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Tag: BUHARI

  • All for Buhari in Cameroon

    Though not the first Nigerian leader to visit Cameroon, President Muhammadu Buhari’s two-day trip to the country may be well be one of the most memorable.

    Buhari, who was the fourth Nigeria’s President to visit the country behind former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, the late Umaru Yar’ Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, completely seized the airwave and cyberspace many days before the visit.

    Apart from a tumultuous crowd that turned out to welcome and bade him fareware, almost all the programmes on television, radio and social media in the country completely focused on Buhari’s visit.

    Discussions at any little gathering of Cameroonians also centred on Buhari with excitement of the visit glaringly showing on their faces.

    Different groups of women, men and youth in the various colourful Cameroonian national attires dancing and showcasing their culture were at many points between the Yaounde International Airport and the Hilton Hotel, where Buhari stayed.

    They were also on the roads leading to the Presidential Villa, known as the ‘Unity Palace’ and on many roads in the city.

    At every point, security personnel had hectic day keeping the crowd in check to prevent them from spilling to the roads in excitement.

    While armed security personnel dotted the two sides of major roads in the city, snipers were strategically positioned on top of high rise buildings looking out for troublemakers.

    Any road where vehicles were allowed to ply prior and during the visit, had many check points where the vehicles and passengers were thoroughly screened.

    Pedestrians were not left out as they were made to open any bag on them for searching.

    Shops, doors and gates to buildings by the roadside of Buhari’s routes were shut throughout the visit.

    Nigeria and Cameroon flags and banners with various messages on the strong ties between the two countries were hung on the two sides of the road at intermittent intervals

    Besides the rolling out of drums by the Cameroonians and Nigerians residing in the country, the visit is viewed as a great plus for security in the sub region aimed at defeating the Boko Haram terrorists.

    The visit is also expected to boost bilateral relations between the two countries

    As part of the communique read in the presence of the two leaders at the end of the visit by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Ismail Aliyu, the two leaders agreed to complete the demarcation of the land border between Nigeria and Cameroon before the end of the year in order to concentrate on enhancing cross-border cooperation.

    They also endorsed the commitments made at the Extraordinary Summit of the Lake Chad Basin Commission and Benin Republic held on June 11, 2015 in Abuja.

    The two leaders agreed to strengthen security collaboration along their common border under the auspices of the Nigeria-Cameroon Trans-Border Security Committee and within the framework of the implementation of the concept of strategic operations approved at the Abuja Summit.

    They reaffirmed their determination to strengthen cooperation with other neighbouring countries for the rapid elimination of  terrorism and other security threats.

    Thanking the United Nations, the African Union, the ECOWAS, Economic Community of Central African States and other bilateral and multilateral partners for active solidarity against Boko Haram, they reaffirmed their support for the implementation of the Lake Chad Basin Commission’s Five-Year Investment Programme (2013-2017).

    This seeks to save Lake Chad, restore its ecosystem and promote the socio-economic development of the people living within the basin.

    The two leaders also welcomed the first meeting of Governors of contiguous states and regions on the Nigeria-Cameroon border in Yaounde, calling for such regular meetings to strengthen collaboration between the two countries.

    One of the governors on the visit, Adamawa State Governor, Jibrilla Bindow said: “I am very happy to be part of this team. Though it concerns me because I am one of the governors that are affected by this insurgency, Adamawa is one of the frontline states.

    “As you know, Mr. President is a serious person and the Cameroonians are very happy to meet him. We the six governors that came with the president are also highly impressed.

    “Our expectations are very important for our people. Apart from the insurgency that affects the North East states, Yobe in particular because of the mountains around the state. I’m sure Boko Haram will soon be a thing of the past.

    “It is also highly important, Cameroon and Nigeria has already signed an MoU to reconstruct the road between Demse-Belel-Jimeta-Gerei. So we are very impressed and looking forward to seeing some of the implementations of what we have agreed. The road is very important for the movement of goods and services.”

