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Tag: Femi Adesina

  • On Femi Adesina’s faux pas

    On Femi Adesina’s faux pas

    Sir: In a stunning confession, former presidential spokesman Femi Adesina recently stated that former President Muhammadu Buhari might not have survived his health challenges had he relied on Nigerian hospitals. Speaking on Channels Television during a special live coverage in honour of the late president, Adesina attempted to justify Buhari’s repeated medical trips to the United Kingdom by claiming it was “a matter of survival.”

    But in doing so, Adesina exposed not just Buhari’s medical secrets, but the total failure of the government he served, a government that for eight years had every opportunity, every resource and every mandate to transform the health sector but chose neglect instead.

    How can a former presidential spokesperson admit that their administration could not provide one world-class hospital in a nation of over 200 million people? How can such a man say this publicly, without realising he has indicted the administration he glorified? It is an insult to every Nigerian who died due to inadequate healthcare, who could not afford overseas treatment, or who had to endure broken-down equipment and unpaid health workers.

    Femi Adesina as a spokesperson must understand that public communication at that level is not propaganda. Public relations is rooted in truth, responsibility and patriotism, not blind loyalty to individuals. As citizens and leaders alike, we must be ever mindful of how our words and actions affect the sensibilities of millions. The true measure of our duty should be the welfare of Nigeria and her people always above personal ambition or political alignment. At least it should be responsible.

    Nigeria is not short of talent. Our people are healing the world while their own homeland bleeds. Nigerian medical professionals have become global trailblazers, proving that the problem is never about human capacity but about leadership irresponsibility.

    Read Also: Fact-Check: Photos claiming vigilantes’ success in Kwara is of Nigerian Army’s operation in Borno 

    Femi Adesina’s remarks were not only tone-deaf but amounted to a grave insult to the millions of Nigerians who depend daily on a struggling healthcare system for both basic and critical medical needs. His comments, which sought to downplay the failures of the past administration, inadvertently exposed what many already knew, that the Buhari-led government, in which Adesina served for eight years, failed woefully in its responsibility to build a functional, accessible and equitable health sector for its citizens. It is both ironic and painful that those who had the power to fix the system now casually distance themselves from its collapse, while everyday Nigerians continue to pay the price, sometimes with their lives.

    With such utterances, Nigerians need to rise beyond outrage and begin to demand accountability, asking tough questions about whether our leaders ever had the country’s best interest at heart or were merely in power for personal gains. It is time, for citizens to stop excusing incompetence and start insisting on governance that delivers real results.

    The tragedy is not that Buhari flew to the UK for medical treatment; it is that he failed to build even one world-class facility to help others survive what he survived. History will not be kind to those who had the power to make a difference but chose mediocrity and selfish comfort over national progress.

    It is not a lack of resources that is killing Nigeria; it is the mismanagement, greed and lack of conscience by those entrusted to lead. Femi Adesina’s comment is a confession of failure, and we will not forget!

    •Dayo DaSilva (arpa, amncs), dsv123ng@yahoo.com

  • ‘I look forward to leaving, and when it’s time, I go to my grave’

    ‘I look forward to leaving, and when it’s time, I go to my grave’

    • By Femi Adesina

    Why should one be so sad about the death of an 82-year-old man? Not just sad. Dolorous. Mournful. Devastated. At 82, you are not exactly a young man, and anything can happen.

    But not when you are Muhammadu Buhari, soldier of soldiers, an officer and gentleman. Not when you had survived a life threatening illness that lasted the better part of the year 2017, and you came out of it fresher and more vigorous.

    I didn’t expect President Buhari to leave, at least not in the next 10 years. For two days in March, I was with him in his Kaduna home, which had just been renovated, and which he moved into about three weeks earlier from his Daura, Katsina State homestead.

    I met him with almost all the newspapers in the land spread on the table before him. He was reading one. That his winsome smile, and I asked how he was doing. He said very well, since he was free from the troubles of Nigeria. We laughed.

    Typical of him, he asked after the welfare of my family, and how I was doing. We then discussed many things about our country particularly the vast, ungoverned borders between Nigeria and neighboring countries in the North. The length is about 1,500 kilometers.

    “Only God can effectively man it,” he said, and laughed.

    It was Ramadan, and I joined at dinner. The former First Lady, Aisha, was around, and offered me some roasted meat (Suya).

    Less than two weeks later, he travelled to London for what was said to be a routine medical trip. It lasted almost four months, and he never returned, at least not alive.

