Tag: Gbajabiamila

President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila,  yesterday said the war against terror can be accomplished through effective collaboration with other countries.

Alluding to the international dimension of the security challenge, he said the West African sub-region is critical to winning the war. 

Gbajabiamila  said:”There is an often overlooked international element to the myriad national security challenges in our country. 

“Addressing this requires increased collaboration with our neighbours in West Africa and regional and international partners to track financial flows, share intelligence and ensure that perpetrators and instigators of violence, wherever they may operate from, are made to answer for their crimes in due course. 

“This collaboration is critical to this administration’s national security strategy to ensure a safer and more prosperous environment for all.”

The chief of staff delivered the convocation lecture of Yaba College of Technology,  Lagos, titled: “Empowering Nigerian Youths in the present-day economy.”

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Gbajabiamila said addressing the prevailing challenges of national security is a priority in a bid to make Nigeria an attractive location for investments needed to empower the youth and ensure national prosperity.

He lamented that Insecurity had manifested through a concerning rate of banditry while insurgency has made entire country uninhabitable to profitable commercial enterprise. 

Gbajabiamila said:”We know that capital is cowardly, and capital will not go anyplace that is unfriendly. We also know that so long as investment and innovation are concentrated in a selected number of states or regions, we cannot achieve our goals of sustained national economic growth, innovation, investment, and rapid reduction in unemployment.”

The presidential aide said since President Bola Tinubu came into office, he has made it a priority to increase the resources available to the Armed Forces, the police and para-military institutions.

He said the goal was to ensure that national security institutions are fully empowered to succeed in the fight against all manifestations of insecurity. 

Gbajabiamila said: “We have also made it a priority to ensure the welfare of our officers as well as their families. This applies particularly to those of our service men and women who paid the ultimate prize in the course of their service to the fatherland. 

“The days when our service members went to battle or into the field without adequate protection, arms and ammunition are gone. And the days when their

families suffered deprivation whilst they risked their lives on our behalf are gone and will never return.”

He added:”We have also accelerated efforts to ensure the full implementation of community policing nationwide in line with the Nigerian Police Force Community Policing Initiative. A collaborative relationship between the Nigerian police and communities across the country is essential to the security of these communities.

” It allows for enhanced intelligence gathering, establishes the framework to check abuses of authority and involves citizens in efforts to ensure their safety. 

“Community policing redefines the policing paradigm within the federal police structure so that policemen and women are not strangers or considered an occupying force in the communities where they operate but partners in peace and prosperity.”

Southeast/Southsouth Heritage Foundation has hailed President Bola Tinubu for standing by his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, amid calls for his removal.

  President, Chief Kenneth Uzoigwe, said: “We salute Mr. President for putting a stop to and discouraging unwarranted insinuations.”

Uzoigwe, special assistant to Gbajabiamila on Political Matters (Southeast) while he was Speaker, warned mischief makers and propagandists against distracting Gbajabiamila from doing his work.

He vouched for the integrity of the Chief of Staff as a trustworthy leader and a man with interest of the country at heart.

 “Gbajabiamila has been in the system; he was the Speaker of House of Representatives, and many can attest to his performance.

 “He is one man who has proven to be a leader whose conduct is not about money but doing what is right and focused on his assignments.

 “So, we demand propagandists and mischief makers let this man do his job.

Read Also: APC Council confident in Gbajabiamila

 “Gbajabiamila worked to ensure realisation of this government, and there is no way he would bring it down.

 “We are confident Gbajabiamila cannot seek financial gains from appointments. Such an allegation is baseless.

 “We know these allegations are coming from people who want to remove him and replace him. They are people who are envious of him.

 “They are people who want to destroy the government. That’s why we are saying enough is enough. Let them allow him focus on his job and help Mr. President put Nigeria in good shape.”

 Uzoigwe appealed to the National Assembly to do something about fake news. He feared the trend might get out of hand if left unchecked.

 “It is on this note I appeal to the National Assembly to make a law prohibiting fake and unverifiable stories, especially on social media.

  “We can attest to the danger fake news is capable of, so we should nip such irresponsible practices in the bud. 

“We can’t fold our arms and let the hard-earned reputations of people be maligned just like that,” he said.

A member of House of Representative, Olaide Akinremi, has described President Bola Tinubu’s vote of confidence in his Chief of Staff, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, as a morale booster to spur him to do more.

The President yesterday passed a vote of confidence in Gbajabiamila before Federal Executive Council meeting.

Addressing reporters yesterday in Abuja, Akinremi, representing Ibadan North in Oyo State, described Tinubu’s statement as “a six-inch nail in the propagandists’ coffin”.

He said: “Those of us who worked with the former Speaker of the House of Representatives know him to be steadfast, maintaining his integrity without compromise. ‘’

Read Also: Gbajabiamila to critics: President’s team not driven by money politics

“The propaganda and negative rumours going around in some newspapers are disheartening to those of us who know him for an unblemished record for the past 20 years in the House of Representatives. 