    On his part, Cross Rivers State Governor, Ben Ayade, said: “It has been a fantastic outing, a closed-door meeting between President Buhari and Paul Biya, with extensive outcomes. Emphatically looking at the Boko Haram menance and see how, through that bilateral cooperation, they can curb the incidences of Boko Haram.

    “My hope is that a joint patrol team will be set up, a collaborative effort will be set up to check the Chadian corridor, which will check proliferation of small and light arms to Nigeria. My expectation is that the day of Boko Haram will soon be over.”

     

    Avoiding past mistakes

     

    Will you like a President who appears to be very fast with policies that get the country nowhere or a seemingly slow President who properly articulates his policies and hit the mark for the progress of the country.

    Many Nigerians, no doubt, will definitely go for the second category of President in order to have their expectations and yearnings met.

    This is a poser for those who may already be feeling that President Muhammadu Buhari, after two months in office, is not as fast as they want.

    In this direction, the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa last week Tuesday called for patience.

    He said: “Change is not by magic it is driven by the people, the spirit and the character and the planning. We have had so much problem in this country in the past because we run into policy blind folded without adequate and effective planning.

  • Buhari: Sure, steady march of a reformer

    arely seven weeks into a four-year term, criticism has arisen from some quarters about the pace of governance under President Muhammadu Buhari. Some of the criticisms are from people who have made it their stock and trade to deride the new government. That is fine. It is a part of democracy. However, I do not write this article to address them. Nothing can be said to them for they criticize the President not because of the quality of his actions but because they must. Their survival hinges on quantity of words they yelp his way. These are the same people who watched silently as the Jonathan administration let the economy fall into the bog. They suddenly gained voice when President Buhari took over, complaining that he was allowing the economy to collapse. When he moved to save the economy by freeing money to pay state civil servants and to restructuring the states’ debt burden, these same people complained that the President was letting profligate state executives too easily off the hook. These people cared little for the fact that this presidential action will stave a deeper economic calamity by putting money in the hands of hundreds of thousand government workers that they may feed their families, pay bills and inject needed life into the local commerce. These critics would rather the people starve. Fortunately, President Buhari’s compassion exceeds theirs. Let me put it another way. Had Jonathan remained in office and continued as he was, there would not have been a relief package. He would have smiled but remained idle as the states and then the national economy went into the swell. That President Buhari moved decisively to halt this slide before abject emergency was upon us more than vindicates his performance thus far.     Yet, there are well meaning people who are concerned about the pace of governance.  This submission is directed to them.  First they must remember that only seven weeks have elapsed of an administration that will cover more than 200 weeks. This is less than three percent of the term. It is much too early to conclude the negative.

    I think a reason for this concern is that the people do not have a full grasp of the dimensions that corruption and malignant indifference have done to the core of our governing institutions. While we all know that corruption and misgovernance have reigned supreme for years, it is only when you begin to clean the house does the full extent of the filth truly confront you. Given the pervasive anomalies of our institutions and the need to straighten the twisted compass of governance before we can move swiftly in the right direction, President Buhari’s pace is that of an experienced and determined leader preparing to perform the wholesale housecleaning needed if reform and progress are to be had. This pace is the one that makes the most sense. For him to move too fast to enact policies would be to miss too many of the twists and distortions in the system that would pollute and bend even the most well conceived policies.

    Buhari must make haste slowly and above all wisely, else he falls into the many snares laid before the prior administration went into retreat. Although the election is over, entrenched interests never cared much about the people’s sovereign will. These interests may have left the seat of elected power but they still seek to steer governance toward their liking. Reform bested the status quo on election day. Now, the status quo seeks to prolong the war by other political means. Buhari won the election but now he must win in the trench warfare of changing the governing bureaucracy and the institutional mindset of almost every government entity.

    The task is enormous yet it must be done with the care of surgery lest we excise the decent portions that should remain while allowing the canker to spread. Millions of Nigerians would be the worse for it. The APC government will make haste, but slowly and deliberately. Like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, APC national leader rightly puts it,  APC never promised to be fire fighters in combating the problems of Nigeria, but to be meticulous planners and executors in order to bring about enduring change.

