political economy) of successive Nigerian leaders, of sponsoring faceless groups planning to overthrow Tinubu’s one year old administration.

     Both have not only denied Onanuga’s accusation; they have also threatened to sue him for an amount ranging between N5b and N500b. “I am not afraid of any legal action” Onanuga has declared, promising to meet his political foes in court.

    Onanuga, contrary to his attackers has not asked hungry and angry Nigerians at the receiving end of President Bola Tinubu’s harsh economic policies not to complain or protest peacefully. He has only said the position of President Tinubu as an elected sovereign for four years cannot be threatened by sore losers. And within those four years, he could even breach the constitution as long as his action is aimed at protecting and safeguarding the interest of Nigerians who may not know what is in their best interest. And if he survives impeachment threat from the National Assembly, sore losers will have to wait for four years. Therefore any attempt to remove him before 2007 by force is treason.

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    And Onanuga advanced reasons he believed   Obi and Utomi should be questioned by security forces over their alleged plot to unseat President Bola Tinubu under the guise of protests.

    Those he described as malcontents planning to stage nationwide protests, according to him are supporters of Peter Obi. The Obidients; who long after the election have continued to behave like an unthinking mob “are the people spreading the hashtags ‘EndBadGovernance’, ‘Tinubu Must Go’, and ‘Revolution2024’.

    Attacks on Tinubu have continued with Aisha Yusuf describing his government as ‘illegitimate’ during a Channels TV programme only last Saturday. That Obi has not denounced the activities of his reckless mob is an admission that he sanctions their assault on his political opponents including the Nigeria president. I think Wole Soyinka who also came under vicious attack of ‘children of anger’ spoke of Obi’s failure to rein in his unthinking mob.

    But in a bizarre development, even amidst ‘Obidients’ mob vicious attack on Onanuga, Ohaneze has gone ahead to label his action against two Igbo prominent sons as ‘Igbophobia’

    It is also on record that Onanuga also came under severe criticism for the nature of his advice to Igbo after the 2023 Lagos governorship election. “Let 2023 be the last time Igbo interference in Lagos politics. Let there be no repeat in 2007; Lagos is like Anambra, Imo. Any Nigerian state. It is NOT NO MAN’S LAND, not federal Capital Territory. It is Yoruba land. Mind your business.”

    This was interpreted by Igbo elite as Igbophobia without critical analysis of the circumstance that led to Onanuga’s outburst.

    Onanuga, like many informed Nigerians understands Igbo political elite have always used their people as instruments of political bargaining. Unlike the Yoruba who Awo said would not vote for you because you are Yoruba if you don’t have policies that would impact positively on his life, ethnic sentiments define Igbo politics. In the 50s and early 60s, NCNC and its Igbo candidates were recording as high as 80% returns in most elections held in the East. But it is also instructive that Zik was recording victories in Lagos and in other Yoruba urban centres at the expense of Yoruba candidates. The only exception was the 1951/52 regional election which he lost because his Igbo supporters insisted he must become the Premier of the West instead of nominating a prominent Yoruba NCNC member such as TOS Benson or Olu Akinfosile as premier of the West.

    Not much has changed. In the 2023 election, while Peter Obi recorded between 85% and 95% in all the five eastern states, Tinubu scored just over 50% in only three of the six states of the old Western Region. He lost Lagos, Osun and Edo.

    With the defeat of Tinubu by Peter Obi in Lagos through exploitation of religion and ethnic sentiments, Igbo urban immigrants could not contain themselves. They were haunted by the usual Igbo affliction-empty boasting, the type that led to mass killing of Igbo in northern cities in 1966 following their insensitive celebration of Ahmadu Bello’s assassination.

    Trending videos of meeting held in one of the Igbo states in faraway east, presided over by a senator with participants boasting of their strategy of taking over Lagos soon emerged.  This was followed by trending video of Igbo rallies in Ikeja with empty boasting about ‘building and feeding Lagos’,  a wild claim they said justified their demand that Lagos State’s future governors must come from Delta and Anambra.

    Lagosians became apprehensive. Yoruba in and outside Lagos panicked. Of the 50 major companies contributing about N54billion to Lagos’ Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), 39 are documented as being owned by Yoruba while five are owned by Igbo just as 70% of residential houses in Lagos are owned by Yoruba with the rest shared between Igbo and other Nigerian tribes.

