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Tag: independence

  • 1966 coup changed the national spirit that prevailed at independence Septuagenarian journalist

    1966 coup changed the national spirit that prevailed at independence Septuagenarian journalist

    My name is Alhaji Tajudeen Tijjani Ajibade”, the veteran journalist started. “Before I talk about independence, it is important to talk about my background. I was born in Ibadan on Sunday, 1st of June, 1947 to a Nupe woman and a Nupe father, people the Yoruba refer to as Tapa. My parents came from Bida, but I was born in Ibadan. My parents decided to name me Tajudeen because of the environment they found themselves. Although it is a Muslim name, the Yoruba bear it most. My parents lived in the palace of Balogun Ogunmola because my father’s sister was married to the Balogun Ogunmola of Ibadan. Up till today, our house is located in Oriolowo’s compound around the famous Mapo Hill.

    Nigeria since independence

    Talking about Nigeria before independence, at independence and now, a short history about myself becomes necessary. For a long time, I did not even know I came from the northern part of the country because everyone was equal. I grew up like any other child and nobody discriminated against me. Nobody ever spoke about my background until I grew and my father had to tell me by himself. And that was even because I am the only son of my father. As at that time, I only heard people call my mother Gogo, but what did I care? All I knew was that she was my mother.

    So, when we were growing up, there was no discrimination of any sort. We attended free primary education in the old Western Region. I started my primary education in 1954 at Islamic Primary School, Odoye, Ibadan. As at that time, Nigeria was actually very stable in terms of economy and politics. People were living together without anybody thinking about where someone came from.

    Suddenly, things started to unfold after the 1966 coup. The background to what is happening in Nigeria today is the 1966 coup. I am not condemning it. I am not saying it is good or bad, because I don’t know the reason why the coup plotters came in. But since it was the coup that led us into civil war and the civil war led to everyone moving from one place to the other and people started to know where they came from. That was the beginning of ethnicity, religions sentiments and what have you.

    Again, there was a military government that created states. That states creation polarised us the more. Now people talk about their states than even the nation. They talk about their local government area than their states. Those are the things that were not happening before.

    When I came to Kaduna in my late tens too, despite the fact that I bear Ajibade, nobody discriminated against me, except that they called me a Yoruba boy when they wanted to describe me. But it really didn’t matter, because I used the name while going to school to work in New Nigerian Newspapers for many years, I worked in Standard, Punch, Sketch and edited a few newspapers, and I was at home everywhere.

    So, anyone who grew up during our time will be sad and would ask: is it not the same Nigeria we were living in that has turned into this unsettled nation? A country where people think about differences in religion and ethnicity, and because of that, people are not friends again, as if it is not the same people that grew up together, went to church and mosque together. During Christmas, we used to go to church with one Samuel who was our friend. During Sallah, we would go to the mosque with one Mohammed, so that we would come back and slaughter the ram. It was fantastic.

    The sudden change in this country we call Nigeria is really very unfortunate. In those days, nobody asked where you came from to get employment, all you needed to do was fill a form, and once you are qualified, they gave you job. It is unlike today that you have to go to your local government to get your paper. You have to even go to your ward for them to identify you. Even for admission into schools, you have to go through all that. No country can move forward like this.

    A lot of things started happening after the 1966 coup. The military were coming, civilians were also coming and there was no stability, politically and otherwise. Why did things get suddenly wrong to the extent that we started talking about federal character and zoning system, which means even if you are qualified and you are not from the zone where certain things have been zoned to, you can’t get it?

    So, these are some of the things that are crippling this country, which I think we have to work seriously hard to get out of the woods. Because if we don’t settle it before people who saw Nigeria pre and post-independence vanish, it will get more polarised so much that people will not talk about Nigeria again but their local governments. Because in Nigeria of today, somebody will tell you I am an indigene of Sokoto or Kaduna. Nobody says I am a Nigerian.

    Americans are bigger than us, but there are no indigenes. You are just an American. We were working for Nigeria to get to that stage. That is why when they talk about national issue, we support it. We don’t care where it starts from, because we believe in nationalism.

    The way out

    So I think there is clarion call to both the old and the young to look inward and see exactly what our problem is. The late Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, and the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo were said to have met somewhere, and when they were talking and Awolowo called Sardauna, ‘Prince, why can’t we settle our differences?’ Sardauna replied: ‘Omo Oba, let’s understand our differences before we can settle them.’ I think we should go back to such conversations. Let us first of all understand our differences and find a way of settling them; those differences that are making us live apart.