    Tinubu had a parting shot for the PDP and their co-travellers. Under the PDP, government had become addicted to high-octane corruption. You cannot expect a latrine of 16 years to be cleaned up in a mere 30 days.

    President Buhari took several bulls by their horns when he stepped into office. He knew security demanded urgent attention. He knew regional cooperation was key to securing victory against Boko Haram. He hewed regional cooperation by visiting Chad and Niger. He held the ECOWAS meeting and took practical steps to improve Nigeria’s military – including changing its command – so that it might have the right fighting spirit coupled with decisive strategy that would bring the BoKo Haram insurgency to breakage.

    President Buhari spent countless hours before he was sworn in and since he took over to pour over tons of papers and briefings. He has sat at numerous meetings with key government elements in an attempt to grasp the needed information to act. Like a true statesman and strategist who surveys the long-term consequences of his present actions, he has moved patiently with an eye for detail before settling on his approach. Once he has decided a thing, he has moved with purpose and resolution toward it.

    As time moves on, we are beginning to see the stern stuff he is made of and the integrity of his actions. The man moves in pursuit of our highest national purpose.

    We have seen the process of fighting corruption unfold and Nigerians who have amassed ill-gotten wealth are now moving to surrender their loot because they know our new president is not up for sale or purchase. Buhari has put all on notice that he intends to run a zero tolerance government regarding corruption.

    Recovering ill-gotten wealth and ploughing such back into the economy is one sure way to revive the system. As mentioned previously, Buhari has acted to resolve salary woes of many states through his emergency funding/loan restructuring plan.

    In this complex situation, what use is it to dash about swiftly if the end result is that you swiftly stumble. President Buhari cannot afford to fail on the promises he made to us.

    An understanding of the multi-dimensional crisis into which this country has been plunged is key to designing apt solutions. Here, the devil is not only in detail; it lurks in way the avarice of the previous administration infected government processes and even personnel.

    Currently, it is the inherently methodical process of clarifying these details through which the Buhari government must go. He must correct and repair the tools of governance before they can be used properly to implement the sweeping reform the nation seeks.

    Buhari made a solemn promise to reform government and thereby improve this nation. That he seeks to be meticulous in doing so should be applauded not condemned. He is not a man given to theatrics or gimmicks. He seeks results and we all should pray that he continues to be diligent and studious because that is the only path to finding the exit from the complex of troubles into which thee PDP has cast us.

    When the history of this moment is written, those complaining of the pace of things will be seen to have given the wrong counsel. The sure and steady direction of President Buhari will be seen to have been the right and perhaps the only course out of the storm. We all must realize the task at hand is not an easy one. President Buhari deserves our understanding and support. Few men have entered office to face such myriad problems. He has set about to earnestly tackle them and bring Nigeria to is rightful future. We should be grateful that he is at the helm as the direction he courses is the right one. Ultimately, it is better to be steady yet right than fast yet utterly wrong. In all, he deserves our prayers.

     

    • Dare is Special Adviser Media/Chief of Staff to Asiwaju Tinubu.

  • Great expectations from Buhari, Osinbajo

    President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, Commander-in-Chief, Nigeria Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, (SAN), GCON, surely deserve our congratulations on their successful inauguration in Abuja, on May 29. Their ascension to the prestigious offices were momentous, consideringthe palpable fear that had overwhelmed Nigerians,prior to the last general elections. Their success also elicits excitement, because of their pedigree, particularly as persons who have never shown the predilection for ostentatious lifestyles and the concomitant corrupt self-aggrandizement. It is therefore hoped that their tenure will bring improvement in the material, spiritual and psychological well-being of Nigerians.

    As we read this piece, the reverie from the inauguration parties across the country should have worn out. If it hasn’t, it should, considering the enormous challenges facing the country. While many commentators have continued to taunt the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), over their challenge in transforming from the ruling party to the opposition party; they fail to appreciate that the challenge facing the All Progressive Congress (APC), in transforming from the opposition party to the ruling party is even more enormous. The job of the opposition is to propound alternative programs, while the job of the ruling party is to execute successful programs.