“We know that these rumours are being sponsored by some elements that never wished the government well. They are not comfortable with some decisions of the President that are against their interests. So, they thought blackmailing the Chief of Staff would give them a way in, which have all but been squashed by the statement of Mr. President today.

“Our President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a man of wisdom who will not compromise the goodwill of the nation, irrespective of the closeness of anyone to him.”

• ‘I trust my CoS’

• ’Ground rules for FEC’

President Bola Tinubu says he has confidence in his Chief of Staff, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila.

He spoke yesterday before the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, also setting ground rules for attendance.

Tinubu’s statement comes 48 hours after some insinuated Gbajabiamila may have fallen out of favour with his boss.

They had accused the Chief of Staff of ‘trading off positions to the highest bidder’.

They alleged some discrepancies arose in the naming of  Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), claiming some names were replaced out of sheer power play.

But President Tinubu noted the mistakes that arose were human errors.

The President said he had notified Nigerians he was bound to make mistakes – being human – but would be bold enough to make corrections.

He said: “Let me reiterate  that a lot of stories are going around, about what is happening. I’ve told everyone that I can make mistakes. They’re bound to air them out and correct them.

“Perfection is of God. I have confidence in the integrity of my Chief of Staff. All campaigns of calumny and insinuations should stop. The buck stops here.

“If I make a mistake, I’m ready to own up to it. We’re all joining hands to fight corruption and we want to enforce the law with you.”

Read Also: Gbajabiamila to critics: President’s team not driven by money politics

The President spoke on what he observed and was not comfortable with, including unauthorised persons accessing the Council Chambers.

To Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, and Head of Civil Service, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan, Tinubu said: “Last week, I noticed the undue access of people sneaking in and out of this council. I will announce to you those people who should be here.”

The President listed his Special Advisers on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Usman; Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga; Principal Private Secretary, Hakeem Muri-Okunola; and Private Secretary, Damilotun Aderemi as those “granted exceptions to be here…”

He added: “Unless I send for you, don’t come. Make it clear. Secretary to the Government and Head of Service, please take note.’’

“Unless your staff members that are included, no one is privileged to have access sitting in this (Council Chambers) except those four that I’ve announced to you.”

President Tinubu also rated the bilateral and business meetings held on Sunday with visiting German government and business officials, led by the Chancellor of the Republic of Germany, Olaf Scholz, very highly.

The President thanked his ministers for availing themselves at the meeting, charging them to think outside the box to hasten the reforms that were required to attract investors.

“Yesterday, we had a very good showing and I thank all of you for sparing your Sunday to attend the national event. The visit of the Chancellor of the Republic of Germany was, to me, a success.

“We needed more time, but we were able to cover a lot of ground and must take our reforms seriously. The investors are interested in us… As I said, investors and investment are cowardly; they don’t follow conflicts. Think outside the box: how we can do things better,” Tinubu said.

Also, the FEC, led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), toasted to President Tinubu’s recent victory at the Supreme Court.

The council lauded his contributions to leadership in the country, particularly highlighting his time as governor of Lagos State.

Also, the FEC observed a minute of silence in honour of a former member of the council and one-time Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Adamu Fika, who died last week at the age of 90 years.

A political group, Asiwaju Tinubu Mandate forum, has raised the alarm over an attempt by some desperate politicians to sponsor a former Senate president of the National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS), Edward Smart, to stage a protest against the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.

The group, in a statement by its national coordinator, Adelowo Oluwasesan, accused Smart of allowing himself to be used as a tool to destabilize the Government of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The statement said those desperate to paint black the Chief of Staff in the eyes of Nigerians, see him as a stumbling block against their plans to hijack the government for their selfish interests.

Oluwasesan said: “After sponsoring many pointless articles and propaganda on the pages of newspapers against Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila, our findings revealed that these desperate politicians are a cabal against the subsidy removal, tax reform and currency rate unification agenda of this administration.

“They do not mean well for this administration and have devised another means of policy sabotage by organizing a protest using Com. Edward Smart, to call for the sack of the Chief of Staff to the President.

“While we acknowledge the right of citizens to a peaceful protest, we condemned in totality the one sponsored to bring down a man who has been a stabilizing factor to the current administration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the renewed hope agenda of the ruling party.”

Read Also: Gbajabiamila to critics: President’s team not driven by money politics

 The group called on security agencies to monitor the situation closely, as any protest now can be hijacked by the hoodlums.

He added: “We emphasized that groups or persons who engage in actions that could lead to civil unrest or destruction of properties should not be spared, and the full wrath of the law should be applied accordingly.

“We urged Comrade Smart to call off his selfish impending protest, as it will yield no result. The present administration is committed to the development of the country and her citizens, and all hands should be on deck; this action that can jeopardize the Government must not be allowed.”