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Tag: Broadcast

  • Full text of Buhari’s Democracy Day broadcast

     
    ADDRESS BY MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA IN COMMEMORATION OF

    THE 2018 DEMOCRACY DAY CELEBRATION,

     

    My Dear Nigerians!

     

    Today marks the 19th year of our nascent democracy and the 3rd Anniversary of this administration. I am thankful to Almighty God for bringing us thus far.  This administration came at a time that Nigerians needed Change, the Change we promised and the Change we continue to deliver. We have faced a lot of challenges on this journey and Nigerians have stood by us in achieving the three cardinal points of this administration namely; Security, Corruption and the Economy.

     

    2.     The commemoration of this year’s Democracy Day is a celebration of freedom, a salute to the resilience and determination of Nigerians and a recommitment by Government to keep its promise to lead Nigeria into a new era of justice and prosperity.

     

    3.     Public safety and security remains the primary duty of this Government. Before this Administration came into being 3 years ago, Boko Haram held large areas of land spanning several Local Governments in the North East.             

     

    4.     Today, the capacity of the insurgents has been degraded leading to the re-establishment of authority of government and the release of captives including, happily, 106 Chibok and 104 Dapchi girls, and over 16,000 other persons held by the Boko Haram.

     

    5.     In order to minimize the impact of the insurgency on Internally Displaced Persons, Government has established secure IDP Camps and has improved the mechanism for the distribution of basic aid, foods and essential commodities using various strategies in collaboration with local and international Organizations.  

     

    6.     Efforts are in process for resettlement of IDPs in their home communities by providing schools, hospitals, clinics, water and sanitation to facilitate a quick return to economic activities. Government is similarly implementing de-radicalization and rehabilitation programmes to facilitate sustainable peace and development.

     

    7.     The unfortunate incidences of kidnappings, herdsmen and farmers clashes in several communities which have led to high number of fatalities and loss of properties across the country is being addressed and the identified culprits  and their sponsors shall be made to face the full wrath of the law. All the three tiers of Government are presently engaged with communities and religious organizations to restore peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.

     

    8.     I want to commend members of the Multinational Joint Task Force drawn from Niger, Benin, Chad, Cameroon and our own country in collaboration with the International Community who are assisting in the fight against insurgency in the North East. I also commend the gallantry of members of our Armed Forces and other security agencies that have continued to provide security for lives and properties across the country.  State and Local traditional authorities are helping with much needed intelligence in this fight against insurgency.

     

    9.     This administration is pained over the grievous loss of lives and properties occasioned by the carnage of insurgency and other forms of criminality in the country. I wish to assure Nigerians that we will not rest until all criminal elements and their sponsors are brought to justice. Government is boosting the capacity of our security agencies through recruitment of more personnel, training and procurement of modern equipment, enhancement of intelligence gathering as well as boosting their morale in the face of daunting challenges.

     

    10.   The Niger Delta Region has enjoyed relative peace through social inclusiveness and cooperation of the Elders and the good people of the region. Government is committed to implementing the comprehensive peace, security and development plan for the region. The environmental clean-up of the region which commenced with the launch in Bodo, Ogoni in June, 2016 is progressing satisfactorily. Furthermore farming assets are being revived and investors in cocoa and palm oil plantations are showing serious interest. 

     

     

    11.   The second primary object of this Administration is to fight corruption headlong. Like I have always said, if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will destroy the country. Three years into this Administration, Nigerians and the international community have begun to applaud our policies and determination to fight corruption. We are more than ever before determined to win this war, however hard the road is. I therefore appeal to all well-meaning Nigerians to continue to support us in this fight.

     

    12.   Various policy measures already put in place to stem the tide of corrupt practices are yielding remarkable results. Some of these key reform policies include:

    a.  The Treasury Single Account (TSA) has realized Billions of Naira being saved from maintenance fee payable to banks.  N200 Billion has also been saved from elimination of ghost workers in public service.

     

    b.  The Whistle-Blowing Policy has helped to recover over N500 Billion;

     

     

     

    c.   The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit set up with a mandate to validate controls, assess risks, prune personnel costs, ensure compliance with Public Financial Management reforms has helped to identify and remove over 52,000 ghost workers from the Federal Government MDAs Payroll;

     

     

    d.  The Voluntary Asset and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) aimed at expanding tax education and awareness has offered the opportunity for tax defaulters to regularise their status in order to enjoy the amnesty of forgiveness on overdue interest, penalties and the assurance of non-prosecution or subject to tax investigations.

     

    e.     The Sovereign Wealth Fund project portfolio has been expanded with an injection of US$650 million so as to strengthen its investment in local infrastructure, power, health, re-construction of Abuja-Kano road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, East West Road (Section V) and the Mambilla Hydro-electric Power project as well as the construction of the 2nd Niger Bridge.