    Besides, Lagos is not just a Yoruba star state and the fifth economy in Africa, but in terms of ‘competitive federalism’, it is the first state of choice for Nigerians. This was just as the five Igbo states whose Lagos immigrants claim to build Lagos continues to increasingly look like a war-ravaged area where IPOB, the de facto government in all the five Igbo states routinely declare holidays and visit violence on security personnel and its innocent citizens. Just last Monday, three policemen and a POS operator were reportedly killed by gun men. Successful Igbo business men and politicians, for fear of insecurity, hardly visit home except those with armoured vehicles.

    With the above picture, the Yoruba resolved to save their star state. There was heavy mobilization for the governorship election to prevent Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivor, deficit in corporate experience, in spoken Yoruba, and regarded as Peter Obi’s choice just because the mother is of Igbo extraction, from turning Lagos into a waste land. 

    As a result of the tension that attended the conduct of the election, some Igbo voters were reportedly disfranchised by Yoruba thugs in Lekki area of Lagos. This was not in the character of Yoruba whose culture the colonial masters had described as ‘social’ at a period others were being described as “anti-social’ or naked warriors of the forest’.

    Agonised by this development, Onanuga advised Igbo to stay clear of Lagos politics. Although Onanuga spoke as a patriot, he was labelled an Igbo enemy by Igbo political elite. He was slandered and his name sent to the UN as one of those destabilizing Nigeria.

    Except for those who always want to play the victim game, I could not see Igbophobia in Onanuga’s warning to Igbos not to impose their values on Yoruba or his current face-off with two Igbo prominent sons who in any case have opted to seek redress in court.

    The problem, I think is that we sometimes forget we run a federal system which is designed to protect the rights of groups and individuals besides the UN charter which also protects the rights and privileges of indigenous people anywhere in the world.

  • Let the third tier breathe: Implications of the Supreme Court verdict By Bayo Onanuga

    Let the third tier breathe: Implications of the Supreme Court verdict By Bayo Onanuga

    The Supreme Court judgement on July 11, granting financial autonomy to the 774 local councils and recognising them as the third tier of Nigeria’s governance architecture, was truly historic. 

    It was perhaps the most remarkable judgement ever delivered by the apex court in recent times, as it used its power to interpret the law to give a different meaning to Section 162 of the Constitution. 

    Since 1999, governors have used this section to withhold and tamper with the funds federally allocated to the councils, using a joint account that has proven to be a honeypot of abuse. 

    Last Thursday, the Supreme Court described the payment of the allocations to the account as gross misconduct and scolded the governors for dissolving democratically elected councils and setting up caretaker committees. 

    The court ruled that caretaker committees are illegal and that councils run by them should not receive the federal allocation. 

    Henceforth, the court ruled that the allocations should go directly to the accounts of the 774 local councils. 

    Justice Emmanuel Agim, who read the lead judgment, said Nigeria runs a three-tier governance structure, where no one tier is subject to the whims and caprices of the other. He criticised the governors and the state assemblies for almost allowing the councils to go into extinction with their treatment of them. 

    The judgment was generally well received by Nigerians. 

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    According to reports, the verdict ignited jubilation by workers in some local councils as they sang the praises of the Tinubu administration. 

    However, some Nigerians have criticised it as an ‘assault’ on Nigeria’s Federalism as it has rewritten Section 162. My simple response to this school of thought is: Must we allow the law to stand still while the local councils die? The Supreme Court also said as much: Since the governors were using the section to perpetuate unconstitutional acts, the court must ensure that the constitution is not applied in a manner that supports its destruction. 

    In acknowledging the verdict’s import, former vice-president Atiku Abubakar described it as a win for the people. In a post on X, Atiku wrote: “The court’s ruling is a step in the right direction and a major corrective action in greasing the wheels of national development across the country… The court’s verdict is in tandem with the core functions of the Supreme Court as an arbitration court between and among governments.” 

    President Bola Tinubu, whose government instituted the case, welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision, affirming the spirit, intent, and purpose of the Constitution regarding the statutory rights of local governments. 

    “My administration instituted this suit because of our unwavering belief that our people must have relief, and today’s judgement will ensure that only those local officials elected by the people will control the resources of the people. 

    This judgement is a resounding affirmation that we can use legitimate means of redress to restructure our country and economy to make Nigeria a better place to live in and a fairer society for all of our people.”  

    President Tinubu noted that the provision of some essential amenities and public goods, such as the construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lighting, drains, parks, gardens, open spaces, and other residual responsibilities, including community security, has been abandoned owing to the emasculation of local governments. 