    When President Buhari was brought back home for burial on Tuesday, July 15, having died two days earlier, I looked at the grave that had been dug at a favorite spot he used to sit in the courtyard of his modest home. There was the narrow inner part, and the words of Thomas Gray in his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard came to my mind: “Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree’s shade, where heaves the turf in many a mould’ring heap, each in his narrow cell forever laid, the rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.”

    Each in his narrow cell forever laid. So, Baba Buhari, my boss and senior friend would be laid in this narrow cell? Well, it’s the lot of mortals. Doomed to die. All mortals must go one day. Good grief!

    As he was laid to rest forever in that narrow aperture, I remember one thing the President had said to me on March 30, 2023, exactly two months to our leaving office.

    I had told him I was planning to write a book, and I needed sessions of interview with him. He consented. I asked many questions which later formed major part of my book, Working with Buhari: Reflections of a Special Adviser, Media and Publicity (2015-2023). And the last question was; Mr President, after here, what next? And he said:

    “I’m looking forward to leaving. And from there, I go to my grave at the appointed time.”

    The appointed time came on Tuesday, but I must confess that I was shocked at the casual way the President had talked about going to his grave. Wasn’t he fazed by the prospect? Did it not scare him? And I said to myself; this man, he neither fears life nor death. He seems so sure of his God.

    I had known Muhammadu Buhari at close quarters two clear years before he became President. But we had been talking on phone about three years before then.

    Read Also: Benue killings: When graveyards replace farmlands

    My mother, that stately, urbane woman, had died in August 2013, aged 75. We were having part of the obsequies in Lagos, and I’d invited many people, including Major General Buhari, former military head of state.

    To my utmost shock, he came! And not only that, he stayed through the Christian ceremony. Bigot? That’s the man they say never wants to hear about any other religion, except Islam. A man who wanted to Islamize Nigeria. My respect for him went several notches higher.

    I didn’t think I would ever work in government, and didn’t even want it. But with a Muhammadu Buhari as President, I gladly had a change of mind, which lasted eight years and beyond.

    I resumed work on June 1, 2015, and never forgot the things he told me: don’t let anybody stop you from seeing me, whether in the office or at home. Whenever you have to see me, just come.

    Another. I’m a General, and I can argue. Don’t be intimidated. Argue with me. If you have a better point, I’ll agree with you.

    I had opportunity to test that second instruction just nine days later. Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara had wangled their ways into the leadership of the National Assembly, against the preference of their party, the APC. Though rebellious, what they did followed constitutional order. So I told the President we needed to congratulate them. He balked. But I stood my ground. He said no, I also said no. I said it would portray him as undemocratic. At the end of the day, he reasoned with me and the statement was written, with him just adding one word. Keeping to his word is part of the famed integrity. Argue with me. If you have a better point, I’ll agree with you.

    I’m not writing another book, or am I? Let the reader please forgive me for the lengthy piece.

    When his first Chief of Staff, Mallam Abba Kyari died in 2020, and I went to condole with him, President Buhari thanked me, and said: “We shall all go one day. Only that we don’t know the time.” Now we know. July 13, 2025.

    A patriot who loves his country, especially the ordinary people. When insurgency reached its peak in 2021, and he held a meeting with security chiefs, he was virtually pleading: “Wipe out these people. Kill them. They are haters of humanity. They don’t deserve to live. Nigerians love me, they trust me, that’s why they keep voting for me. Wipe them out. Kill them.”

    Lt Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru was the Chief of Army Staff then. He pledged that as soon as the platforms they were expecting came, they would finish the job in a short time. Sadly, Attahiru died in a plane crash one week later.

    Somebody had suggested at the meeting that maybe the country should hire mercenaries. The President said no. He said our military fought in Burma, in Congo, and in Biafra. They proved themselves. Why then mercenaries?

    “See what Buba Marwa is doing at NDLEA. Simply fantastic. And we have many more like Marwa in the military,” the President said.

    Some people claim he was never aware of anything. I laughed. And still laugh. His memory was amazing. I had taken issues concerning some people to the President for his intervention. And he usually helped, as long as it was not against his principles. One day, in our 5th or 6th year, I took a matter to him at home. He listened carefully, then said:

    “Adesina, each time you have brought a private matter to me, you have come to speak for somebody. You have never asked for something personal.”

    Humility and simplicity. Don’t look far, when you have seen Buhari. When a President has retired to his quarters for the night, nobody can bring him down again. Nobody, I say.

