The Nation Newspaper

Tag: BUHARI

  • Buhari begins campaign in Port Harcourt

    Buhari begins campaign in Port Harcourt

    Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, is wearing a new look for today’s commencement of All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign.

    The event is scheduled for the 40,000-capacity Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Igwuruta, near the Port Harcourt International Airport.

    The rally, fixed for 9 a.m., will be transmitted live on major television networks.

    River State Governor Chibuike Amaechi is the Director-General of the Buhari campaign organisation, which met last night at the Rivers State Government House.

    Shortly after inaugurating Buhari’s campaign in the Garden City, the APC team will move to Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, to campaign in the PDP-controlled state and to present its governorship candidate Mr Umana Okon Umana, a former secretary to the state government.

    The campaign team will remain in the South South for the next one week, going round states in the region from Port Harcourt.

    Colourful banners, billboards and posters of Buhari and his running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, were seen all over Port Harcourt yesterday

    Some kerbs, roundabouts, junctions and other strategic locations in the Rivers state capital were also being repainted and beautified.

    Amaechi’s ally, Chief Tony Okocha, who is the Chairman of the Mobilisation Committee of Buhari’s campaign launch in Rivers state, said  yesterday that today’s crowd will double the one at the October 25 mega rally to mark the seventh anniversary of Amaechi’s Supreme Court victory at the same venue.

    In neighbouring Bayelsa state, campaign posters of Gen. Buhari and former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva, flooded the state capital, causing excitement among workers at the state secretariat.

    The posters caught the admiration of many passersby who watched and nodded their heads in acceptance that the opposition had come to stay in President Goodluck Jonathan’s home state.

    One of the workers who identified himself simply as Johnson said: “The APC has now proved their seriousness. Before, we thought they only existed on paper. It is now a big contest with what we are seeing.

    When asked why they were not hostile to the campaign materials of the APC, he added: “We welcome this development because it is not going to be business as usual”.

    Sylva’s posters were boldly displayed at the entrance of the state secretariat annex.

    The poster carried a colourful picture of the former governor, with a simple message:  “A Homeboy for the Home Job in Abuja.”

    Sylva’s Facebook page was also laced with messages of his ambition tagged, “Timipre Sylva for Senate 2015.”

    On the page, one of the messages said:  “During Timipre Sylva’s administration as the governor of Bayelsa State, the Niger Delta University received significant attention leading to the accreditation of all the departments in the University.

    “Today, the university has been abandoned and the Faculty of Law, Department of Geology and others have all lost accreditation.

    “Diete Koki Memorial Hospital is a landmark achievement by his administration. Chief Timipre Sylva remains the best Governor we’ve had. He has been a House of Assembly member in the old Rivers State; Political Adviser to a former Bayelsa State Governor; ministerial aide, and Governor of Bayelsa State. His main opponent has zero political experience.

    “Clearly, Sylva best represents the voice of the people, and above all, he is a homeboy who understands the needs of the people he seeks to represent.”

  • Buhari sure of victory in Kano, says Ganduje

    Buhari sure of victory in Kano, says Ganduje

    The Kano State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has said the victory of the party’s presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, is a done deal.

    Ganduje, who is Kano State deputy governor, told reporters in his office that APC would win in all the elections next months.

    The APC candidate said he was sure of the party’s victory because of the response his campaign team was getting from the people.

    He said the party’s leadership had placated aggrieved candidates, who vied for the deputy governorship position.

    Ganduje said: “I can confirm to you that they are coming back to the fold. The selection of my running mate created a lot of outcry from some contestants. That is normal in politics. The office of the running mate is not an office for open contest. It is done according to the rules and regulations of the party. The candidate chooses his running mate, but must consult widely. So, this is a no-go-area. We know the parameters, attributes and attitudes — all these have to be put together to have a workable team.

    “But take it from me that all of them who expected to be appointed as my running mate were duly qualified. But we have to take only one of them. I have made contacts with them because they are very important. They have a very big role to play. They are still members of APC. I am personally heading the team to appeal to them publicly and privately.” he stated.

    Dr. Hafiz Abubakar has emerged Ganduje’s running mate.

    On the chances of Gen. Buhari and other APC candidates in Kano, Ganduje said: “The die is cast. We are ready for the race and, In shaa Allah, we shall succeed.

    “For our President in-waiting, Gen. Buhari, we are working very hard to give him the maximum votes here in Kano.

    “If possible, all those who registered, even those who are not in APC, we are begging them. We are soliciting their support. We are appealing for them to vote for our presidential candidate because of the shortcomings in the country, the various man-made calamities in the country.