    He said the court’s decision to grant financial autonomy to the councils and restate other constitutional principles reinforced the effort to enhance Nigeria’s true federal fabric for the development of the entire nation. 

    President Tinubu and his administration deserved the praise. President Tinubu has earned double appreciation as a defender of the local councils. As governor of Lagos, he sought the intervention of the same Supreme Court to establish the right of states to create councils in compliance with the provisions of the constitution. In a reverse role, as president, he has succeeded in seeking another intervention of the apex court to establish the right of the councils to survive and perform the role envisaged by the constitution. 

    Former President Muhammadu Buhari had sought to rescue the councils from the governors’ vice grip by using Executive Order 10, which he signed on May 22, 2020, to direct funds straight to the councils, the state legislature, and the judiciary. 

    But the governors challenged his authority in a case filed at the Supreme Court. In a split judgment in 2022, the Supreme Court said President Buhari overreached his powers. 

    In his lamentation, while signing the executive order, President Buhari said:  “If the money from the Federation Account to the state is about N100 million, N50 million will be sent to the chairman (of local government), but he (the chairman) will sign that he received N100 million. 

    The governor will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wants to share it with. Then, the chairman of the local government must pay salaries. Go to hell with development. When he pays salaries, he will put the balance in his pocket. This is what’s happening in Nigeria.” 

    President Tinubu, his successor, sought to combat the problem constitutionally by suing the governors. 

    The Attorney General and Justice Minister, Lateef Fagbemi, approached the Supreme Court in May, seeking to compel the governors of the 36 federating states to grant full autonomy to local governments in their domains in a suit marked SC/CV/343/2024. 

    The suit, anchored on 27 grounds, accused the state governors of gross misconduct and abuse of power. He prayed that the Supreme Court would make an order stating that funds standing to the credit of local governments from the Federation Account should be paid directly to the local governments rather than through the state governments. 

    The justice minister also requested an order restraining governors, their agents, and privies from receiving, spending, or tampering with funds released from the Federation Account for the benefit of local governments when no democratically elected local government system is in place in the states. 

    The court granted his prayers in the landmark ruling of July 11. 

    President Tinubu has always been concerned about the lack of governance at the grassroots. He believes that without fixing the problems at the councils, the objective of developing the country and spreading prosperity to the 200 million people will never be achieved. 

    After all, the councils where the 200 million people live have been financially handicapped by the governors. He made the point clearly when he met in Abuja with the leaders of the Arewa Consultative Forum on May 30, about the same period when the Justice Minister approached the Supreme Court for the correct interpretation of Section 162.   

    President Tinubu, responding to the ACF’s demands for more roles by the Federal Government, urged the leaders to summon the governors. He said Nigeria, as a constitutional democracy, has not allowed the councils where we all live to flourish, citing the absurdity of politicians going to the locals for votes only to abandon them and leave for the capitals and Abuja after winning their votes. 

    As Nigerians celebrate the historic judgment, it is clear that some work still needs to be done to bring life back to the councils. One issue being raised is how to ensure that the council elections are truly competitive and not predetermined by the governors and the state independent electoral commissions. To solve this, some Nigerians have urged the National Assembly to pass a law that will require only the central Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct council elections. 

    The other problematic issue is the fear that governors will not allow the Supreme Court ruling to affect their domains, as they can always order the councils to send the money received from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee back to the state coffers. Again, a solution to this possible abuse has been proffered. 

    The EFCC, ICPC, and NFIU should prevent this by monitoring the councils’ accounts. While the governors enjoy immunity to cover their actions, the council chairmen and councillors do not have such cover as they can be arrested, tried, and jailed. The threat of arrest and prosecution can deter local political actors from collaborating with the governors. 

    In conclusion, while Nigerians await the full implementation of the Supreme Court verdict, one needs to appeal to the powerful governors to allow the councils to breathe. It is in the interest of the states to allow the blossoming of the third tier of government as it was before 1999. 

    Here are some of the benefits that the states should not let slip away: 

    First, local governments will now have more control over their finances, which could lead to improved service delivery and governance at the grassroots level. 

    Second, with greater financial autonomy, local governments can provide better services to their constituents, such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure development. This will reduce the pressure on the state government from the people expecting such minimal provisions. 

    Third, the judgment could lead to greater accountability and transparency in local government administration. 