    13.   The fight against corruption through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has resulted in recoveries of Billions of Naira, as well as forfeiture of various forms of assets. This alongside other efforts has improved Nigeria’s international image and regional cooperation.

     

    14.   We have retained the services of one of the world’s leading assets tracing firms to investigate and trace assets globally. This is in addition to the exploitation of provisions of existing Treaties, Conventions as well as Bilateral Agreements with Multilateral bodies and Nations. Nigeria has also signed Mutual Legal Assistance Agreements to ensure that there is no hiding place for fugitives.

     

    15.   This Administration has therefore focused on revamping the ailing economy it inherited in 2015.   In 2016, Government executed an expansionary budget and developed the Strategic Implementation Plan.  For the first time, 30% of the budget was earmarked for capital expenditure which represents an upward review when compared with the 2015 budget. The SIP was followed by the development of a comprehensive medium term plan – the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan 2017 – 2020.

     

    16.   The broad strategic objectives of the ERGP were to; Restore and sustain economic growth; Build a globally competitive economy; and Invest in our people.  The implementation of the ERGP has started yielding results. The National Bureau of Statistics reports that  the economy grew by 1.95% in 1st quarter 2018, which is a good performance when viewed against -0.91 in 1st quarter 2017 and -0.67% in 1st quarter 2016 respectively.

     

    17.   Our foreign reserve has improved significantly to 47.5 billion USD as of May, 2018 as against 29.6 billion USD in 2015.  The inflationary rate has consistently declined every month since January, 2017.

     

    18.   Recently, Government conducted Focus Labs in three key sectors of the Economy namely, Agriculture & Transport, Manufacturing and Processing as well as  Power and Gas. These have yielded significant prospects for investments and Job creation to the tune of US$ 22.5 billion with a potential for creating more than 500,000 jobs by 2020. These investment generation initiatives are expected to increase capital inflows in the form of foreign direct investment. There is a high prospect that the cumulative investments from this first phase of the Labs will hit US$39.2 billion by 2025.

     

    19.   Under agriculture, Nigeria continues to pursue a strategic food security programme built around self-sufficiency and minimization of import dependency. As a result, rice importation from other countries has been cut down by 90% which has a direct impact on foreign reserves.

     

    20.   The Social Investment Programmes (SIP) has been created as a means to graduating our citizens from poverty through capacity building, investment and direct support. The major strategic objective is to restore livelihood, economic opportunities and sustenance for the poor across the country. The SIP programmes and projects include:

    a.              Home Grown School Feeding Programme – About 8.2 million pupils are currently being fed from 24 States of the Federation with over 75,000 Catering Staff engaged under the programme.

     

    b.              The Conditional Cash Transfer has so far recorded over 297,000 caregivers and being trained by 2,495 Community Facilitators in 21 states. Less privileged Nigerians are now being paid N5,000 monthly stipend in 9 pilot States of Bauchi, Borno, Cross River, Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Osun and Oyo. Eventually the scheme will cover all the 36 states of the federation including the FCT.

     

    c.               Under the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme – About 264,269 loans had been disbursed to 4,822 societies in the 36 States and FCT, while another 370,635 are awaiting release of funds. 

     

    d.              N-Power Job creation Scheme – is targeted at providing jobs for unemployed young graduates and has so far recruited 200,000 youths while the next batch of 300,000 have been selected, verified and would soon be deployed across the 36 States and the FCT. Furthermore, 20,000 non-graduate volunteers have also been selected to kick off the N-Build programme in collaboration with the National Automotive Design and Development Council and the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria.

     

     

    21.   In the area of power generation, Nigerians from all parts of the country continue to report better power supply and less use of generators. This underscores the effectiveness of the methodical plan to deliver incremental and uninterrupted power supply to our homes, markets, offices and factories.

     

    22.   The country achieved 5, 222.3 MW representing the highest peak of power generated onto the national grid and delivered to customers in December, 2017. With new facilities, repairs and rehabilitations by Government and private investors, generation capability now exceeds 7,500 MW.

     

    23.   This Administration is committed to lawful interventions to ensure the operators of the distribution business live up to expectations especially in the areas of distribution capacity, service delivery, collection efficiency, and metering to eliminate contentious estimated billing.

     

    24.   The Transportation Sector continues to undergo a series of reforms in order to sustain the international best practices and ensure safety and security. The nation’s major airports have witnessed reconstruction of runways, installation of navigational equipment and new international terminals due for commissioning in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Enugu. Bilateral Air Services Agreements between Nigeria and the Governments of other countries will significantly open up new flight routes.