    So, for APC, it is time to walk the talk. I guess the first task facing the leadership of the party is to select those who have the integrity and the quality to rouse the expected change across the country. Such men and women would be required to sit down with the President and the Vice President, to share their vision for the country, in the next four years. With the presidential vision as guide, the egg-heads would brainstorm, and chart a policy direction and mission for the administration and the country. With a vision and mission in place, governance becomes a standard routine, with less stress for the leaders.

    Luckily for Nigeria, between the two leaders, we have a potentially benefitting combination.While one has untrammelled bravery and force, the other possess intellectual power and methodology. If the two fail to harmonise, the presidency would be less effective, and our country would be the worse for it. But if the two and the contending forces they represent agree to work together, then there would be efficiency, just like in a new automobile or indeed any technology, which is a synchronisation of forces, to achieve a goal.That is why APC and her leaders must agree on a common vision, mission and the processes to achieve all that they hope to achieve, within the next four years.

    Nigeria in many respects,therefore represents Charles Dickens’s the Great Expectations. Also, APC,Buhari and Osinbajofiguratively represents the great expectations for Nigerians.While Nigeria is a woven tale of ‘wealth and poverty, love and rejection, and (hopefully) the eventual triumph of good over evil’ likethe Great Expectations; the new presidency represents for Nigerians, the beacon of great expectations; and if you ask many, the solution to all the problems of Nigeria and Nigerians. As the President was reported to have observed to the Vice President during their campaigns, many of those shouting ‘change’, would when their expectations are not quickly met, join to curse and complain, against them.

    For this column, like many other Nigerians, that great expectations has to be met. While it will be unfair to expect magic from the new administration, I guess the presidency already know, that Nigerians would not be willing to accept excuses, for any failure.To meet the great expectation, what is needed from the presidency is to tap into the vast human capital that abound in Nigeria. I believe that once President Buhari and his government show the inflexible determination to do it right, to all manner of people without fear, favour or ill-will, the majority of Nigerians would join them, to achieve the great expectation.

    Across the states, the governors must also show the willingness to join, to achieve the great expectation. When it comes to governance, it is the wish of many Nigerians that partisanship should take the back seat, particularly as the next general elections are four years away.Of note, unless there is a change in the national economic structure of the country, the Buhari administration can only make a dent, on the gargantuan economic, social and political challenges facing the country. The reason is simply because there is little or no economic activities going on in most of the states of the federation, save the monthly gathering, to share the money received from the federation account.

    As this column has severally canvassed, the states across the country must be given greater economic opportunities, if we hope to have a real national rebirth. While the presidency should walk towards reducing the items in the exclusive legislative list, for the federal government, in favour of the states; the President can immediatelygrant more economic opportunities to states, willing to walk the talk. For instance, states willing to mine minerals in their backyards, build and use rail lines within their states, generate and use their own electricity, dredge and use the water ways and harbours within their domain, build highways, among other economic activities, presently tied to exclusive legislative list, should be encouraged and granted the rights by the federal government.

    Unfortunately for Buhari and Osinbajo, most governmentsin recent years,failed to meet the great expectations of Nigerians, and the international community. The result is that Nigeria is commonly referred to as a potentially great country. Now, it is expected that all the past challenges of the country would be resolved by the twosome and their party, that rode into power, with the mantra of change.

     

    • This article, published on June 2, is being repeated as result of public deman.

     

  • Buhari orders reduction in 2016 Budget expenditure

    Buhari orders reduction in 2016 Budget expenditure

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday ordered the National Planning Commission (NPC) to go back to the drawing board and produce the framework for a 2016 national budget that will reduce recurrent expenditure and prioritize developmental projects.

    He gave the order after receiving a briefing from the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Bassey Akpanyung, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The President, according to a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, told Dr. Akpanyung and Directors of the NPC that capital projects must now be given the fullest possible priority because Nigeria cannot achieve real development without adequate investment in capital and infrastructural projects.