    As President Tinubu remarked after the landmark ruling, “The onus is now on local council leaders to ensure that the broad spectrum of Nigerians living at that level are satisfied that they are benefiting from people-oriented service delivery. 

    “The Renewed Hope Agenda is about the people of this country, at all levels, irrespective of faith, tribe, gender, political affiliation, or any other artificial line they say exists between us. This country belongs to all of us. By this judgment, our people, especially the poor, can hold their local leaders accountable for their actions and inactions. What is sent to local government accounts will be known, and services must now be provided without excuses.”.

    -Onanuga is Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Tinubu

  • Nigeria, very poor country with over-estimated wealth, says Onanuga

    Nigeria, very poor country with over-estimated wealth, says Onanuga

    Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga has classified Nigeria as a very poor nation with an over-estimated wealth. 

    Onanuga stated this during an interview yesterday with a national television station on the state of- the economy and the efforts by the Bola Tinubu administration to stabilise the nation.   

    “Nigeria is a very, very poor country, to be honest. I think our wealth is overestimated. I think we have a poor estimation of the wealth of the country, we are a very poor country,” he said.

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    Onanuga stated that   with the removal of the petrol subsidy  and the unification of the exchange rate, the Tinubu-led government  “is hoping that the pressure on our finances will reduce..”

    The Presidential spokesman also debunked claims that the government still owed federal workers salaries.

     He attributed the initial delay in paying them to a  challenge caused by the platform used by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation(AGF) for salary payments.

     “The office of the AGF(Auditor-General of the Federation)  has said there is a challenge with the platform being used to disburse the salaries.  According to a briefing I got this (yesterday) morning,   salaries were delayed, but all federal workers have been paid,” Onanuga stated.

  • Lessons of 2019 elections

    The recent general elections underscored a collective progression to political stability and democratic consolidation. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the importance of the exercise and implications for the polity.

    Public consciousness is growing. The electorate is waxing stronger in their capacity for wise choices during elections. Many observers contend that future polls may get better since blind voting may continue to give way.

    The recent general elections were an eye-opener. The presidential election lacked a predictive value in some states. While voters endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari in some states, they turned their back on the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors.

    The candidates were on the weighing scale on poll day. Many of them lost at their polling booths, units,wards and local governments.

    A veteran journalist, Bayo Onanuga, pointed out that the power of social media was over-exergerated during the electioneering. Those who dominated the social media campaigns got fewer votes.

    Also, the endorsement of candidates by ethnic organisations paled into futility. Many big wigs fell as they were rejected by local voters during the parliamentary and governorship elections.

    The poll revealed that President Buhari’s strength lay in the power and influence of local voters from his native North.

    For the first time in Nigeria’s electioneering history, 73 individuals vied for the country’s presidency. For the first time also, Nigerians had to vote not with their thumbs but with any finger; to prevent “ink spilling into the box meant for another party”, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    At the end of the day, just one winner was expected – even if the contest went into a run-off.

    On Wednesday, February 27, Chairman of INEC, Prof Yakubu Mahmood, declared President and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari, winner of the election, having fulfilled the legal requirement of winning not only the highest number of votes (15,191,847), but also at least 25 per cent of the votes in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states. Indeed, he scaled this hurdle in 34 states. The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Nigeria’s Vice President from 1999 to 2007, Atiku Abubakar, came second with 11,262,978 votes.

    Atiku has vowed to legally challenge the results because of alleged irregularities; even as local and international observers have affirmed the overall credibility of the elections despite pockets of violence in a few states and, in the words of the European Union Elections Observation Mission (EU EOM), some “operational shortcomings”.

    Without any iota of doubt, this is his right. There is, however, a growing consensus that he should rather concede defeat, for the common good.

    What Nigeria needs now is an intensification of its economic diversification, scaling of its infrastructural drive and fortification of its territories against insurgency.

    Even as several Western media may have concluded that President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election is as a result of his honesty, integrity, there are evidences that Nigerians believe that there is need for at least four more years for the administration to finish the projects being undertaken across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. As experience has shown, a new government often means abandonment of projects. To the credit of the Buhari Administration, it has been completing many projects abandoned for many years by previous successive governments. And, even so, with much less resources.

    Prior to the elections, while urging Nigerians to make a “sensible choice” of retaining President Buhari, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola, had said: “Fundamentals of the economy are heading in the right direction. What we need to do is to consolidate on that.”