     

    25.   As a result of strict regulatory and compliance policies, Nigeria retained her Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Category 1 status, after a routine international audit.  Recently, a new Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facility with capacity for aircraft C-checks and other comprehensive levels of maintenance was established in Lagos. This would save the country an estimated $90m annually.

    26.   Giant strides have been recorded over the past three years to improve road transport infrastructure in all geopolitical zones of the country.

     

    27.   The Railway Sector has also received tremendous attention as this Administration is committed to the goal of linking all State capitals in the Federation by rail network to ease the movement of goods and passengers.

     

    28.   The Education Sector especially at tertiary level has continued to witness expansion in order to improve access to higher education by millions of youths in Nigeria. Over the last three years, Government has approved the establishment of 1 new Federal Polytechnic, granted licenses for the establishment of 4 State and 14 private-owned Universities as well as 12 private Polytechnics.

     

    29.   Government has also continued to support the implementation of various initiatives aimed at improving the quality of Basic Education delivery. Thus, it has ensured proper funding at the Basic Education level with the disbursement of N42.2 billion UBE Matching Grant to 26 States and the FCT, N851.5 million Special Education Grant disbursed to 23 States and private providers of Special Education and N2.2 billion Teachers Professional Development Fund to 33 States and the FCT. 

     

    30.   The Federal Government has continued to support fiscal sustainability at the sub-national governments through the implementation of the Budget Support Facility which was accompanied by the 22- point Fiscal Sustainability Plan. Thus, bailouts funds were made available to States to ease their fiscal challenges and other obligations including payment of salaries.

     

    31.   In addition, a total of 73 Ecological Fund projects for the control of gully erosion in different communities across all geopolitical zones have been completed in the last three years and are undergoing commissioning while 53 other projects are ongoing. The execution of these projects has generated 357 skilled jobs and 1,350 unskilled jobs during this period.

     

    32.   It is pertinent to also make mention of the immeasurable contributions of the Nigerian woman to national development and advancement of democracy, over the last three years. The government and people appreciate you all as mothers of our great country.

    33.   My dear country men and women, as we all celebrate our democratic experience, let us resolve to avoid hatred and intolerance; we can only achieve our objectives in an atmosphere of harmony and peaceful co-existence.

     

    34.   Finally, the up-coming months will usher us into another season of general elections. Let me use this opportunity to urge us all to conduct ourselves, our wards and our constituencies with the utmost sense of fairness, justice and peaceful co-existence such that we will have not only hitch free elections but also a credible and violence free process.

     

    35. In few days to come, I will be joined by many promising young Nigerians to sign into law the “Not Too Young to Run” Bill

     

  • Buhari to broadcast on Tuesday 

    President Muhammadu Buhari will make a national broadcast on Tuesday, May 29, 2018 at 7a.m as part of activities to commemorate the 2018 Democracy Day celebrations.

    This was contained in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina.

    Read Also:2019: NBC warns broadcasting stations over political campaigns, hate speeches

    “Television and radio stations are enjoined to hook up to the network services of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Radio Nigeria for the broadcast,” he said.

  • Canon showcases tech for broadcast, cinema

    Canon showcases tech for broadcast, cinema

    Canon has showcased its latest industry-leading innovations at CABSAT 2018, the leading broadcast, satellite and creative event in the Middle East and Africa region. The leader in imaging solutions also provided visitors with the opportunity to experience its full range of security solutions, Pro Video portfolio and professional imaging products first-hand at dedicated shooting areas and end to end workflow scenarios.

    At the three-day event, Canon unveiled the latest additions to its Pro-Video segment with the launch of its 4K XF Series cameras, XF405 and XF400, which are in addition to the recent launch of the EOS C200, the 4K compact digital cinema camera from the esteemed Cinema EOS range. Under the XA series, XA-11 and XA-15 mark their entry into the region along with the low light network camera with remarkable performance, the ME20F-SHN. The company also presented evolved and seamless workflow solutions, which enable more efficient and cost-effective production for broadcasters and filmmakers.

    Speaking at the event, Managing Director Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA), Roman Troedthandl, said: “Canon’s presence in CABSAT, which is considered to be one of the most important events in broadcast and media technology regionally and globally, is integral to showcasing our commitment towards playing a vital role in the cinema industry. Celebrating the incredible potential of filmmakers in Africa, Canon is set on clearing any hardships they may face enroute, through offering all the necessary technical and technological support they require, and this year we are going even further and extending our participation towards supporting young and aspiring filmmakers.