    “In carrying out its role in surveillance of the economy, review and appraisal of policies, the Commission should devise a plan for a realignment of the budget so that capital projects can be really prioritized,” the President directed the NPC.

    The Executive Secretary of the NPC had informed the President that Nigeria’s planning system was beset by many challenges.

    These challenges, he said, included the non-alignment of national plans with the annual budget and inadequate capacity in the departments of Planning, Research and Statistics in the various government ministries.

  • We’ve stepped up efforts to recover stolen funds – Buhari

    We’ve stepped up efforts to recover stolen funds – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said his administration has taken efforts to recover looted Nigerian funds a step further by identifying banks, financial institutions and countries in which payments for stolen Nigerian crude oil have been deposited.

    He spoke while receiving the visiting United States Congressmen at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Buhari in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, acknowledged the support and cooperation his administration was getting from the international community in gathering required intelligence for tracing and recovering stolen national resources.

    “We are getting cooperation from the international community, including information on ships that take crude oil from Nigeria and change direction, or pour their contents into other ships mid-stream.

    “Some monies were paid to individual accounts. We are identifying the financial institutions and countries that are involved.

    “I have been assured that when we get all our documents together, the United States and other countries will treat our case with sympathy,’’ the President told the Congressmen led by Rep. Darrel Issa.

    He also said his administration will welcome more regular meetings of the Nigeria-United States Bi-National Commission.

    President Buhari noted that the Commission could serve as a more useful platform for the promotion of bilateral trade and economic relations as well as joint cooperation in the war against terrorism.

    Rep. Darrel assured President Buhari that the U.S will support Nigeria against Boko Haram by providing training, intelligence and military platforms.

    “We look forward to helping you in many ways to end the Boko Haram insurgency and the theft of crude oil in the Gulf of Guinea,’’ he said.

     

  • EFCC wants Buhari to reform judiciary

    EFCC wants Buhari to reform judiciary

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to reform the judiciary in a way that will assist the commission in its fight against corruption.

    The Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde stated this at a two-day workshop on Budget Monitoring and Tracking, organized for NGOs, CBOs, Media and local government staff in Akure, Ondo State.

    Lamorde, who was represented by the EFCC Director, Public Affairs Department, Mr. Osita Nwajah, lamented that they have always been clash between the act guiding the activities of the commission and the constitution of the country.

    The EFCC chief urged the federal government to establish a “Special Court” that would only focus on corruption cases.

    He said, “It was the EFCC that proposed the Special Court and we have not relented on that. If you study the EFCC act very well, there is some movement in that direction which says that the court should not entertain interlocutory applications in the course of the trial – that is people cannot come to say let us stop the main trial and let us argue the non-substantive issue.

    “But then, it is also inconsistence with the relevant of the constitution which guarantee access to judicial process of every Nigerian. So you cannot abridge that right and so far it is inconsistent with the constitution. That provision cannot operate, that is why we have this interlocutory things coming up so often.

    “It is so bad that in the cases of two former governors we have on trial, some of the people you are hearing about would have gone to the Supreme Court on Interlocutory applications. They have dragged us to the Supreme Court and the usual process in Nigeria is that anytime such process comes up you will keep the substantive matter aside and address the concern as raised by the defence.”

     

  • Nigeria’ll establish two consulates in Benin Republic, says Buhari  

    Nigeria’ll establish two consulates in Benin Republic, says Buhari  

    NIGERIA is to have two new consulates in Benin Republic, President Muhammadu Buhari has assured.

    He made the promise on Saturday night during a meeting with Nigerians residing in Benin Republic.

    According to the President, provisions will be made for the establishment of the consulates in next year’s budget if it passe through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    He said: “I think I will direct your ambassador to make the request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that by the time we are doing the next budget, it would be included.

    “Although we are trying to cut down on the number of ministries, the morale of Nigerians in the Diaspora must be considered.