    Nigeria of our dream is not the Nigeria that we have today. I have never bothered about where someone comes from. My concern is what you can do for this country and how we can work together to move Nigeria forward as a single entity devoid of sentiments of religion, ethnicity and others. That was how we grew up

    My prayer now is that the leaders that are there today will be able to do something better for us to go back to the good old days of one Nigeria, one destiny, one nation. That was the slogan of the NPN in those days.

    Why we are in serious economic crisis

    What actually killed us was the abandonment of what we had or the abandonment of what we were using before the advent of oil and gas. We have all concentrated on oil and gas, forgetting agriculture and other things. This led to the deaths of many industries and people started coming into oil and gas. But what many people don’t know is that the whole money we have made since the discovery of oil in Oloibiri, India made it in software in just about two years.

    There are countries of the world who don’t have oil and they are doing fine. But since God gave us oil in Nigeria, we were thinking that the oil should be a blessing to us, but it turned out to be something else. At least before oil was discovered, we had what we were running the country with.

    But above all, what I want to see before I leave is a united Nigeria, like it was before and shortly after independence. The Queen gave independence to Nigeria and called it one country. But what are we seeing today? We have what you can call 36 countries in Nigeria. May God help us.

  • FITILAH HOLDS INDEPENDENCE JAM

    ENTERTAINMENT outfit Fitilah Global Entertainment Limited is set to celebrate Nigeria’s 56th Independence anniversary with a music concert. The event which will have Aje Success Band performing, holds today, October 1, Nigeria’s Independence Day, at the poolside of the Excellence Hotel, Ogba, Lagos.

    According to the host, Oba Adesina Adekanmbi, the event, aside to celebrate Nigeria’s is also to promote indigenous Nigerian music. Already, Fitilah holds regular gigs where indigenous artistes come to perform and entertain guests.

  • My first visit to Lagos coincided with Independence Day in 1960- Alamieyeseigha’s ex-adviser Okorotie

    My first visit to Lagos coincided with Independence Day in 1960- Alamieyeseigha’s ex-adviser Okorotie

    Born in 1944, in Ekeremor Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, Chief Thompson K. Okorotie was about 16 years old when Nigeria got her independence in 1960. Okorotie, who rose through public and private services to be conferred with the Order of Federal Republic (OFR), witnessed the lowering of the British Union Jack and the hoisting of the Nigerian flag. The elder statesman served in the Second Republic as the Majority Chief Whip of the old Rivers State House of Assembly. He was a pioneer special adviser to the first democratically elected Governor of Bayelsa State, the late Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha. A private businessman who has held many positions in the state, Okorotie sits as the Chairman, Governing Council, Bayelsa State College of Health Technology. He shares his experience from 1960 till date to MIKE ODIEGWU.

    How was life in 1960 when Nigeria got her independence from Britain?

    As a matter of fact, that was the year I went to Lagos from the village. My uncle came from overseas to the village and said that they heard about my brilliance and decided l should come to Lagos. But at that time, I had already entered Model Secondary School at Bomadi, which was established by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. When I finished in 1959 l went to Lagos. One of the remarkable things I remember my late uncle said then was that I was able to trace Ije Village part or adjunct of Obalande, and I found myself there with a wooding box on my head.

    I saw the lowering of the Union Jack and the raising of the National flag whose colours were written and designed by a Yoruba man in London then. We were full of hope. There were issues. Some parts of the country were not ready for Independence. But at some point, Independence had to come because the agitation from the south was vehement, so the British didn’t want to delay further. I must say that the founding fathers had great hope for this country. They had aspirations that were supposed to be the best. And I think that the First Republic did quite a lot. They were positive, transparent and corruption was not as pronounced as it is now. Life was easy. Security challenges were not there. In some areas, you could open your door, sleep with your two eyes closed.

    I remember that at some point, I became a reporter with the Morning Post, a Federal Government-owned newspaper at Kirikiri, Apapa. We were not having any challenges. Food was cheap and it was then in shillings. Some people’s monthly salary was three shillings. If you had 50 kobo, you would have gone to the market and come back, and food was ready. So, life was quite simple and there was love despite the agitations in different directions once the unification took place and once the independence came. Three years later, we became a republic. The three big tribes did not force it down our throat too much at that time. That was perhaps the beginning of the problems. But it was not an obvious problem that we could not manage at that time, because it was not put on our face. They didn’t spite us.