    Bayo Omoboriowo was his Personal Photographer, and one of my staff in the media department. He had put together a photo book on the President, which he planned to launch at the State House Conference Centre. The President had been duly invited as Special Guest of Honor.

    The night before, Bayo approached me that I should lead him to remind the President. A dutiful, pleasant young man, I obliged. When we got to the residence, the President had gone up for the night. Brickwall. We were still scratching our heads in dismay, when President Buhari emerged from a side door.

    “I had gone up, but I saw you through the cameras, and decided to come down to see you.”

    Astounding. Astonishing. Shocking.

    When we told him why we came, he said he had appointed somebody to represent him at the event. We screamed, and went flat on our bellies, pleading. He looked at us, smiled paternally, and said he would come. He did, and his presence made all the difference.

    One day, former EFCC Chairman, Farida Waziri, gave me a message to the President. When I delivered, he said, “Ah, Farida Waziri. One of the women I respect most in the country.” What she wanted got done. Pronto!

    Permit me again to share two more stories. President Buhari had just removed Ita Ekpenyong as DG DSS, and replaced him with Lawal Daura. When he gave me the name to announce, and because there had been loud murmurs of nepotism in appointments, I asked him why he didn’t pick a man from South-south to replace a South-southerner. His reply:

    “When key positions are to be filled in the country, a search is conducted, the three best people are presented to me. If I then bypass the best person because of where he comes from, his language or religion, Allah will judge me for it. That’s what informs my decisions.”

    Very considerate man. The Anyiam-Osigwe family holds annual lectures at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Lagos, to which they bring illustrious international speakers, presidents, prime ministers, and the like. In 2016, the theme was on corruption, and their partners all over the world told them there was no better person to handle the topic than the Nigerian president.

    I told President Buhari, and he said he was willing to deliver the lecture, but he wouldn’t want it in Lagos because of the hardship it would cause for people through disruption of traffic and movement. Could they consider Abuja as venue?

    I told the Anyiam-Osigwes, and they agreed to Abuja. They booked the International Conference Centre, and built the platform and other decorations with N5 million.

    The night before the lecture, I heard that the President had been convinced to send a Minister to read his speech. I went to meet him at home, and reminded how he had promised to personally deliver the lecture. I also told him how much the organizers had spent on getting the hall ready.

    “In that case, I must go,” said the President. And he went.

    I must stop, though there are hundreds of stories still to tell. How he refused the gift of an SUV from a contractor, instruction he gave Minister Babatunde Fashola to build the Second Niger Bridge, Lagos/Ibadan, Enugu/Port Harcourt , and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano expressways, how Mele Kyari, NNPCL GMD told me Buhari never asked for a dime from the corporation that was gravy train for many former leaders, what the President told me after his son, Yusuf, had a bike accident, how his friends paid the fees of his children through school, his phone chats with Rev Chris Okotie, Duro Onabule, Tunji Braithwaite, among others.

    President Buhari was an icon, a unique man. Perfect? No man is. His shortcomings, as little as they are, have been interred with his bones. The good he did lives after him.

    • Adesina was Special Adviser (media) to President Buhari
  • Buhari was a man of goodwill, says Femi Adesina

    Buhari was a man of goodwill, says Femi Adesina

    Former Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Femi Adesina, has described the late Nigerian leader as a man of goodwill, integrity, and remarkable simplicity.

    Speaking during a televised interview, Adesina dispelled long-held assumptions about Buhari’s lifestyle, particularly his frequent medical trips to London and perceptions of personal wealth.

    He revealed that the former president never owned property in the UK, stating, “I know the places where he stayed in London. Rented apartments, not owned. If he had a personal house, I would have known. I would have been there.”

    READ ALSO: Presidency: FEC postpones special session in honour of Buhari

    Addressing criticism of Buhari’s foreign medical care and his children’s overseas education, Adesina explained that the former president benefited from long-standing friendships. “President Buhari didn’t need to ask for anything. People offered out of admiration and friendship. He didn’t abuse that goodwill,” he said.

    Adesina clarified that Buhari had used the same medical team in the UK long before becoming president and continued with them out of necessity, not extravagance.

    He further recalled instances reflecting Buhari’s austere lifestyle, including one where the president questioned why a 20-year-old carpet in his home was replaced. “He was not about wealth or luxury. He was simple, straight, and honest,” Adesina said.

  • How I became Buhari’s special adviser on media, Femi Adesina narrates

    How I became Buhari’s special adviser on media, Femi Adesina narrates

    Femi Adesina on Tuesday, January 16, shared the story of his appointment as Muhammadu Buhari‘s special adviser on media and publicity, describing it as a “demonstration of God’s grace upon my life.”