    “We require somebody who is upright, somebody has the political will, somebody who is strong, somebody who can fight injustice — no matter what will happen to him or to any other person. So, we shall continue to do that to ensure that we contribute our quota, being the most populous state in the federation. We want to lead in giving him (Gen. Buhari) the maximum votes. May God help us.”

  • Buhari support groups launched in Akwa Ibom

    Buhari support groups launched in Akwa Ibom

    The Southsouth and the Akwa Ibom chapters of the Buhari’s Friends Organisation Network (BFON) have been launched in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

    BFON’s national and state leadership used the occasion to solicit the support of the Akwa Ibom residents for the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in next month’s election, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

    Speaking yesterday in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, at the inauguration of BFON state chapter and the Southsouth zonal office, its Grand Patron and former military governor of Ogun and Rivers states, Group captain Sam Ewang (rtd) said the meeting was meant to promote the political aspiration of Gen. Buhari.

    He said it would also ensure that the former Head of State got overwhelming votes for his victory.

    Ewang, who contested the governorship primary on the platform of APC and lost to Umana Okon Umana, assured that Gen. Buhari would win convincingly in the Northeast, Northwest and Southwest.

    The grand patron explained that it would be too sad, if he lost in Akwa Ibom State.

    He said: “I want every hand to be on deck to promote him in Akwa Ibom State. Let me inform you that gen. Buhari is going to sweep the entire Northeast, Northwest and Southwest. It will be too sad if he does not win in Akwa Ibom State. That is why I am urging you to make sure that he wins in the state.”

    The group’s National Coordinator, Saint Anthanasius Okon, reminded the people that Gen. Buhari’s project required people of like-minds and open spirit.

    He urged the residents to unite for Gen. Buhari to win.

  • Buhari as Nigeria’s El Libertador?

    SIR: It is impossible for an individual to save a country from ruin and disintegration, the reason why genuine statesmen at swearing-in ceremonies into offices the world over are all in agreement that they can never solve all of their country’s problems but that they will set the direction to liberate their people from deprivation and promote social stability.

    It is no longer shocking to hear and read ridiculous smear campaigns against office-seekers like we read daily these days in Nigeria. Over $2 billion dollars was spent in the last US mid-term elections on television advertorials that were not on issues but the pouring of sludge and flak on political opponents.

    But the electorates in the US were sensible as they filtered the facts out of these tall tales on the screen of truth and chose their candidates. These wise selections led to the recordings of some firsts: Mia Love became the first black republican woman elected to congress and Sarah Blair at 18 years old became the youngest state lawmaker (West Virginia Legislature).

    Will the US account be duplicated in Nigeria in the February 2015 presidential elections? Especially since the central government has been led by the PDP since 1999?

    Many commentators these days have been cheering the Buhari candidacy for the reason that he has always genuinely aspired to be president. He’s not like other candidates who have transformed over time to becoming simply establishment dramatis personae.

    These pundits have associated Buhari with John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln who in fact wanted to be presidents. These men won elections and went into the presidency with agendas that have outlived their terms of office and left a mark for posterity.

    For emphasis they say, Kennedy asked for the civil rights act which Lyndon Johnson signed into law on his death allowing blacks to vote and be voted for and Lincoln fought the American civil war in 1861 with the south that led to the end of slavery.

    Others have also said that this country is too complex to govern effectively and needs the character of a Buhari, whose term of office is likely to bring conflicting parties together to unite Nigeria. Under powerful leadership, Nigeria could become a great nation that would be built using federal power to shirt-front daring regional leaders believed to be sponsoring terrorism against Nigeria, as well as the numerous rabble-rousers for painful division within the nation and end insurgency.

    Buhari’s training in armament and military strategy they say will be needed to promote security and keep the country secure bearing in mind that he played a major role in a war that led to the unity of Nigeria and also ensure that the armed forces remain apolitical during elections especially as those units have been reported to look the other way when trouble-shooters rig elections in times gone by. Maybe like George Washington, Buhari only wants to put the country on the right course away from incitement to rebellion. Buhari had already proved his intentions when he didn’t promote himself beyond Major General when he was head of state and  he never energetically stopped  a coup that toppled him even with fore knowledge because it  could have led to many deaths.

    It remains to be seen if these calculations and anticipations will come true.

    I have had to ask some analysts what chance Buhari has in view of the massive elitist incidences of blackmail against him, some of which are funded.