    I can’t remembered how much a bag of rice was sold then. But in the Second Republic, at the time we were leaving in 1983, a bag of rice was N25 and Nigeria Airways ticket was N25. I still have one Nigeria Airways ticket. I didn’t use vehicles a lot, but I don’t think that there was anywhere that was more than one pound, no matter the length of Nigeria you were going. The buses were clean and the people were not rushing. They had speed control. There were no night travellers. At that time, the rush for material gains was not there. The spirit of hard work was there. You would make sure that you go to work and put in your best for the eight hours that you had, whether you were in public sector or you were in private sector. So that was how interesting things were.

    How was the economy generally and where did we miss it?

    The economy was sound in the sense that the naira was stronger than the dollar. In 1981, it was 75k to the dollar. That was how strong the naria was. But after the Second Republic, you see, we miss the point. Many people talk about the past administration, but we should be talking about past administrations. The problems of this country were not created by one administration. Policy summersaults, frequency of leadership change, these are the issues. Many people don’t look at these issues. They look at the palliatives. They look at the sentimental issues. They look at political grandstanding.

    The Second Republic under Shehu Shagari was a very interesting one, because it was still close to the First Republic, and we worked. Life was still very good at that time. There was value for money. It was during that period that it was 75 kobo to a dollar. But everything just suddenly changed and that was why I was talking about my visit to Germany and somebody said after the military was overthrown and it came up to Babangida, that the naira would soon be N40 to the dollar at a time that it was less than one naira. At that time, even the pound was one naira to one pound.

    I am bringing up the subject because I came to understand that it is the developed world that was manipulating the exchange rate. It was still a major component of neocolonialism to still put us under their wraps. China decided to close themselves for 20 years without having anything to do with them. When they came out, they became a world power because the United Nations was forced to admit them in the Security Council. That is one of the things Nigeria ought to have done. There is no country that is as blessed as Nigeria. Every state has its natural resources. If only we can look inwards, we are capable of not looking elsewhere. At most, we can look elsewhere on the basis of equality.

    The military was one of the major problems. We had 14 years of military regime. In the Shagari period, investors were beginning to have confidence in Nigeria when Shagari won the election for a second term. But a coup took place and they went back, and somebody said that Nigeria had gone back 50 years. Nobody wanted to deal with a military regime. So, for 14 years, there was military regime and that was a major setback. Because it was not democracy, it was now negotiations to be tolerated at the international level. so our financial position was compromised.

     

    How do you see life in the country now?

    The culmination of all these adversities, all those incongruities of national policy, of change of government, of not allowing democracy to grow, because if as from Shagari we had allowed government to change government through the ballot box alone, democracy would have stabilised. We will not be learning it each time we come. In fact, each time democracy comes back after a regime, the politicians feel ‘we don’t know when the army will come back again’, so they start amassing wealth. And the military who said they came to stop corruption turned out at some end to be even more corrupt because all the money we had made, all the oil money, most of it are in the hands of the military. If that is not corruption, then what is corruption?

    So right now, I do not know how to describe it. Now, we can hardly go to our home because it is either the place is occupied by agitators or occupied by Operation Crocodile Smile. Nightlife is curtailed. The exchange rate is so high that even ourselves, businessmen, particularly traders, are exploiting the system. Something they bought before Buhari came in, they hide under the exchange rate to increase prices. It is very difficult. I think one of the areas where we have got it wrong, apart from military intervention, which is a major cause, is also that we did not install any institutional framework to prevent corruption.

    I have also discovered the truth that the civil servants are even more of a problem. The civil servants are even the teachers of the politicians in the art of corruption. Because if you go to some states, including this one, assets on ground are discovered to belong more to civil servants than politicians. So we must develop happiness, we must develop contentment and we must develop sincere hard work.

    How do we get out of this mess?

    All the things I have been saying is how we can get out of it. That is why to some extent, I support the campaign, ‘change begins with me’, when it comes to national matters, not politics. I support it because the Nigerian must be reorientated. You have resources here and you would not use them to develop yourselves. You will send them as raw materials outside and the cow will come back as corn beef which you are buying at higher price; the fish comes back as sardines which you are buying at higher price and we have everything you can think of outside of oil and gas.