    “This is because we are so many. We are aggressive whether in business or other facets of life. So, we, as a government will do everything possible to look after Nigerians wherever they are.”

    Stressing that it was customary of him to meet the representatives of Nigerian community wherever he goes and answer their questions, he said that he has always told Nigerians to respect their host’s culture and laws.

    He noted that there were a number of problems in South Africa which did not portray Nigerians in good light.

    “Some of them are in prison for committing a number of crimes. But for you who are so close home, you should do your best in being good ambassadors of the country,” he said.

    On whether there was any cooperation with Benin Republic towards fighting Boko Haram, he said: “Yes, they have identified with the countries of Lake Chad Commission which comprises of Cameron, Chad and Nigeria. He (Boni Yayi ) made an undertaking of providing a number of troops to join the Task Force troops of the Chad Basin Commission countries to fight the Boko Haram.

    “I will not mention the number of troops because it is a security issue. As you know, Nigeria is expected to make a bigger contribution.

    By yesterday (Friday), we are supposed to take the troops off the ground. So, Benin Republican through the President is participating in fighting Boko Harm.”

    Answering the question on what the Federal Government was doing to facilitate the return of those who may so wish, the President said: “I believe a lot of you are doing well and are better off here. So, the question of facilitating your coming home does not arise.

    “We don’t want you to come back home and be unemployed. Don’t come and add to our problems. If you have something doing here please continue doing it.”

    Towards opening a campus of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in Benin Republic, he urged them to pass a formal letter through the ambassador who will write the ministry of education.

    “And I think the possibility of expanding the facility may be examined,” he stated

    On how the government will assist to improve their businesses, he said: “I think what the government can do is through your ambassador. If the embassy sends a report from your representatives, I believe the ministry of commerce and industry will examine it and whichever suggestion they raise, the Federal Government will look at them.

    “The Federal Government here in Nigeria will ensure that people don’t just earn their salaries but that they do exactly what they are paid for,” he said.

  • Postscript of Buhari’s US visit

    President Buhari’s visit to the United States of America (US) has come and gone. And its outcome has meant different things to different people depending on the angle from which it is viewed.

    Broadly speaking however, there is no doubt the nation stands to gain from such engagements given the globalization of the world economy and the prime role of the US in its affairs. It was also significant in the sense that it represented a demonstration of confidence by that government in the capacity of our democracy to endure.

    Of course, his hosts gave assurances of assistance in the war against the Boko Haram insurgency; the repatriation of looted funds stashed in the vaults of other countries by marauding leaders and such other measures that will aid the nation’s economic development.

    But there were two issues in the course of the visit that should not and cannot be glossed over. This is because they seemed to have cast some slur on the overall success of that visit. The two saw the presidency issuing statements ostensibly to contextualize what was said in the course of the event. The first was the statement credited to the President while answering questions from journalists. He had said “going by the election results, constituencies that gave me 95 per cent cannot in all honesty be treated on the same issues with constituencies that gave me five per cent. I think these are political realities. While certainly there will be justice for everybody but the people who voted and made their votes count, they must feel the government has appreciated the efforts they put in putting the government in place”.

    The second came from his prepared speech at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). It read, “unwittingly and I dare say, unintentionally the application of the Leahy Law amendment by the US government has aided and abated the Boko Haram terrorist group in the prosecution of its extremist ideology and hate, the indiscriminate killings and maiming of civilians, raping of women and girls, and in other heinous crimes. I believe this is not the spirit of the Leahy Law”.

    On both scores, the Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina was quick to issue statements either clarifying what the president actually meant or canvassing positions urging the public to be wary of misconstruing what was actually said. Curiously, in all these interventions, he did not say the president was misquoted but only sought to place the statements within the context he would want them to be understood.

    But in doing these, he inadvertently created two sets of problems. The first is the presumption that the larger public is incapable of properly contextualizing both statements and therefore needed to be helped out.  How he came about that conclusion remains largely curious. Second, the clarifications also created the impression that either the presidency was very uncomfortable with its position on the two issues after they went public or it was under pressure from some unseen quarters to defend them. There is also the third suggestion that the president only realized the full purport of the statements after they had gone public. The extent to which those seeming clarifications achieved the desired objective remains largely illusory.