    “We also understand that there is an increasing integration of 4K into mainstream television dramas, documentaries and movies, and we are committed to continually evolving to meet the fluctuating needs of broadcasters and filmmakers with the latest additions to our innovative Cinema EOS series. As well as consistently strengthening and enhancing our partnerships with Tier 1 partners in markets like Nigeria, Morocco, West Africa and Egypt while hand in hand expanding our presence through an extended network of Tier 2 partners in Egypt, Nigeria and Morocco.”

    Designed to benefit broadcasters and filmmakers alike, the EOS C200 is the first Cinema EOS camera to feature the revolutionary Cinema RAW light format, which provides the same flexibility in colour grading as Cinema RAW in a smaller file size, enabling filmmakers to record internally to a CFast 2.0™ card.

     

     

  • Buhari broadcasts to the nation January 1

    Buhari broadcasts to the nation January 1

    President Muhammadu Buhari is billed to make a national broadcast on January 1, 2018 at 7 am. on the occasion of the 2018 New Year.

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, urged television and radio stations to hook up to the network services of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Radio Nigeria for the broadcast.

  • Kudos, knocks for President’s broadcast

    Kudos, knocks for President’s broadcast

    The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) yesterday hailed President Muhammad Buhari’s Independence Day speech as an inspiration for a better Nigeria.

    Chairman Debo Adeniran, told the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) in Lagos that the speech was particularly good for the anti-corruption fight.

    He said the President reflected commitment and sincerity of purpose to the fight in the broadcast.

    Adeniran pointed out that the way the President sought the support of all stakeholders in the speech showed his resolve to tame the monster of corruption.

    He said with the renewed commitment to the fight as shown in the speech, the anti-corruption campaign had bright prospects of succeeding.

    “The speech by the President to mark the 57th anniversary of Nigeria inspired great hope for a better country.

    “With respect to the anti-corruption fight, the President reflected great sincerity of purpose and commitment in the broadcast.

    “And the way he called on the National Assembly and the Judiciary for support, the President was humble and factual enough to show that corruption could not be fought by the Executive alone.

    “The President also outlined some of the ways in which he intends to make the fight more effective.

    “This is what is expected of a leader and I think all Nigerians should support the president in the campaign,’’ he said.

    Adeniran described the appointment of Justice Ayo Salami as chairman of the Judiciary’s anti-corruption committee as a step in the right direction.

    He said the retired Appeal Court judge had the pedigree to add bite to the anti-graft war.

    Adeniran said there could be mixed feelings about the credibility of other members of the committee but that Justice Salami would provide the right leadership for the committee to succeed.

    He described corruption as the greatest obstacle to national development and urged the government to tackle it head-on

    Human rights lawyer Jiti Ogunye also hailed the speech, which he described as “a good speech”, but with reservation.

    He said it “addressed the socio- economic and political challenges our country is facing, the processes that are ongoing to tackle these challenges, and the progress that has been recorded in surmounting some of these challenges.

    The speech addressed democratic development, politics and governance; separatist agitation; the economy, economic growth, diversification of the economy, and our monetary situation; agriculture; the state of insecurity, state of the war against the Boko Haram terrorists, kidnapping and the herdsmen-farmers bloodletting; the fight against corruption and the institutional reforms to stem corrupt practices; et cetera.”

    But Ogunye faulted the speech for referring the call for restructuring to the National Assembly

    “The President of Nigeria , having sworn to the oath of office and oath of allegiance to preserve the territorial integrity of Nigeria, is not expected to allow the dismemberment of Nigeria. He has a duty to protect the inviolability of Nigeria’ s unity.

    “But the President will be acting illegally and unconstitutionally to disallow ‘advocacy’ for dismemberment of Nigeria. Any Nigerian, in exercise of his inalienable and fundamental constitutional right to freedom of expression and the press, and right to freedom of thought , conscience and religion, including the right to hold a political opinion, may advocate secession , separatism, and emergence of three or more countries out of Nigeria. Such an advocacy simpliciter, without hateful and incitement speeches and criminal activities, are permissible under the law. This is not a crime. If such a Nigerian leaves the realm of “advocacy “ and starts moving into the province of ‘actualisation’ , then the borderline between freedom of action and criminality is crossed. The boundary between legality and illegality is breached. Separatist or secessionist treatise will become treason.”

    “Before the advent of the 1999 Constitution, Nigerians realised that the military had distorted, contaminated and impaired our economy, society, laws, institutions and morality. Our federalist mode of collective governance, power sharing formula amongst the units of the Federation, and revenue generation and distribution had been dictatorially and inequitably altered. The units of the Federation had been unconsionably atomized, and had become weak, unwieldy, parasitic , and unsustainable. They had become fiefdoms through which political power addicts maintain their stranglehold on the socio-economic life of the people, and an obstacle to growth, development and progress.