    The journalist held this role from 2015 to 2023.

    He made the revelation during the launch of the book: “Working with Buhari: Reflections of A Special Adviser, Media, and Publicity (2015-2023)” which he wrote in honour of his former principal.

    However, months after he departed from the position, Adesina has now revealed the process that led to his selection.

    He said: “To me, I have always told people that working with President Muhammadu Buhari is a demonstration of God’s grace in my life.

    Read Also: Femi Adesina and Buhari’s regrets

    “From nowhere, without lifting a finger to push it, I was invited to assume the position of a Special adviser on media and publicity. It was a former Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi – he is in the audience – who told me how it happened.

    “He said after President Buhari had emerged, they took three names to him as possible special adviser on media and publicity. He looked at the three names, brought his pen from his breast pocket, circled my name, and signed in front of it. That was how it happened.”

  • Nigeria lost $157.5b to illicit financial flows between 2003-2012, says Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that Nigeria lost an estimated US$157.5 billion to illicit financial flows between 2003 and 2012.

    Quoting from the 2014 Global Financial Integrity Report in his address to the High-Level National Side-Event organised by the African Union Development Agency and New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday in New York, on the margins of the 74th United Nations General Assembly, under the theme, “Promotion of International Cooperation to Combat Illicit Financial Flows and Strengthen Good Practices on Assets Recovery and Return to Foster Sustainable Development,” the Nigerian leader noted that such massive loss of assets, resulted in dearth of resources “to fund public services or to alleviate poverty,” in the country.

    Buhari, in a statement by the Special Adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, issued in the early hours of Thursday, added “This is why, as Africans, we have no choice but to break the back of corruption.”

    Acknowledging lack of sufficient capital and corruption as impediments to socio-economic development of the continent, the President emphatically restated his administration’s anti-corruption campaign:

    “That is why our government has made it a war we intend to win.  We will give all it takes to ensure there is no hiding place for purveyors of corrupt practices who are truly enemies of the people.”

    Harping on the need to strengthen good practices on asset recovery and return, President Buhari said that, “In the last five years, our government has made significant progress to curb corruption,” adding: “We have recovered millions of dollars stolen from our country.”

    He noted, however, that “there are still a lot of other funds that are stuck in foreign bank accounts due to international laws, different jurisdictions and justice systems that make it difficult for repatriation.”

    Describing Illicit Financial Flows as “illegal movement of funds from one country to another,” President Buhari lamented that, “These flows deplete Africa’s internally generated revenues, foreign exchange earnings, reduce tax revenues, drain natural resources, facilitate corruption and stunt private sector development.”

    Read Also: On Buhari’s new economic team

    Citing tax avoidance as another form of illicit financial flow, he quoted the Tax Justice Network and the International Monetary Fund to have estimated over US$200 billion per year as “being lost by developing countries when multinational enterprises do not pay taxes in the countries where they made the profit.”

    “This amount is significantly higher than the annual development aid received by these countries which are estimated to be about US$143 billion,” he added.

    Commending the organisers of the meeting designed to finding “pragmatic ways to promote international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on asset recovery and return, as an arm of sustainable development policies in Africa,” President Buhari also lauded their “shared commitment to root out corruption from our continent.”

    According to the Nigerian President, “I am motivated by the belief that, if we join hands, we can bequeath to our children an Africa that is not defined by corruption.”

    Emphasizing the imperative of international cooperation towards stemming the incidence of illegal financial flows, President Buhari said, “Any lasting solution to the above challenges will require international cooperation and coordination,” of African countries and their international counterparts.

    “This is one reason why the Nigerian Government supports this initiative of AUDA/NEPAD and remains committed until we ensure that there are no safe-havens for stolen assets from Africa,” he declared.

    On his expectations of the outcome of the meeting, the Nigerian leader said: “I have high expectations for this meeting.  At the end of the deliberations, I expect other African leaders, to see the pragmatic ideas on how to strengthen our anti-corruption institutions to reduce or effectively eliminate Illicit Financial Flows.

    “We need ideas on how to return the stolen assets to their countries of origin.  We also need strategies on how to plug the loopholes that enable companies to avoid paying commensurate taxes in their countries of operations.  You should deliberate on practical ideas to enhance global acceptable assets tracing and freezing, and boost the recovery governance framework.”

    Wishing the meeting also attended by the Presidents of Zambia and Ethiopia successful discussions, President Buhari said he looked forward to reading its resolutions and recommendations.