    So, we should look inward. We should not allow the industries to die. There should be proper fiscal measures and monetary measures. These days, the fiscal planners and the monetary planners are crashing instead of coordinating so that the private sector should be made the real driver of the economy. Let us patronize made-in-Nigeria goods so that it can stimulate the local investors, local manufacturers, and beyond that, export our products to the world, beginning from the West African coast. And leaders in the ECOWAS should try and make sure that this free movement should be properly done. The road to these countries should be properly done so that movement will be free.

  • Azeez ready for Independence 7s

    Azeez ready for Independence 7s

    • Lauds organizers over improved competition

    Captain of the defending champion of the independence 7s, Azeez Ladipo has lauded the initiative of the organisers of the Independence Rugby 7s International tournament sponsored by CMB Building Maintenance & Investment Company Ltd. for improving the level and standard of the competition.

    Speaking on behalf of Cowrie RFC of Lagos, he said they are ready to the challenge after training and working hard considering the fact that 6 high profile teams from Europe and Africa will be participating in the tournament.

    The two day tournament holding today and tomorrow at the Onikan Stadium will feature teams from Kenya, UK, South Africa, Ghana and Benin republic and 10 clubsides from Nigeria who will be competing for honor.

    The influential flyhalf said, “It’s a great opportunity participating at the tournament, which gives home grown players the opportunity to compete against foreign teams.

    Azeez who doubles at the captain of the men senior national team revealed that they are ready to storm the tournament and defend their title after weeks of intensive training.

     

  • Baptist Seminary holds Independence prayer

    Over 1000 people including worshippers, Seminary students and visitors gathered at the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary Chapel, Ogbomoso , Oyo State  last Wednesday to celebrate  the 55th Nigeria National Independence Day.

    The Guest Speaker, Mr. Kayode Idowu, in his paper titled, The Role of Spiritual Leaders in Nigerian Political Process’ said, “Spiritual leaders in the days of old exercised complete oversight on governance. Kings did not ascend to the throne of old in ancient Israel until they were picked out and anointed by priests, acting under divine unction. Because priests were God’s agents as ‘kingmakers’.”

    Idowu, who was represented by Mr. Olayinka Oyegbile, deputy editor, The Nation on Sunday, observed that although the age of priests as kingmakers was long gone, priests should be ready to reprimand kings as “even the most celebrated Israelites King, David was rebuked by Prophet Nathan, as the prophet declared God’s judgement.”

    He added, “Former President Goodluck Jonathan also professed the Christian faith and visibly …..But the church obviously failed  to rise to the need to provide guidance and oversight in the conduct of governance. Rather than spiritual oversight, Christian leaders concerned themselves with giving mere political support; leaving it to political jobbers to control the attention of the President and, thereby, influence the conduct of governance…  Church services and programmes became photo opportunities designed to enhance politicians’ electoral fortunes. Pulpits were turned to campaign platforms for the president, while Sunday worship services were disguised campaigns.”

    He called on religious leaders top shun yielding their pulpits and churches to politicians.

  • How Inc. Media, Ultima Studios brought magic to Nigerians on Independence Day

    How Inc. Media, Ultima Studios brought magic to Nigerians on Independence Day

    ULTIMA Studios, Lagos, came alive on Independence Day, 1st of October, with exciting performances from the peep show of the much anticipated Broadway themed musical, Magic of The Musicals.

    Jointly produced by Notes Inc. Media, an Austrian-Nigerian production outfit and Nigeria’s foremost television production company, Ultima Studios Limited, Magic of The Musicals re-enacted breath-taking scenes from some of the world’s biggest Broadway performances.

    The host of the evening, thespian extraordinaire, Jimi Solanke, was at his best, orchestrating the proceedings while the impressive ensemble of cast including Ayoola, winner of the MTN Project Fame Season 5, Elvina Ibru, seasoned actress and sultry singer Evaezi amongst others combined to give the audience a memorable event.