    Realising that the 1999 Constitution and the civil order it would bring about would not be able to resolve the problem of distorted federation that the military was bequething on us, Nigerians intensified their calls for a sovereign national conference that would lead to the restructuring and refederalisation of Nigeria.

    “We cannot but disagree with the President’s sustained dismissal of the idea of a national dialogue outside the framework of our country’s legislature. The character of our legislature and its composition ( a reflection of the distortion of our federal character and manipulation of units of representation) do not make it proper that it should undertake the task of constitutionally reconstructing the Nigerian State.”

    Ogunye said the President ought to “put in place modalities for the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference. The President cannot be pushing us to these National Assembly and the Houses of Assembly.”

    To the Eastern Consultative Assembly (ECA), the speech “has finally confirmed to all and sundry that he is many years behind global trends and far away from political reality of the Nigerian situation.”

    In a statement, ECA Secretary Elliott Ugochukwu Uko said: “This is exactly what happens when a leader surrounds himself only with his kinsmen. They erroneously mistake their sectional worldview as the national interest.”

    The group added:  ”Buhari has clearly misread the resolve of the younger generation to change their lot in Nigeria through any means necessary. His sectional kitchen cabinet are obviously living in an ancient world where the fear of the inevitable restructuring forced them to take solace inside the cocoon of an outdated unrealistic northern daydream of forcing Nigerians to head to a national assembly which was created by a discredited military constitution.

    “Buhari has missed a golden opportunity to constitute an eminent citizens council that would drive the constituent assembly that will save Nigeria. As the agitation rebounds and resurges, time will unveil the price we all will pay for delaying the return of Nigeria back to regional format.”

    A pro- democracy and non-governmental organisation-Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), dismissed the broadcast as substantially deficient in statesmanship. It portrays the President as someone with some deep seated grudges and unmitigated hatred for the over 50 million Igbo-speaking people of Southeast, the Ngo said.

    HURIWA said portions of the speech, which specifically lampooned the people and leaders of Southeast, amounted to raw hate speech which is capable of igniting longstanding hatred for the Igbo by his largely Northern followers who had earlier issued an unconstitutional quit notice on Igbos in the North to leave the 19 Northern states by today which they grudgingly suspended. This, according to the rights group violates the presidential oath of office as enshrined in the seventh schedule of the constitution.

    The pro-transparency group also carpeted the Presidency for failing to use the broadcast to correct the abnormalities and systemic anomalies in the composition of the National Defence Council to specifically address the “imbalances and inherent constitutional breach of the Federal Character Principle which prohibits the dominance of any section of the government by persons from particular ethno-religious affiliations.”

  • Another broadcast

    Disclaimer: The following is entirely a product of its author’s imagination, not the address last Monday by Mr. President. And the author isn’t even me. I picked the text from a post on Civil Society Hub WhatsApp chat group, and have only edited to fit available space here. Make of it what you please:

    “I am happy to address you all today on my return from medical treatment in the United Kingdom. It is by the grace of Almighty Allah that I am here with you.

    “Let me begin by thanking every Nigerian who prayed for my recovery. I also wish to thank those who lost patience with me. I understand your feeling: we have so much work to do in this country that every minute lost is a disservice to our people.

    “My special thanks go to the Vice President. He held the fort in my absence, despite the difficulties our political structure imposed on him. He did the job of leading this nation so well that I have renewed confidence in our leaders of tomorrow.

    “I also thank the National Assembly, my ministers, the Judiciary, our security forces and civil servants across this nation who go to work everyday and look up at the picture of their leader who had been absent for long, and still dedicate themselves to the task of the day.

    “Being sick is human. While we pray that sickness does not befall even our worst enemies, it is one of those life experiences that ‘will come when it will.’ For those concerned about the financial burden my illness may have posed, let me dispel your fears. Though as your President, I am entitled to receive medical treatment anywhere my doctors deem best, I’m waiving that right. My family and friends will underwrite the bills.

    “Leaders must lead by example. I promised to end medical tourism if elected president. Two years after, that has not happened. You do not have to go far to know. It is my personal failure. I own up to it, the same way I own up to all that we promised but have not accomplished. As part of my renewed commitment to this country in my remaining days as president, I will make sure that no president of Nigeria will again have the need to travel abroad for medical treatment. We have done greater things in the past. We can do this.

    “In the last two years, we have opened the window of opportunity for tens of thousands of our young people through the N-Power entrepreneur scheme. We have children in 13 states receiving free lunch at school as part of our Homegrown School Feeding Programme. In nine states, over 26,000 are receiving N5, 000 stipend a month from the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme. We have stabilised the Naira and the economy. No matter how raw and uneven it may have been, we have taken a stab at the fight against corruption. Though it is still with us, its wings of impunity have been clipped. And instead of relenting on this fight, we are reloading and refocusing.