    I was told by these doyens that the late Simon Bolivar of Latin America was blackmailed as well, but he is in our day celebrated in that part of the world and outside it, including the US, India and many other parts of the world.

    Buhari and Osibanjo, pundits hope, in combination with other stakeholders, will help prevent Nigeria from breaking up. They expect them also to form an all-inclusive government which they suggest does not exist at this time under the present regime. They also hope that the team can promote tolerance of other faiths and rule Nigeria with a firm hand.

    They go further by supposing that under Buhari’s  and Osibanjo’s stewardship, there might be a scrapping of security votes especially in a country that has not been at war from external aggressors, monies for which can be used to develop the polity instead of being used as a personal fiefdom.

    After all, if Buhari can give away a major part of his pension only to subsist on a fraction when many would not buck the current trend, it is presumed that he can sacrifice so much more for his country.

     

    • Simon Abah,

    Port Harcourt.

  • That letter from Akinyemi to Buhari, Jonathan

    SIR: The open letter by Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, Nigeria’s former Minister of External Affairs and deputy chairman, 2014 National Conference, to the two major contestants in the next year’s presidential election; President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will continue to generate mixed reactions in the polity because it touched on issues that border on our corporate existence as a nation.

    Akinyemi, a Professor of Political Science, had written that shortly after the appointment of the late National Security Adviser to the President, General Owoye Azazi, he met with him (NSA), at his own request,  to discuss the state of the nation on the eve of the 2011 general elections. At the said meeting, he allegedly told the General that he was neither worried about the conduct of the elections nor its outcome, which he expected President Jonathan to win. Rather, what really worried him was the management of the purported violence that would ensue after the elections, which he said would be massive. He disclosed that he suggested to Azazi the ways, in which the violence likely to be ensued, could be contained but that his advice was not acted upon and at the end, elections took place, Jonathan won and “all hell broke loose” because the conflict-controlled measures offered to Azazi were not adopted.

    Akinyemi averred that now that the nation was “back at the same crossroads again” and this time, it was likely to be more precarious, dangerous and severe than the 2011 experience due to the

    “very notorious prediction from the United States of America’s semi-official sources that the world is expecting a cataclysmic meltdown of the Nigerian nation come 2015″.

    Akinyemi concluded his letter by offering two ways out of the gloomy situation: That both presidential candidates should meet and sign a Memorandum of Undertaking  (MoU) that would commit them to civil and peaceful campaigns devoid of threats by preaching the imperative of peaceful elections, taming of party supporters, preventing violent protests and holding of a pre-election meeting between the candidates and the assemblage of 10 “council of wisemen” that would assist in managing the envisaged post-election conflicts.

    Despite the stark reality that all is not well with us as a nation, the options propounded by the well-respected Professor may, however, not be too helpful in finding solutions to the identified problems. We should ask: to what extent are the presidential aspirants truly liable for the conduct of their supporters?

    At the root of the identified problems is the current structure of the federation. Over the years, the various geo-political zones have never ceased to complain of one form of marginalisation or the other bordering chiefly on resource allocation, infrastructural and political advantage. That is why every ethnic or tribal group wants to gain power at all cost in a bid to redistribute national resources to regions. These agitations as pointed out by Akinyemi, did not just start now. So, why should the presidential aspirants sign any MoU and be held liable for the perceived injustice in the system?

    The real solution to the nation’s problems include the practice of true federalism, good governance, promotion of the rule of law, conduct of free and credible elections and the smooth functioning of

    our public institutions as opposed to the glorification of individuals, personalities or “council of wisemen”, as recommended by Akinyemi. When public institutions like INEC, the judiciary, police and other law enforcement agencies are made to function efficiently and effectively, most of the problems afflicting us as a nation will be surmounted. This is what is obtainable in other progressive nations around the world. He should join others to ensure that the identified problems facing us as a nation, and the way forward – as highlighted in report of the National Conference, of which he was an active player – are implemented without further delay.

    • Adewale Kupoluyi

    Federal University Of Agriculture, Abeokuta.

  • Buhari: religion shouldn’t divide Nigerians

    Buhari: religion shouldn’t divide Nigerians

    Religion should not divide Nigeria but be an instrument of unity; All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday.

    Gen. Buhari spoke at the yearly Lagos State Thanksgiving Service held at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja.

    The service, initiated during the tenure of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and sustained by Governor Babatunde Fashola, is held on the first Sunday in January.

    The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, presides.