     

     

     

  • Why we focus on security, infrastructure development – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday in New York, at the sidelines of the 74th UN General Assembly, met with President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of Portugal, and explained why Nigeria was investing heavily on infrastructure development.

    The president, in a statement by his spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, in Abuja, said no country would develop without investments and infrastructure.

    He said: “We are a large country, with vast population and poor infrastructure. But we need people to come and invest, that’s why we are focusing on roads, rail, power, airports, and many others. Without infrastructure, investment would be slow.”

    He thanked Portugal for its “steadfast support” to Nigeria on many fronts, adding that “concern about global issues is genetic for Portugal.”

    Buhari said the Sahel was awash with illegal small arms, exacerbating the security situation in the North East of Nigeria, but added that government was doing a lot to bring things under control.

    On security in the Gulf of Guinea, he solicited for the support of Portugal, saying most of the stolen crude oil from Nigeria and other countries pass through the region.

    Read Also: Only democracy acceptable in Ghana, Africa – Buhari

    The president said in the second term of his administration, “we will consolidate on what we started in the first term, so that I can thereafter retire in peace and comfort.”

    The Portuguese president commended what he called “the excellent relations” between his country and Nigeria.

    He said: “We have Portuguese companies in Nigeria; we share the same opinion on international issues; we share your worries; follow closely what is happening in the Sahel, and we support you in fighting terrorism.”

    Sousa, who revealed that Portugal would be hosting Euro-African Forum in 2020, invited Buhari to declare the event open in Lisbon, “even if it’s for half a day.”

    He said it would be a great honour to have the Nigerian leader in Portugal, “and we have been waiting for you to visit for three years. Many African leaders have come, but we want Nigeria.”

    NAN

     

     

  • Femi Adesina takes on The Punch

    It was nothing more than a storm in a teacup. The Punch of Saturday, September 14, 2019 had reported what seemed like the president eating his words over how he felt while the judicial challenge to his electoral victory lasted, a retraction presidential spokesman Femi Adesina argued did not happen. Having previously indicated through a September 11, 2019 press statement by Mr Adesina that he was ‘unperturbed’ by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenge, because he was confident he had won the last presidential election fair and square, the president later told governors who felicitated with him over his judicial victory that he was actually on tenterhooks at a point during the trial. His anxiety, he confessed, was only mitigated by the fact that on September 11, he was presiding over the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting as the tribunal judges read their decision. That FEC meeting, he confessed, saved him from being ‘in trauma’. It is not certain what he meant by trauma.

    But incensed that the Punch reporter had questioned the accuracy of his account of what the president said of his feelings, Mr Adesina stormed the State House press gallery last Tuesday and gave The Punch reporter, John Ameh, author of the September 14 story, a piece of his mind. Said the livid presidential spokesman: “What was that rubbish you people wrote on Saturday? Did you say that Mr President did not approve the statement? Let me tell you, if you want to last here, you had better be careful!” Nothing justifies Mr Adesina’s imperiousness, but he was obviously angry that Mr Ameh seemed to be questioning his capacity to portray the president accurately. The Punch reporter had no chance to respond to the fulminations.

    What is at the root of Mr Adesina’s anger is nothing more than the fact that he believes that Mr Ameh had questioned his proficiency with the English language. Hear him: “Referring specifically to judgment day by the tribunal, which coincided with the maiden meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), President Buhari had said: ‘It was a fabulous coincidence that it came almost the same time the first FEC meeting of this government was taking place. It lasted about the same time with the judgment. I thank God for that because I think I would have gone into trauma or something. So, I was busy trying to concentrate on the memos.’ An elementary understanding of the English language shows that President Buhari was talking specifically of the day and time of the court ruling, not before. Saturday Punch went further to say that the president’s remarks amounted to a retraction of his earlier statement, in which he said he had been unperturbed about the judicial challenge to his electoral victory. I was unperturbed all along… Was that referring to judgment day? A simple comprehension of English language indicates otherwise. It referred to the many months the case lasted in court. To further show malice and evil intent, the newspaper indicated that the president may not have been privy to the earlier statement that emanated from his media office. Who does that, for such a landmark development, without the consent of the principal?… If the Punch reporter and the editor (if he, indeed approved the mischievous story for publication) had so much challenge with the English language, they could have opted to write in their mother tongue. It could have served them better.”