    Before we go into the context of those statements, it will be helpful to bring into focus Adesina’s clarifications on them. The objective is to fathom if there are any differences between them and what the president actually said.

    On how the president will treat those who voted for him, Adesina admitted that what was attributed to the president actually came from him. But then, he contended that the president also said the constitution has guaranteed the rights of every part of the country. According to him, “what this means is that those who voted five per cent will get their due and will not get things commensurate with five per cent votes”. He accused unnamed persons of not balancing the entire statement. The first flaw here is with the concept of what is due to those who voted five per cent. It cannot definitely be the same with what is due to those who voted 95 per cent. There is problem because of the introduction of ratio or proportion. Having brought in this exogenous variable, the clear interpretation is that it will be the prime yardstick for the distributions of the spoils of office. There is absolutely no ambiguity in this. Buhari even went further to admit this consideration as political reality. There are thousand and one angles from which the president could have approached journalists’ question on the matter without bringing in the matter of ratios.

    The argument that the constitution guarantees the rights of every part of the country or that there will be fairness for everybody on that account, cannot mitigate the harm in that position. It could even be further developed to imply that but for such constitutional guarantees, the percentage of votes cast in the last elections would be the only determinant of the president’s relations with parts of the country.

    If you ask me whether the president should have gone into such comparisons, my answer will be capital No! He could have referred his audience to his much acclaimed inaugural statement that he belongs to nobody and belongs to everybody. That could have sufficed. It was therefore a huge contradiction and monumental error to be talking of percentages in the presence of that international audience. By extrapolation, the president succeeded in saying that he belongs to those who massively voted for him in that election. He has to live with that foreboding reality, attempts to clarify it notwithstanding.

    His aide also said in respect of the Leahy Law, the president’s statement was misconstrued. According to him, it should be seen as a passionate appeal to the US government to soften on the law to enable Nigeria intensify action and win the war against Boko Haram. The aspect of the written statement that is said to have been misconstrued and those who misconstrued it is hazy. What that portion of the written speech said is very clear.  Being a written speech, the president must have taken time to go through it and possibly agreed with its content before going public. It is a different ball game if the disputed section was not laced in diplomatic niceties; conveyed unintended meaning and thus inappropriate for that audience. The problem with the statement is in its sweeping assertion that the Leahy Law amendment by the US aids and abets the Boko Haram terrorists group.  The Leahy Law does not aid and abet the Boko Haram terrorists.  Boko Haram is propelled, reinforced and sustained by weird fundamentalist Islamist ideology and the army of their unseen sympathizers. The law only imposes some constraints in the prosecution of the insurgency war. That is the proper perspective. The blame for this vague presentation is still that of the presidency. It was at liberty to have expunged that section if it was sufficiently satisfied it would create doubts for the administration.

    Be that as it may, the discomfort of the government with that portion could possibly have arisen from fears from two quarters-one from the host government and the other from the home country. The US was bound to show discomfort with the statement given the wrong impression it created. On the other hand, the presidency is bound to be scarred by its likely interpretation at home. The second plank is more so given the politicization of the issue of human rights abuses in the war against Boko Haram. Before now, much of the reservations of the US government on that war had hinged on this singular issue. It is for the same reason it refused to sell categories of arms and ammunitions to the last regime. Discomfort could have been aided by the fear that the new regime was about to fall into the same trap.

    There is also the issue of local propaganda. Those who opposed the previous regime had made issues out of its purported human rights abuses. Amnesty International has also been notorious for levying copious allegations along this line without regard for the grave human rights abuses by the fundamentalist group. It would appear this dialectic is at the heart of the current discomfort.

  • Buhari running communist economic agenda, says PDP

    Buhari running communist economic agenda, says PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of running a communist economic agenda.

    The party kicked against the administration’s attempts to repeal the provisions of the Foreign Exchange and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, otherwise known as Decree No.17 of 1995 and to replace it with “unilateral imposition of new regulations”.