      Yesterday’s session was also attended by Gen. Buhari’s running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who is a pastor of the RCCG and his wife Dolapo.

    Fashola, Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi, Lagos Deputy Governor Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, former Lagos State Governors Lateef Jakande and Gen. Mobolaji Johnson; APC governorship candidate Akinwunmi Ambode, APC National Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, state chairman Chief Henry Ajomale and National Publicity Secretary Lai Mohammed, among others, were at the service.

    Gen. Buhari said Nigerians should have a right to go to God as they wish. He pledged his commitment to security for all Nigerians if voted into office on February 14.

    He said: “I am honoured to participate in this annual thanksgiving service. This year’s thanksgiving service brings together all Nigerians from all states, Christians, Muslims and all religions in Lagos to thank the Almighty God.

    “Religion must never be used as an excuse to divide us, oppress others or gain unfair advantage. In all my life, I have expressed the belief that all Nigerians must worship God according to their wish.

    “The duty of government is not religion.  Security for all Nigerians, regardless of tribe or religion is our commitment.  On this day of thanksgiving, we shall all sit together like this, rejoice and thank God together for the Almighty God to give us the country of our dream.”

    Fashola condemned those who have predicted negatively concerning the state and the country.

    Fashola said the state government deemed it fit to hold a thanksgiving service for sparing the lives of the people amid calamities rocking the country.

    He said: “Today, 264 days after, when girls have disappeared without trace,

    Bombs have exploded in mindless orgies of violence.

    “Nigerian towns and villages have been sacked. Our brothers and sisters have been displaced from their homes.

    Young children have died in stampede while looking for jobs.

    “Some of our brothers and sisters in the military have lost their lives while trying to defend you and I and the fatherland. I ask you all what else we can do than to give thanks, express our gratitude and praise God for surviving.”

    In the governor’s view it is important for people to know that they are alive not because they are better, but because of grace and mercy which should never be taken it for granted.

    “Our appreciation must be reflected in our attitude of gratitude. In some parts of West Africa today, government has been forced to declare a lockdown of people and restrict movement in this season of festivity because an infectious disease caused by the Ebola Virus is yet to be brought under control.

    “These countries are smaller than Lagos. Lagos is, in fact, bigger than many of them combined. Yet the same virus afflicted us, we sadly lost 13 lives, but today we are not under lock down.

    “We can sit side-by-side, we can shake hands and we can move freely. Again, there was grace; there was a coming together across ethnic, religious and government levels to address a common problem.”

    Fashola said it was high time the people focused their common humanity and those things that they share together and focus less on those things that are different about them.

    “Our languages, our religion, our ethnic origins are accidents of our birth and not the essential content of our humanity. If our creator wanted us to be the same it is not difficult for him to do so,” Fashola said, adding:

    “Your faith is not better than mine, and if you think it is, I cannot quarrel with your opinion. You must respect my right to practice mine. That is why we gather today in the Centre of Excellence to thank and praise God together, Christians of different denominations, Muslims with different affiliations and traditionalists, because we are all grateful. That is the Spirit of Lagos.”

    The governor solicited support for APC candidates, saying: “I hope you will choose wisely. I hope you will choose experience. I hope you will not experiment.”

    Pastor Adeboye, who gave the exhortation, urged Nigerians not to relent in their prayers for the nation. He expressed optimism that 2015 will set Nigeria on a path to greatness.

    Adeboye whose sermon was titled Jesus the Truth, enjoined Nigerians to live upright in order to sumont the challenges that may arise in the curse of the year.

    He admonished Lagosians not to nurse any fear that Governor Babatunde Fashola has completed his two term tenure in the state, saying that God overseas the affairs of the state.

  • Buhari for Akwa Ibom tomorrow

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, will tomorrow hold a rally at the Uyo Township Stadium in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

    In a statement yesterday by APC State Chairman, Dr Amadu Attai, and the Secretary, Elder Efiong Etok, the party said the rally would be attended by APC elders, chieftains and supporters, including Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who is also the Director-General of General Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation.

    It added that APC National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun and other chieftains of the party would also attend the rally.

    Highlights of the rally, the statement stressed, include the presentation of the party’s flag to Mr. Umana Okon Umana, as the party’s governorship candidate.

    Also, a group, Buhari/Osinbajo Solidarity, has backed the popular call for a positive change in the political leadership of the country and Akwa Ibom State.

    The group rose from a meeting in Uyo with a call for synergy to enhance the enthronement of a people-oriented government on May 29.