    The controversy was not so serious and confrontational that Mr Adesina could not have laughed the insinuations off. But he chose to be testy and unsparing over a matter that called for perhaps a few witty remarks to disarm everybody. By bristling at the audacious report and believing that his language proficiency had been questioned, though there is no evidence of this at all, the presidential spokesman poured spoonfuls of boiling oil on the head of the Punch reporter. Yet, the president himself speaks and possibly writes mystical English, sometimes so imprecise and convoluted that it is hard to understand him. When for instance the president told the governors in the story under reference that he would “have been in trauma or something of that sort”, who could ever understand what on earth he was talking about? Was mere anxiety capable of eliciting trauma? Trauma over what? Is it any wonder then that certain heavy words are flung about so casually in the Villa, words like ‘treason’, for instance?

    Mr Adesina works in an environment at the Villa that has become decidedly illiberal and caustic. Even when nobody questioned him, he had become so schizoid that harmless words that contain no innuendos had, for him, become laced with arsenic. It was clear to the public that the problem with those reports was the president himself, whose widely fluctuating moods and glacial indifference to the politics of inclusiveness often led him to articulate widely fluctuating and misleading tenses and words. Surely Mr Adesina knows this. But having perhaps become immersed in the stentorian language that lathers Aso Villa, instead of making graceful and liberal  statements, Mr Adesina now sees himself more than before in that same offensive military mould that permeates and suffocates the corridors of power in Nigeria today. Even if Mr Ameh had been malicious, it was the job of Mr Adesina as a presidential spokesman to speak peace. He needs to be guarded in his words and moderate in his temper, speaking grace to everyone he interacts with. It will not make him less effective or less firm. He should apologise to Mr Ameh.

  • Buhari woos German investors on infrastructure

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said  the nation was  looking for investors in infrastructure, especially in the power sector to stimulate business growth.

    He assured German companies that the government will honour the terms of agreements on investments in the country.

    President Buhari spoke when he received Letter of Credence from the Ambassador of Germany, Birgitt Ory, at the State House.

    The president, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Chief Femi Adesina, said the agreements signed with Germany company, Siemens, on power was most welcoming for the country, and Nigeria looks forward to partnerships that will be mutually beneficial.

    He said the country remained grateful to Germany for humanitarian interventions in the Northeast for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and the visit of the Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to the country in August last year, which further strengthened bi-lateral relations.

    In her remarks, the envoy said it was a great privilege to serve in Nigeria, which had always been her aspiration.

    She described the country as “the biggest and most important country in Africa.

    “When I came to Nigeria last year in May, which was also my first time in Africa, as soon as I stepped out of the plane, I said this is where I will like to work.’’

    Read Also: Buhari backs PSC in tussle with IGP over employment

    Amb. Ory congratulated Nigeria for holding two key positions in the United Nations, Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed, and President of the UN General Assembly, Prof. Tijani Mohammad-Bande, saying the country’s rising global profile reflects its pivotal role in Africa and the African sub-region.

    The German envoy assured Buhari that she will work towards improved relations between both countries, commending him for Nigeria’s role in Economic Coomunity of West African States (ECOWAS) with renewed focus on economy and security.

    Buhari, who also received Letters of Credence from the Ambassador of Ethiopia, Azanaw Tadesse Abreha, encouraged diplomats to stay longer in the country in order to understand the dynamics of the culture, economy and landscape.

    He said: “Nigeria is big and versatile and requires longer period of stay to be understood.

     

  • Buhari accepts South Africa’s apology for xenophobic attacks

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Monday accepted South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa’s apology to Nigeria over the persistent xenophobic attacks against Nigerians.

    The President, who described the attacks and violence as “very unfortunate”, assured that the relationship between the two countries “will be solidified”.

    President Buhari received President Ramaphosa’s Special Envoys – Dr. K. Mbatta and Jeff Radebe – who delivered their leader’s message at a meeting in Aso Villa, Abuja.

    They were accompanied by South Africa High Commissioner to Nigeria Bobby Monroe.

    The President recalled that Nigeria made great contributions to the anti-apartheid struggles, which were not known to many South African youths.

    At the meeting were the Minister of Foreign Affairs Goeffery Onyeama, and Nigeria High Commissioner to South Africa, Kabiru Bala.

    Many Nigerians and other foreigners lost their lives and properties in the attacks, with many fleeing.

    Radebe, who briefed State House correspondents, lamented the attacks and violence, saying that they did not represent the value system of South African people.

    He disclosed that President Buhari will visit South Africa on October 3.

    He said: “I am the Special Envoy of President Ramaphosa. We met a short while ago with His Excellency President Buhari to convey our President Ramaphosa’s sincerest apologies about the incident that have recently transpired in South Africa.