    “We have made strides here and there. But for many, the change we promised has not materialised. In some cases, the change has taken many of our people two or three steps backwards. To them, it’s hard to understand that stepping back is part of what is needed for a forward push. They may have seen rams do it, but they would not readily embrace it when it means doing with less meat in their soup pot.

    “For me, my medical leave has been an opportunity for great reflection. If I had any illusion I would always be with you, that illusion is gone. I will not always be with you, but Nigeria will always be. I, therefore, return with fresh commitment to leave a better and more united nation for all. And our unity lies in our creating an equitable and just nation.

    “In re-committing myself to the Nigerian project, I am determined to listen to, and understand people at the fringe of our society. More often, we fail to give them our ears and assume that what they have to offer has little or nothing to do with our lofty dreams for the nation. That, I now understand, is untrue. All voices matter in negotiations for advancement of the Nigerian project.

    “Moving forward, balancing the Nigerian project to give it a sense of equity and justice is paramount to me. I want all that are committed – those at the forefront of the fight for restructuring Nigeria – to come to us with proposals and blueprints on how to make things better.

    “I want to balance the seats in the House of Representatives to make them fair to all. I want the number of states in each geo-political zone balanced. I want to see resources of this nation shared in such a way that those from areas where these resources come do not feel cheated. I want to devolve power from the centre and free the regions to stand on their own. I want the geopolitical zones enshrined in our Constitution. I want the presidency rotated among the zones; the number of local governments in each zone should be fair so that LG allocations will not be lopsided.

    “We need to sit down and articulate a blueprint on how to make Nigeria great. I want a master plan on what to do IN SPECIFIC TERMS on my desk in six months.

    “With the remaining time we have, we want to set things right to make it easy for those coming behind. All along, the military have been the one putting in place constitutions and structures. Our democracy is mature enough to do these ourselves in line with the aspirations of our peoples. If we can accomplish that, the rest of the task of governing this beautiful country should be a lot easier – not just for this generation, but for generations to come.

    “It is unfortunate that we have been programmed to believe that in a family, injustice to one does not impact the cohesion and commitment of others to that family. But it does. That is the reason for all the rumblings we hear in our dear country today.

    “To address these, in a few weeks we will convene a meeting at the Rock with all the youths who are so dissatisfied with the Nigerian project that they seek to opt out. We want to listen to them and forge a way to regain their trust. The youths are the most important resource we have. That should not just be a mantra given mere lip service, it is a statement of fact we need to hold sacrosanct.

    “My generation has played its part. We must have the courage to begin a systematic disengagement so the next generation can take the lead. I have seen them in technology hubs across Nigeria, on the streets hustling, in schools and in markets. I am confident they can take this nation to greater heights. If this present malaise is a spell, it has run its course. Our mumu don do!”

    To be clear, foregoing is sheer opinionation on what could be, but was not.

    Please join me on kayodeidowu.blogspot.be for conversation.

  • The president’s broadcast

    The president’s broadcast

    Is Buhari a military president that we should now expect him to rule by military alacrity?

    Restructuring Nigeria, to which the President Muhammadu Buhari’s broadcast of Monday, August 21, has literally been reduced by critics, has become a fait accompli. It will take place even faster than its greatest proponents can ever imagine and no Jupiter, not the president or his party the APC, not His Eminence, the Sultan, their Royal Majesty the Obas, or the respected Ogbuefis, will be able to stop it. Restructuring has become a historical inevitability, as to kill it is to kill Nigeria as we know it. President Buhari must, therefore, be assisted by the APC and those whose duty it is to do so, to realise that it is not only corruption, ferocious as it is, that can kill Nigeria as he has often said. The excruciating, fissiparous tendencies daily erupting and ravaging the country, the mind-boggling insecurity and the near complete economic meltdown, should be enough to concentrate our minds on that earnest possibility. But that said, what exactly is the problem with having restructuring done constitutionally as the president said in his broadcast?  Why must we always want the easy way out even if patently illegal? Is Buhari a military president that we should now expect him to rule by military alacrity?  What became of Obasanjo and Jonathan’s illegal National Conferences? We are, indeed, a very funny people. I could not help laughing when this past week, I saw in Lagos, those very people who were at the vanguard of President Goodluck Jonathan’s disastrous 2015 campaign, and were lately suborned, end of April, 2017, to Abuja by Chief Alegho Dokpesi, to press for the implementation of the 2014 national conference report but now, ingeniously, moonlighting as Southern Leaders Forum, trying to pressure President Buhari on restructuring. This is precisely what happens when people would not properly reflect on the past and allow history be their guide. Had these respected elder statesmen, and their younger subalterns done that, they would have remembered that the national talk shows, for that’s what they were, convoked with pomp and ceremony, and at great cost by both presidents Obasanjo and Jonathan came to absolute nothing, realise that something was fundamentally wrong with that process and that a new paradigm is required; which is what Present Buhari is suggesting – adherence to the rule of Law, that is.