    Indeed, according to the latest report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), issued a few days to the presidential election, before it was postponed for a week, many of the economic indices showed positive performances. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at about 2.38 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018. The growth in real terms (year-on-year) rose from about 1.81 per cent in the previous quarter of the year. Good performance, though, economists warned that more needed to be done to stem unemployment. One good reason why there must be consolidation.

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    In sectors such as agriculture, which recorded annual GDP growth of about 14.27 per cent, higher than 11.29 per cent recorded in 2017.

    The sector contributed about 23.08 per cent to nominal GDP in Q4 of 2018, as against 21.93 per cent in the corresponding period in 2017.

    Nigeria’s drive to be self-sufficient in the production of rice is being relentlessly pursued. Indeed, according to the Africa Rice Center, Africa’s foremost research organisation on rice, with its production of 4 million tonnes a year, Nigeria now ranks the highest producer of rice in Africa.

    Manufacturing recorded 10.11 per cent in the last quarter of 2018, as against 8.53 in the corresponding period in 2017 and third quarter performance of 2018.

    Manufacturing PMI, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which had, for many months, recorded expansions rose, to an all-time high of 61.10 in December 2018, although it fell to 57.1 in February 2019.

    In his 2019 State of the Union address President of the United States of America, Mr Donald Trump admonished opposing parties to  rejection “the politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution” and embrace “the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good.”

    For all contestants to various elective offices in Nigeria’s political season, this should be the mantra.

    The last words should go to President Muhammadu Buhari: “The new Administration will intensify its efforts in Security, Restructuring the Economy and Fighting Corruption. We have laid down the foundation and we are committed to seeing matters to the end. We will strive to strengthen our unity and in-clusiveness so that no section or group will feel left behind or left out.”

     

  • Hate speech: Don’t offer your platform for use, Minister warns Media

    Hate speech: Don’t offer your platform for use, Minister warns Media

     

    The Minister of Information and Culture,  Alhaji Lai Mohammed has advised media houses in the country against offering their platforms for use to communicate hate speech.

    Mohammed warned that if not check, hate speech could be the precursor of violence and genocide.

    He made the call while declaring open a Workshop on Hate Speech titled “Hate Communication in Nigeria:  Identifying its Roots and Remedies”

    The workshop organized by the Nigeria Press Council in collaboration with Word and Image Ltd. was chaired by the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, Mr Bayo Onanuga.

    The minister noted that the fastest way to nip the dangers of hate speech in the bud was for journalists to out rightly turn its back to the trend.

    Read Also: Sanusi worried over use of hate speech in social media

    He said: “The fact that the media takes this issue seriously is very encouraging, because, in most cases, the media – wittingly or unwittingly – provides the platform for the dissemination of hate speech. But I can say here, unequivocally, that the Nigerian media understands the dangers of hate speech.

    “I have always said that hate speech is not free speech. For example, while the Nigerian constitution guarantees freedom of speech, it does not guarantee freedom of hate speech. That’s because hate speech could be the precursor of violence, of genocide!”

    Citing the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, which left at least 800,000 people dead, the Minister said “hate speech, or what later became known as ‘Hate Media’, was a major catalyst of that genocide.”

    This fact, he noted was confirmed by  the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda when it sentenced two Rwandan journalists to life in prison and a third to 35 years in jail for their roles in fuelling the genocide.

    He therefore stressed, “The lesson here is that journalists must never offer their platforms for use to communicate hate speech. They must say NO to hate speech. That’s one of the fastest ways to nip the dangers of hate speech in the bud.

    “This is why this workshop is very important. I have no doubt that with the quality of the resource persons who have been assembled for this workshop; it will achieve its purpose and also go a long way in stemming the tide of hate speech in our country. A multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious society like ours cannot afford to allow hate speech to thrive. A fledgling democracy like ours is too fragile to luxuriate in hate speech. We must all say NO to hate speech.”

     

  • Era of ‘godfatherism’ over – Lai Mohammed

    Era of ‘godfatherism’ over – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that as far as Federal Government appointments to public offices and key positions are concerned, the era of “godfatherism’’ is over.

    The minister stated this in Abuja on Sunday at a thanksgiving reception by the newly appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Culture, Ms Grace Gekpe.

    Mohammed, who was represented by Mr Bayo Onanuga, the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), stated that appointment to positions in the Federal Government “is strictly by merit’’.

    “Gone are those days when people were appointed into positions by other factors apart from merit.