    “Those incidents do not represent what we stand for as a constitutional democracy in South Africa.

    “The President has apologized for these incidents, and he has also instructed law enforcement agencies to leave no stone unturned to ensure that all those involved must be brought to book so that the rule of law must prevail in South Africa.

    “He also conveyed his fond memories of ensuring that both Nigeria and South Africa must continue to play a critical role in the rebuilding of Africa to attain the agenda 2063 – the Africa that we want.

    “He has also recalled with very fond memories historical ties that exist between Nigeria and South Africa.

    “During the dark days of apartheid, we always knew that the Nigerian people and their government always stood behind our leaders who were fighting against the obnoxious system of apartheid.

    “Even, Nigerian feminists contributed financially to make sure that apartheid is ended. And though Nigeria is far from Southern Africa, it was regarded as a frontline state because of the principled stand that all leaders of Nigeria made to end the system of apartheid.”

    The envoy recalled the roles played by Nigeria’s founding father, the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, and former Military Head of State, the late Gen. Murtala Mohammed.

    Radebe expressed hope that both countries will explore further avenues for unity when President Buhari visits on October 3.

    “I’m very happy that I came to convey his message to His Excellency, President Buhari, and leave with very good information that President Buhari has conveyed to us to take back to President Ramaphosa.”

    On compensation, the envoy said there will be “detailed discussions” when the President visits.

    He stressed: “I do understand that the issue of compensation, restitution is part of the agenda items in the draft that the Nigerian government has presented to South Africa.

    “I think we should wait until 3rd October to see how that unfolds. But, I can indicate as a lawyer that the South African laws require that all registered companies must have public insurance in terms of things of this nature.”

    Radebe said law enforcement agencies were working day and night to apprehend all those involved in the attacks.

    “I’m told that more than 50 people have been arrested thus far. There is a security cluster in South Africa led by the Minister of Defence as well as the Minister of Police that is working around the clock to make sure that all those who are alleged to be involved in these incidents are brought to book.”

    Radebe said the xenophobic attacks always occurred during “economic tough times” in South Africa, where the latest unemployment rate was around 29 percent.

    He added: “It seems to us that some of these incidents occur in areas where there is poverty, unemployment and fight for scarce resources.

    “Having said that, no amount of hunger or hardship justifies the looting of property and killing of people whether they are South Africans or foreigners. We regard that as an act of criminality.

    “Obviously, there is an economic impact of these events that is why the President at his level deemed it necessary to send us as special envoys.

    “So, it is the responsibility therefore not only of governments of Nigeria and South Africa but of ordinary citizens to play their part in ensuring that these incidents do not reoccur,” he said

    Radebe said Nigerian Ambassador to South Africa was not recalled, but asked to return to provide “a comprehensive picture of events” that transpired in South Africa.

    Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina, in a statement, said President Buhari recalled roles played by Nigeria in ending apartheid.

    He quoted the President as saying: “Going back to historical antecedents, we made great sacrifices for South Africa to become a free state.

    “I was a junior officer to Gen. Murtala Muhammad, and Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo. They were not operating in a democracy, but they got Nigerians to support them in the bid to see a free South Africa.

    “Our leadership was quite committed to the cause. We made sacrifices, which younger people of today may not know. During my last visit to South Africa with the late President Robert Mugabe, it was very emotional, as Mugabe spoke about Nigeria’s contribution to free South Africa.”

    The President thanked Ramaphosa, through the Special Envoy, “for coming to explain to us what happened in South Africa recently, leading to the killing and displacement of foreigners.”

    President Buhari responded to the profuse apologies from the South African President, pledging that relationship between the two countries “will be solidified,” while describing the xenophobic attacks as “very unfortunate.”

    The statement said Radebe apologised on Ramaphosa’s behalf for what he called “acts of criminality and violence” that recently occurred, adding that “such do not represent our value system, nor those of the larger number of South Africans.”

    The Special Envoy disclosed that 10 people died during the attacks – two Zimbabweans and eight South Africans. He said there was no Nigerian casualty.

    South Africa’s Acting High Commissioner to Nigeria, Moroe, said both countries were working toward adopting an Early Warning Mechanism (EWM) aimed at tackling xenophobia.

    He said the visit of President Ramaphosa’s special envoys reaffirms the longstanding relations between South Africa and Nigeria.

    Moroe quoted Ramaphosa as saying: “South Africa has been home to foreign nationals even before the end of apartheid.

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    “We are a hospitable and a peace-loving nation which has for many years fully integrated people from different countries within communities.”