    I was quite happy, though not surprised, to see my lifelong teacher, Professor (Senator) Banji Akintoye, make the point on Channels Television that he agrees that the unity of Nigeria is none negotiable, contrary to the incongruous diatribe of many of the critics, I never heard President Buhari, in that broadcast, disavow of restructuring and I consider him too patriotic to do that, given our multi-faceted challenges as a nation and a people. What I understood President Buhari as saying, about which there had been literal bedlam orchestrated by those who must just criticise for criticism sake, is all about the process of bringing restructuring about. It was therefore fascinating to see on television also, Tunji Abayomi, a P.HD holder in Law, telling Nigerians that the primary function of the president, qua president, is to execute the laws of the land. This, he said, was why he had to go to court to challenge the capacity of former President Jonathan to convoke the 2014 national conference as well as expend billions of unappropriated funds on same. All the president is saying, therefore, is that the National Assembly should be allowed to do its duty to Nigeria. Given its highly skewed composition, with the North enjoying a totally unrealistic, and if you ask me, unearned, majority which they have severally taken undue advantage of, a true patriot and statesman of President Buhari’s standing, cannot, be suggesting that the National Assembly it is which will dot the I’s and cross the T’s of restructuring Nigeria, though a northerner, he is. Rather, what I  understood him to be saying is that the legislature should be given the opportunity to make appropriate laws expressly permitting the convocation of a constituent assembly as well as make provision for a  national referendum at which the decisions will be ratified or rejected. Nigerians, the president inclusive, know this National Assembly well enough, not to saddle it with such a heavy, solemn responsibility. His critics, a great number of who  are members of the 2014 National Confab Forum, could not have forgotten, so soon, that one of the decisions at their Abuja summit is to liaise with the federal executive council, the National Assembly and other  relevant stakeholders, (like the Council of State), to promote the implementation of their conference report.

    The first of the rash of criticisms of the broadcast I heard on television was from my dear aburo, the highly perspicacious Akin Osuntokun, a former presidential adviser, complaining about grammar. Akin, I thought, should have properly contextualised a speech which, in its robust brevity, spoke to most of the demons eating at the very heart of the country. It was the same broadcast Chief John Oyegun correctly described as having spoken to the stability, peace and security of the citizenry and left nobody in doubt that any Nigerian can live, work and operate, unmolested, in any part of the country. Indeed, quite unlike him, President Buhari even mentioned the Fulani herdsmen for stricture, as one of those elements the security agencies must now take a hard stance on.  Among the critics too was one Ugochukwu Uko of the Eastern Consultative Assembly who completely lost it in his rant. Said he: ‘Nigeria is tottering at the edge of the precipice, bursting at the seams and sitting on a combustible keg of gun powder and Mr Buhari and his speech writers are the only people who are unawàre of this self evident fact’. “If Mr President does not, as a matter of urgency, set up a constituent assembly to draft a new peoples’ constitution that will be affirmed at referendum before the end of 2017, he continued in Kanu-speak, there will be no Nigeria by 2018. Of course, I understood him as speaking from the Igbo perspective; a perspective which arose simply because Igbo elders had been rather reticent, for whatever reasons, in reining in the young men fomenting trouble in Igbo land, questioning Nigerian sovereignty. Kanu had even allegedly formed an army which a You tube video showed him as inspecting, but yet without a single rebuke from Igbo elders or from its powerful intelligentsia. For come to think of it, when did this Igbo marginalisation they are protesting about begin? Was it when, after the civil war, Nigeria had an Igbo Vice President; a Speaker of the House, or when the Senate Presidency became a revolving chair amongst Igbo politicians? Was it when, under President Jonathan, they headed most agencies of government? Or yet, was it when, in the words of the highly cerebral President of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Igbos formed the bulk of President Jonathan’s kitchen cabinet but forgot to hold him to his promise about the Second Niger bridge? Is Kanu the reason President Buhari should now quibble about Nigerian unity? Or didn’t these critics hear him say there are legitimate concerns everywhere and that the beauty of a federation is that it allows different groups to air their differences and work out a mode of co- existence? PDP, in turn, obviously expected something akin to President Jonathan’s usually ponderous speeches that were largely effete. The party could, therefore, listlessly conclude that the broadcast missed what it called: a golden opportunity to reconnect with the people. Never, it appears, would these PDP people ever realise what a hole they dug Nigeria into from which Buhari is doing everything to lift it from. Do they, by any means, read newspapers or listen to news? If yes, have they not heard that a mere minister in their government, has just had 56, yes FIFTY SIX, houses, proceeds of corruption, forfeited to the federal government on the orders of a court? If a minister wreaked that havoc Nigerians can only begin to imagine what its more influential members – the president, its several chairmen, two of whose sons were implicated in the multi billion naira oil subsidy scam, governors sitting on billions of oil money, must have done.  Were there a sense of shame, these heists should have been enough to keep the Femi Fani-Kayode’s quiescent for a while. And lest we forget, had that broadcast not taken place, Fani Kayode would have told Nigerians that the president is incapable of uttering a word. Only God, and of course Nigerians, will save our country from these irredeemable predators.