    “Most of us must have heard that the new permanent secretaries were asked to write examination; Gekpe was one of the very few that scaled through the examination.

    Gekpe is a shining and beautiful woman. That could have earned her the appointment, but not under this regime of Change.

    “She is a permanent secretary by virtue of hard work, merit and because she has a lot of things to offer,’’ he said.

    The minister said that the ministry was proud of Gekpe, satisfied with her appointment and wished her all the best.

    Mohammed underscored the need for improved funding for the Ministry of Information and Culture and its parastatal agencies.

    “The Ministry of Information and Culture has a very big responsibility and there is the need for sufficient funding for it and its agencies.

    “The government is doing a lot of things, but it is being misrepresented by naysayers.

    “This is the time that the government needed to raise an army of competent information managers to counter the false and negative narratives about the administration,’’ he said.

    He also underscored the need for upward review of the retirement age of journalists working in the Ministry of Information.

    “They are like judges and university professors; like old wine, they get better with age,’’ he added.

    The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, said the position of permanent secretary “is the highest level any civil servant can dream to reach in the public service’’.

    She enjoined Gekpe to present her life and tenure to God for wisdom and guidance and as well show understanding and loyalty to her minister and the administration.

    Oyo-Ita said: “She is called to serve the nation and in doing this, she should face her duties with dignity, integrity and understanding that this is a government of change, it cannot be business as usual.

    “She has to be an epitome of incorruptibility, she should be efficient, productive, and be a citizen centred- permanent secretary’’.

    In a brief remark, Gekpe said her appointment was a call to serve the country.

    She pledged to discharge her responsibilities with the fear of God and in support of the government’s programmes.

    “I will put in my best to assist my immediate boss, the minister, and the government at large to achieve the agenda set for the country,’’ she said.

    NAN reports that a thanksgiving service was held at the Living Faith Church, Jahi District, before the reception.

    The event was attended by heads of parastatals and agencies in the Ministry of Information and Culture and representatives of the Government of Cross River.

  • Appointments: Era of `Godfatherism’ over – Lai Mohammed

    Appointments: Era of `Godfatherism’ over – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that as far as Federal Government appointments to public offices and key positions are concerned, the era of “godfatherism’’ is over.

    The minister stated this in Abuja on Sunday at a thanksgiving reception by the newly appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Culture, Ms Grace Gekpe.

    Mohammed, who was represented by Mr Bayo Onanuga, the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), stated that appointment to positions in the Federal Government “is strictly by merit’’.

    “Gone are those days when people were appointed into positions by other factors apart from merit.

    “Most of us must have heard that the new permanent secretaries were asked to write examination; Gekpe was one of the very few that scaled through the examination.

    Gekpe is a shining and beautiful woman. That could have earned her the appointment, but not under this regime of Change.

    “She is a permanent secretary by virtue of hard work, merit and because she has a lot of things to offer,’’ he said.

    The minister said that the ministry was proud of Gekpe, satisfied with her appointment and wished her all the best.

    Mohammed underscored the need for improved funding for the Ministry of Information and Culture and its parastatal agencies.

    “The Ministry of Information and Culture has a very big responsibility and there is the need for sufficient funding for it and its agencies.

    “The government is doing a lot of things, but it is being misrepresented by naysayers.

    “This is the time that the government needed to raise an army of competent information managers to counter the false and negative narratives about the administration,’’ he said.

    He also underscored the need for upward review of the retirement age of journalists working in the Ministry of Information.

    “They are like judges and university professors; like old wine, they get better with age,’’ he added.

    The Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, said the position of permanent secretary “is the highest level any civil servant can dream to reach in the public service’’.

    She enjoined Gekpe to present her life and tenure to God for wisdom and guidance and as well show understanding and loyalty to her minister and the administration.

    Oyo-Ita said: “She is called to serve the nation and in doing this, she should face her duties with dignity, integrity and understanding that this is a government of change, it cannot be business as usual.

    “She has to be an epitome of incorruptibility, she should be efficient, productive, and be a citizen centred- permanent secretary’’.

    In a brief remark, Gekpe said her appointment was a call to serve the country.

    She pledged to discharge her responsibilities with the fear of God and in support of the government’s programmes.

    “I will put in my best to assist my immediate boss, the minister, and the government at large to achieve the agenda set for the country,’’ she said.

    NAN reports that a thanksgiving service was held at the Living Faith Church, Jahi District, before the reception.