    Also on Monday, President Ramaphosa extended the deployment of troops in gang-infested communities in and around Cape Town.

    His spokesperson, Khusela Diko, said the extension, which will last until March 31, was with immediate effect.

    Members of the regular and reserve forces of the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) will undertake operations in cooperation with the Police, he said, adding that they will preserve law and order in the areas where gangs have spiralled out of control.

    The Nigerian victims of the xenophobic attacks were airlifted home last Wednesday. Ogun State had the highest number of Nigerians evacuated from South Africa; the rest are from 16 other states.

    Nigerian Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) Chairman Abike Dabiri-Erewa appealed to state governments to support the returnees.

    She said letters of appeal have been sent to the states to solicit their interventions.

    Dabiri-Erewa, at a briefing, said 30 children and a widow with four children were among the returnees.

    She said Ogun had 30 returnees, followed by Imo State with 28.

    Others are Abia, seven; Anambra, 13; Benue, one; Delta, 15; Ebonyi, two; Edo, 13; Ekiti, six; Enugu, seven; Imo, 28; Kogi, one; Kwara, three; Lagos, seven; Osun, six; Ondo, six; and Oyo, 23.

    Dabiri-Erewa said the widow is from Ondo, adding that the state promised to ensure the children are enrolled in school.

    The NIDCOM chair said the states are expected to have their representatives on ground to receive their indigenes.

    She said: “I am going to stressed one thing: those who returned are not criminals. In fact, they are very hardworking Nigerians and have lost everything they have ever worked for in South Africa.”

    Dabiri-Erewa said the returnees who qualified will get soft loans from the Bank of Industry (BOI).

    She said another set of 319 were expected to return today and their details will be forwarded to their states to ensure proper reintegration.

    She added: “This is the time to show ourselves love and unity, it doesn’t matter what part of Nigeria you come from, we are one united Nigeria and the love and unity, the sense of togetherness was very prominent in this case, where we were being externally attacked.”

    A United States-based international trade expert, Ms Toyin Umesiri, said the attacks could threaten the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

    She said: “We must put legal language in the AfCFTA to ensure that all African presidents and Ministers of Trade know that they have a responsibility to protect people and businesses under the continental free trade agreement.

    “The amendment can either be done directly by the African Union or each nation can raise the issue in their process of ratifying the agreement.

    “Nigeria can actually take the role of pushing the investment protection agenda in its ratification of the AfCFTA.”

     

     

     

  • Let’s team up to reverse infrastructure deficit, Buhari tells engineers

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday called for more concerted effort, creative and innovative ideas from the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) to reverse the infrastructure deficit in the country.

    He said: “Nigerian problems require uniquely Nigerian solutions.”

    President Buhari spoke in Abuja while hosting a delegation of the NSE, led by its council’s President Adekunle Mokuolu.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Adesina, the President noted that reversing the deficit would require indigenous capacity.

    He said his administration deliberately structured policies to favour more local content and capacity development to empower Nigerians.

    “The foundations of any developed, competitive and prosperous society are based on good education and quality infrastructure. Many nations we look up to are those with adequate and accessible infrastructure, power and water resources.

    “They achieved these by embracing engineering and, of course, engineers. Over the years, Nigerian engineers have been recognised globally for carrying out amazing and impactful projects.

    “Unfortunately, this is not the case here at home. For decades, the enabling environment was simply not provided these innovative and creative professionals to flourish and showcase our country as an engineering hub,” he said.

    The President urged the professionals to look inward in showcasing their knowledge and skills in a way that would directly impact the nation.

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    “In the past four years, we focused on reversing this trend by introducing policies that will create the enabling environment for engineers to succeed and thrive.

    “We introduced Executive Orders and embarked on several infrastructure development and rehabilitation projects. As a Government, we also prioritised local content in our procurement processes,” the President added.

    He urged the engineers to continue to support Government at all levels to build a more prosperous society.

    Mokuolu hailed the President for expressing his belief in local capacity in 2009 at an NSE conference and following up with Executive Orders, appointments and recognition of the regulatory council to further encourage engineers in partnering the government to develop the country.

    The NSE president said the engineering society had been playing a strategic role in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan and had established a Northeast Rehabilitation Committee.

    He presented a list of requests to the President, which included involving members in conceptual stages of projects.

    Mokuolu said the council had started domesticating global codes and standards, adding that it currently has 75 branches across the country with two in Houston, Texas, the United States of America (U.S.A) and London in the United Kingdom (UK).