     

  • Ondo APC hails Buhari on national broadcast

    The  Ondo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari on his address to the nation on Monday.

    The party described it as firm and focused.

    Addressed reporters yesterday in Akure, the state capital, the party’s State Chairman Ade Adetimehin said he was happy about how the President was resolute on the unity of all ethnic nationalities across the country.

    He said: “All well-meaning Nigerians are satisfied with the address and the spirit of the citizenry is lifted up by the contents of the address.

    “No doubt, those who are disenchanted by his return are the enemies our dear nation, Nigeria. They are scheming to frustrate the war against corruption, which has been identified as the bane of human, economic and socio-political development in the country.

    “Declaring that the nation’s unity is not negotiable is not a threat to intimidate anyone or a section of the country, but rather meant to encourage everyone or group to express their grievances through the appropriate means within the ambit of the law.”

    The chairman assured the people that the APC administration was committed to protecting the rights of the citizenry as well as upholding all democratic principles to deliver good governance.

  • 14 broadcast, MP3 suspected pirates arrested in Enugu

    14 broadcast, MP3 suspected pirates arrested in Enugu

    •N12.7m equipment recovered

    Operatives of the Nigerian Copyrights Commission (NCC) arrested yesterday in Enugu 14 suspected pirates in a morning raid.

    Eleven of the suspects allegedly operated the MP3 while three others engaged in broadcast piracy.

    The raid, led by the agency’s Director of Enforcement, Augustine Amodu, resulted in the seizure of equipment worth N12.7 million from the suspects.

    Amodu said the operatives carried out the raids simultaneously in two areas of Enugu.

    The NCC director noted that because the raid was carried out as early as 4 a.m, some of the suspects were caught manipulating their equipment.

    He said the NCC discovered that the suspects gave out subscriptions at N2,000 each to between 50 and 100 houses, adding that each of the suspect had his or her dedicated subscribers.

    Amodu urged the public to stop patronising operators of such broadcast and MP3 piracy outfits because they were illegal.

    The NCC director said the agency would align with the Federal Government’s war against corruption.

    He warned those pirating other people’s businesses to desist because “the tune of the music has changed”.

    Amodu added that the commission had secured 59 convictions since the beginning of the year.

     

  • Ife chiefs appease gods over faulty broadcast of Ooni’s death

    •Sijuwade’s family members move out of palace

    Members of the Iledi, a group of traditionalists, have begun rituals to appease the gods over the way the death of Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, the Olubuse II, was announced.

    Sources within the Ogboni Ibile (Iledi Ooni) said that the announcement on social and traditional media broke traditional protocol.

    They noted that the development could attract the wrath of the gods, hence the need to appease them to prevent calamities.

    Sources revealed that the remains of Oba Sijuwade  were committed to mother earth on Friday night, hours after an inter-religious service for the late monarch.

    Christians, Muslims and the traditionalists participated in the inter-religious service held at Enuwa Square, opposite the palace otherwise known as Ile Oodua.

    According to the palace sources, the body was buried after several traditional rites had been concluded.

    The sources also revealed that people expecting a public burial for Oba Sijuwade were disappointed because “Ooni is not an ordinary individual, whose burial is done without rituals and ceremonies.

    The members of the Iledi added that the burial rites on Oba Sijuwade’s body was done in 201 shrines before it was buried.

    It was learnt that Oba Sijuwade’s successor would also pass through the 201 rites before being crowned the next Ooni.

    Iledi Ooni is the group of traditional Ogboni, that works with the Ooni, offering wise counsels from the traditional point of view.

    The group used to serve as the Supreme Court in the old days before modernity brought democracy and its institutions.

    Members of the Sijuwade’s family have moved out of the palace with their property, leaving the palace free.