    The event was attended by heads of parastatals and agencies in the Ministry of Information and Culture and representatives of the Government of Cross River.

  • FG names Chief Executives for NAN, NTA, FRCN, others

    FG names Chief Executives for NAN, NTA, FRCN, others

    The Federal Government has appointed the Chief Executives of six information-related parastatals under the Ministry of Information and Culture.

    The appointments were announced in Abuja on Wednesday by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

    The new Chief Executives are:

    1. Mr. Ishaq Modibo Kawu – Director-General, Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC)
    2. Mr. Mansur Liman – Director-General, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN)
    3. Mr. Yakubu Mohammed – Director-General, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA)
    4. Dr. Garba Abari, Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA)
    5. Mr. Bayo Onanuga – Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
    6. Mr. Osita Okechukwu – Director-General, Voice of Nigeria (VON)

    The new appointees are to replace the Chief Executives of the parastatals, who were disengaged on February 15th, 2016

    The appointments take immediate effect.

  • Tinubu, Fashola, Aregbesola, Falana hail Beko at memorial lecture

    Tinubu, Fashola, Aregbesola, Falana hail Beko at memorial lecture

    Former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Lagos and Osun State Governors Babatunde Fashola (SAN) and Rauf Aregbesola as well as Lagos lawyer, Mr Femi Dalana, yesterday said Nigeria is groping in the dark and needs to be rescued.

    They spoke in Lagos at a memorial symposium on the 8th anniversary of the death of rights activist, Dr. Beko Ransom-Kuti.

    Tinubu spoke on a topic, titled: National Conference/Dialogue: Making Nigeria Work.

    The former governor noted that the proposed National Conference of the Goodluck Jonathan administration is an attempt to hoodwink Nigerians that the conference is the panacea to the nation’s problems.

    Tinubu, who was represented by Mr Bayo Onanuga, said: “A Sovereign National Conference (SNA) is an idea Dr. Beko championed during his lifetime. Several others and myself, through the Pro-National Conference Organisation (PRONACO) and similar platforms, have actively promoted, supported and advocated the idea.”

    He explained that his opposition to the dialogue is anchored on principle.

    “In October, 2013, after a deep review of the ‘Jonathan Conference’ proposal, I told Nigerians that the conference is not what they had advocated for,” Tinubu said.

    The frontline politicians said there were contradictions and confusion that would sink the conference, even before it starts.

    He said: “If the conference must be held now, we must return to the spade work already done by the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo government in the aspect of the constitutional review. Let the Jonathan government bring it out, remove the third term toxic component and set up a technical committee to examine the 118 recommendations therein.”

    The chairman of the event and founder of the Oodua People Congress (OPC), Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, however, supported the conference.

    The OPC leader noted that the agenda on the conference fell short of expectation.

    He said: “If Beko were alive, we would have been talking of a true national conference based on ethnic nationalities. Some of the things we agitated for were not included in the composition of the national conference agenda.

    “If he were alive, Beko would say that the outcome of the conference should be submitted to a national referendum and not the National Assembly. He would expect the conference to choose between the presidential and parliamentary systems of government. He would prefer an unbiased chairman for the conference; he would have proffered solutions to all of these.”

    Fashola, who was represented by Transportation Commissioner Kayode Opeifa, said the state government would always promote the ideals of the late activist, especially his quest for justice.

    He said: “For some of us, we would not have been here today. We recognise the efforts of Dr. Beko to promote justice and fairness. We recognise his effort to actualise the June 12 (1993) struggle. This memorial lecture is one of the ways of immortalising the late icon and the Lagos State government will continue to protect the people against any act of injustice.”

    An academic Prof. Kolawole Ogunwowole said Nigeria existed on the false pretext that it was a nation.

    The academic noted that this should be thoroughly examined to define the terms of the nation’s existence.

    He said: “Nigeria is an amalgam; so, it is not a nation. We have the Yoruba, Ijaw, Fulani, Edo and Ibibio nations, among others. The colonial masters destroyed these nations and hurriedly gave us Nigeria. We need a conference of sovereign ethnic nationalities to reclaim these territories and see the possibilities of having a union.”

    Falana said Nigeria was in trouble because the government could no longer render its service to the people.

    He said: “The other day, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, told Nigerians that the government was searching for N49.8 billion. A week later, she said it was N12 billion, and some moment later, she said it N20 billion.”

    He noted that any of the amounts was sufficient to banish poverty among Nigerians, if it was well managed for the welfare of the people.