    However, the Magic of The Musicals Peep show wasn’t all about Ayoola, Elvina and Evaezi. The other members of the cast including Arese, Buffette, David Ogbor, Chiquita, Tony Offiong Edet, Sochukwu Obumselu, Adeola Awodehin and a host of others gave a good account of themselves as they took the audience through an exciting medley of popular Broadway hits including The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Phantom of the opera, and Lion King but to mention a few.

    Speaking on the event, Damola Adewole of Notes Inc. Media described the Magic of The Musicals as a new dawn in the history of staged musical productions in the country. He added that the Independence Day’s edition was a prelude to the main show which will hold in December 2015. According to him, the December leg of the show will feature a collection of stars from Nigeria’s entertainment industry.

    “The Magic of The Musicals is Nigeria’s foremost Broadway-styled folklore show. We are especially proud of the event because it is a platform for Nigerians to showcase their talents. The peep show is a foretaste of a bigger and more spectacular edition coming up in December that will feature some of our biggest stars from the entertainment industry,” he stated.

    Adewole also commended Femi Ayeni, CEO of Ultima Studios, for supporting the event. In his words: Magic of The Musicals came about as a result of the dream of one man, the labour of love of many people and the support of Ultima Studios. I am especially grateful to Mr. Femi Ayeni of Ultima Studios who has been very supportive of the entire project,” he stated.

    The Magic of The Musicals Peep show was directed by Floyd Igbo and choreographed by Slim of the Body Language Company.

  • D ’Czars celebrates on Independence Day

    Upscale boutique hotel which had played host to several high calibre guests, including Governor Ibikunle Amosu, had a thanksgiving on  October 1, treating its numerous guests to choice drinks and sumptuous delicacies.

    The double celebration which took place on the hotel’s premises featured hip- hop artistes, comedy and fuji music. There were side attractions of dancers and upcoming artistes from different genres of music.

    For Salman Justice Kazim, CEO of D’ Czars, “it has been a challenging one year of operation, but by and large, we give thanks to God for keeping us alive and well”

    The CEO, whose style is abundantly expressed in the lavish hotel decor, also celebrated with Nigeria on its 55th independence anniversary, believing that the country will be better this time around.

  • NULASS marks Independence with less privileged

    IN honour of Nigeria’s 55th Independence anniversary, the National Union of Lagos State Students (NULASS) celebrated with pupils of Modupe Cole Memorial Home School, Akoka, giving out various food items, such as:  a bag of rice, groundnut oil, noodles, biscuits, insecticides, detergents, bathing soaps, toothbrushes, among others.

    The vice president of NULASS, Ottun Adewale said it was necessary to reach out to the less privileged.

    “Today is Independence Day and we felt we should visit the less privilege home to mark this day with them, to show them love, to make them understand that they are not neglected because they are our brothers and sisters,” he said.

    He said the initiative was part of the group’s corporate social responsibility to assist charity homes.

    Thanking the students, the Assistant Head Teacher of the school, Mrs Taiwo Afolayan, said it was a relief for the society to accommodate the less privileged as part of them.

    She decried the government’s inconsistent contribution towards the welfare of the school, which she said had become a great challenge as they are forced to depend on the goodwill of Non-Governmental Organisations.

    “The paramount challenge we are facing here is money; how to feed.  Though the government is giving us their own quota of N500, 000, which is not regular and not even sufficient to cater for these pupils here. This quota is monthly but the state government has not been able to fulfill their part, for instance this year, the last time we received anything from the government was in March.

    “This has made us to rely on NGOs, churches, schools  and this home is the only boarding school for the mentally challenged in Lagos state,” she said.

    The President of the union, Sultan Daniju, said Nigeria had not achieved much since gaining Independence on October 1, 1960.

     

     

     

  • Independence anniversary: Jonathan’s govt spent only N332.6m, ex-minister tells el-Rufai

    The former Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Olanrewaju Sulaiman, yesterday said the administration of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan spent over N332.6m on independence anniversary and not N64billion.

    The former minister joined issues with Governor Nasir el-Rufai and denied  the alleged spending of N64billion on independence anniversary in five years.

    But the details released by the ex-minister only covered three years from 2012 to 2014.

    He said the independence anniversary budgets for 2010 and 2011 were “not handy now.”

    Sulaiman, who made the clarifications in a statement in Abuja, warned el-Rufai against abusing his immunity.

    He said: “We were taken aback by the recent comment reportedly credited to Governor Nasir el-Rufai claiming that the Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s administration spent N64billion to cover the country’s independence anniversary spending in five years.