    A statement yesterday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, kicked against what it described as moves by Buhari to deny Nigerians the right to freely open and operate domiciliary accounts.

    “This Act remains the subsisting law regulating the operations of domiciliary accounts in Nigeria and by its provisions therefore, Nigerians are empowered to freely open and operate domiciliary accounts.

    “As such, any enactment and or regulation inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are deemed void. Thus, the recent foreign exchange transaction restrictions by this government are illegal, unlawful and void.

    “Besides the provisions of the law, the PDP declares this administration’s archaic communist economic agenda as unworkable and unsustainable”, the statement said.

    The party reminded President Buhari that “this is 2015 and not 1984”, stressing that trade and import restrictions are archaic and outdated.

    It added that “We are practicing a proper democracy and not the dictatorship of the politburo under a communist regime”.

    The PDP also said the apparent absence of an economic team in the third month of the administration was leading the country into economic quagmire and doldrums.

    The statement continued: “In the past, we had given examples of the devastating effect of lack of an economic team and a clear-cut fiscal policy by this administration as evidenced in the lull and painful decline in the stock market, spiral rate of inflation, the disastrous outing of the government team in bilateral talks during the recent visit to the United States of America and the shambolic state of our economy at present.

    “This confusion has been extended to operations and regulations of the foreign exchange transactions in Nigeria wherein the government is making it impossible for honest Nigerians to engage in free trade and regulate their personal activities as guaranteed by the constitution, and this is clearly an agenda to illegally impose a communist economic regime on Nigerians.

    “In a desperate attempt to create a semblance of movement out of the clearly motionless and stoic state of affairs of this government, they have reeled out bans and complete clampdown on free trade. One begins to wonder therefore whether we are not heading back to the era of import duty licenses and regulation of commodity prices”.

  • Buhari running communist economic agenda, says PDP

    Buhari running communist economic agenda, says PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of running a communist economic agenda.

    The party said the administration’s attempts to repeal the provisions of the Foreign Exchange And Miscellaneous Provisions Act, otherwise known as Decree No.17 of 1995 and replace it with “unilateral imposition of new regulations was not acceptable.

    In a statement on Sunday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, the PDP kicked against what it described as moves by Buhari to deny Nigerians the right to freely open and operate domiciliary accounts.

    “This Act remains the subsisting law regulating the operations of domiciliary accounts in Nigeria and by its provisions therefore, Nigerians are empowered to freely open and operate domiciliary accounts.

    “As such, any enactment and or regulation inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are deemed void. Thus, the recent foreign exchange transaction restrictions by this government are illegal, unlawful and void.

    “Besides the provisions of the law, the PDP declares this administration’s archaic communist economic agenda as unworkable and unsustainable”, the statement said.

    The PDP said President Buhari should remember that “this is 2015 and not 1984”, stressing that trade and import restrictions are archaic and outdated.

    It added that “we are practicing a proper democracy and not the dictatorship of the politburo under a communist regime”.

    The PDP also said the apparent absence of an economic team in the third month of the administration was leading the country into economic quagmire and doldrums.

    The statement continued, “In the past, we had given examples of the devastating effect of lack of an economic team and a clear-cut fiscal policy by this administration as evidenced in the lull and painful decline in the stock market, spiral rate of inflation, the disastrous outing of the government team in bilateral talks during the recent visit to the United States of America and the shambolic state of our economy at present.

    “This confusion has been extended to operations and regulations of the foreign exchange transactions in Nigeria wherein the government is making it impossible for honest Nigerians to engage in free trade and regulate their personal activities as guaranteed by the constitution, and this is clearly an agenda to illegally impose a communist economic regime on Nigerians.

    “In a desperate attempt to create a semblance of movement out of the clearly motionless and stoic state of affairs of this government, they have reeled out bans and complete clampdown on free trade. One begins to wonder therefore whether we are not heading back to the era of import duty licenses and regulation of commodity prices”.