  • Rep drums up support for Buhari, Ahmed

    Rep drums up support for Buhari, Ahmed

    A member of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Mashood Mustapha, has urged Kwara residents to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari in next month’s general elections.

    Mustapha, who is representing Asa/Ilorin West in the National Assembly, also urged the people to ensure the return of Kwara State Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed to the Ilorin Government House by voting massively for APC during the elections.

    Mustapha noted that Gen. Buhari, being a disciplined person, had the wherewithal to tackle the nation’s hydra-headed problems.

    The lawmaker spoke this in Ilorin, the state capital, when he distributed food items to residents of his constituency.

    The beneficiaries included the handicapped, non-indigenes, especially the Igbo community.

    Mustapha said Gen. Buhari would not condone indiscipline and corruption from any quarters , adding that he would use the nation’s resources judiciously.

    The lawmaker urged Kwara residents to re-elect  Ahmed because he had implemented people-oriented programmes and policies in the past three and a half year.

    He said the governor had completed all the projects he inherited from his predecessor and initiated new ones.

  • ‘Nigerian Army has Buhari’s academic record’

    The Director of Public Relations of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier Olaleye Lajide, has dismissed reports that the Army could not find academic records of the presidential candidate of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari
    The military spokesman made the disclosure while responding to a text message from SaharaReporters seeking clarification about the status of Buhari’s records. Brigadier Lajide affirmed that the Nigerian Army is in possession of all records of serving, retired and deceased officers since its inception. He added, however, that all military officers are supposed to keep original copies of their certificates.
    According to him, in the event where an officer loses his or her original copy of records, the concerned officer must officially apply for copies from the army. He stated that the army responds to such requests in an expeditious manner.

    Brigadier Lajide told our SaharaReporters that he was a former director of records at the Nigerian Army headquarters and had seen records of older and retired generals. He added that he was in no doubt that General Buhari’s records were intact.

  • Between Goodluck and Buhari

    While the Jonathanians cannot distinguish their boss from renowned cerebral entities like Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Madiba Mandela and even our Lord Jesus, they have continued to rant and rabble-rouse as they leave issues by refusing to highlight his major achievements viz-a-viz the basic tenets of his proposed “transformation” agenda and the impact to a common Nigerian. The Goodluck apologists have only told us the sudden increase in GDP which according to them has led to Nigeria being the largest economy in Africa.

    Needless do I accentuate the fact that a country’s GDP does not measure the environmental impact of growth, nor sustainability. A good economist will attest to the fact that it’s possible that GDP is growing up but median income going down and poverty rate increasing. Hence, the criticism of GDP as a flawed metric of economic growth by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz.

    Indeed, Nigeria’s problem never started with GEJ, but further aggravation of the economy and the infliction of pains on the masses rather than amelioration by this administration cannot be quick to be dispelled. The over one million internally displaced persons had their own share of the woes; this will undeniably deny their children access to basic education. The drama behind the captured Chibok girls still lingers in our memories, even with the hope of them returning to their parents fading away as recently admitted by the federal government.

    The recent pronouncement by the Minister of Power that power generation and transmission has dropped to about 2000MW calls for serious concern, despite the huge investment in the power sector. The commercialisation of education and lack of basic infrastructure in our learning institutions show the level of gross incompetence of this administration, just to mention a few.

    As of today, most Nigerians would agree with me that the presidential contest is between Jonathan and Buhari. We might not have found an angelic saviour, yet we have been provided with the next best alternative. Buhari, popularly called Mei Gaskiya (The Custodian of truth), has been birthed for the fourth consecutive time on a rescue mission. A man whose integrity and reputation has not been soiled by the murky waters of Nigeria’s politics, a man who believes stealing is analogous to corruption. Little wonder because of his increasing acceptance, he had been painted to be a religious bigot and a semi-literate “jackboot” by those who have refused to account for the “missing” $20bn federation account. As part of their plot to resist common sense revolution, they call him an old man, while they fail to realise that those who governed India and led her to one of the best twenty economies through their policies are octogenarians. They fail to realise that the common man has preference for a secondary school certificate holder who has integrity and can give them electricity to a PhD holder who cannot preserve their territorial integrity, give them quality education and security.

    It is time for Nigerians to choose between hope and despair, between accountability and looting, between leadership and ruler ship, between a visionary and visionless leader, between mass employment and unemployment and ultimately between light and darkness. I agree with a columnist who said we need Buhari more than he needs us.

    Give us GMB/OSINBAJO…..Sai Buhari

    Adetayo Peter

    archallusmcb@yahoo.com