    “The break down, according to the governor showed that N13billion was spent in 2011, N15billion in 2012 and N14billion in 2013 and N22billion allegedly spent in 2014.

    “This tissue of lies was contained on his facebook comment on Thursday.

    “Ordinarily, we would have allowed this to go as just ranting of a favour seeker, but for the sake of ordinary Nigerians who were abreast of happenings under the administration and those who never did, we will like to set the records straight.

    “It is important to correct the misinformation so that the public would not be misled.

    “For the record,  a breakdown of our anniversary  spending between 2012 to 2014 amounted  to N332.6million. We challenge the Office of the Government of the Federation (OSGF) to publish these details for the consumption of the public.

    “For the record, a breakdown of our spending for this event between 2012 and 2014 goes thus; 2012-107.6million; 2013-45million and 2014 had 180million.”

    The ex-minister asked el-Rufai to provide evidence to back up the allegation of the N64billion expenditure.

    He added: “So, the question here is where did the billions as claimed by el-Rufai emanate from? Even though that of 2010 and 2011 are not handy now, but it should be known that they  all fall within the same bracket as the one stated, except  that the 2010 anniversary was a golden one  when the country marked its 50 years of independence. But even then , not such outrageous sum was either budgeted or expended .

    “Again, it is germane  to explain the increase in the 2013 anniversary spending for the purpose of accountability. The National Honours Award Investiture was incorporated into the celebration, thus making it two events in one, hence the  N174,800,000.00 budget.

    “We also want to add that the award investiture could not hold in 2013 and the approved budget rolled over and was utilised to organise the investiture in 2014.”

    The ex-minister warned el-Rufai against abusing his immunity and fabricating history.

    He said: “It  is high time government functionaries desisted from abusing their immunity by destroying history and trading on lies just to gain cheap popularity or curry one favour or the other from certain quarters.

    “Perhaps President Olusegun Obasanjo was right in his assessment of el-Rufai when he said in his latest memoir, My Watch that his vivid recollection of him (el-Rufai) is his penchant for lying, for unfair embellishment of stories and his inability to sustain loyalty for long.

    “That exactly is what el-Rufai has done with his ungodly fabrication of lies against the Jonathan government.

    “One hopes that  President Buhari would be on guard against being misled by the likes of el-Rufai who are hell bent on misinforming the Nigerian public.”

  • Independence spending: el-Rufai’s claims, tissue of lies – Jonathan

    Independence spending: el-Rufai’s claims, tissue of lies – Jonathan

    Former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has debunked claims by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State that his administration spent N64 billion on Independence anniversary celebrations in five years, describing it as “a tissue of lies.”

     

    In a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, the Jonathan Administration explained that it spent only N332.6million in the three years covering 2012 to 2014, “for which records are readily available.”

     

    The statement signed by former Minister of National Planning , Dr Abubakar Suleiman on behalf of the Jonathan Administration, challenged the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation( OSGF) to publish the details of the allocation for the events in the affected years.

     

    Giving the breakdown of the expenditure in those years, the statement said:  “ For the record, a breakdown of our spending for this event between 2012 and 2014 goes thus; 2012-107.6million; 2013-N45million and 2014 had N180million. So, the question here is where did the billions as claimed by el-Rufai emanate from?”

     

    The statement added that “even though that of 2010 and 2011 are not handy now, it should be known that they all fall within the same bracket as the ones stated, except that the 2010 anniversary was a golden one when the country marked her 50 years of independence. But even then, no such outrageous sum was either budgeted or expended.”

     

    The Goodluck Jonathan team further explain the increase in the 2013 anniversary spending for the purpose of accountability, stressing that “the National Honours Award Investiture was incorporated into the celebration, thus making it two events in one, hence the N174,800,000.00 budget. We also want to add that the said award investiture could not hold in 2013 and the approved budget rolled over and was utilized to organise the investiture in 2014.”

     

    “Perhaps President Olusegun Obasanjo was right in his assessment of el-Rufai when he said in his latest memoir, My Watch that his vivid recollection of him is penchant for lying, for unfair embellishment of stories and his inability to sustain loyalty for long. That exactly is what el-Rufai has done with his ungodly fabrication of lies against Jonathan government,”  the statement added.