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Tag: Jonathan

  • Confusion over two million-man march for Jonathan

    Confusion over two million-man march for Jonathan

    •Tukur okays rally

    •PDP: we’ve no connection with proposal 

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chairman Bamanga Tukur has approved a two million- man march to be held in Abuja to drum support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 re-election bid.

    The approval was conveyed through a memo dated September 18, 2013 and signed by Tukur’s Political Adviser, Senator Umar Gada.

    The letter, titled: “Re: Request To Organise a PDP National Solidarity March,” was addressed to Chief Obi Aguocha of 7, Udoma Street, Asokoro, Abuja.

    The letter reads: “Your letter of 22nd August, 2013 on the above subject matter refers.

    “The National Chairman, Alhaji (Dr) Bamanga Tukur CON, has acknowledged the receipt of your letter.

    “He has asked me to convey his approval of your proposal of a national solidarity march as presented”.

    But the party has denied giving approval for the march. A statement by the party’s National Publicity Secretary Chief Olisa Metuh yesterday, said the national secretariat was not involved in the proposed march.

    The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to unfounded rumours making the rounds in some

    sections of the media that the Peoples Democratic Party National Secretariat is involved in plans to organise a 20 million-man march to drum up support for candidates of the party in the 2015 elections.

    “In response to several inquiries from members of the party across the globe, we wish to state categorically that the PDP at the national level is not involved in any programme aimed at assembling that number of people in Abuja or any other part of Nigeria.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, no organ of the party at whatever level has the mandate of the national secretariat to engage in any such activity. We, therefore, have no connection whatsoever with the group planning it.

    “Persons or groups wishing to involve the PDP in any activity are advised to seek the approval of the appropriate organs of the party at various levels”.

     

  • Jonathan, hearken to Cardinal Okogie

    A few days ago Hardball hoisted a similar title as above: “Jonathan, hearken to Nwabueze,” it blazoned. Professor Benjamin Nwabueze, an octogenarian, a statesman, eminent legal scholar and prolific author is among the very few Nigerians to suggest to President Goodluck Jonathan to jettison his quest for a second term in office. Nwabueze had led The Patriots, a club of highly influential Nigerians to the Presidential Villa, Abuja. After a closed-door meeting with the president, Nwabueze while addressing correspondents, made it known that his personal advice to the president was that he should forget about contesting for another term in 2015. The wizened elder had stated very clearly why he was of such conviction.

    Today, same advice comes from another revered and well-regarded quarter in the person of Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie. The 77-year-old clergyman held sway for 30 years as the crusading Catholic Archbishop of Nigeria. Ten years ago, he was ordained a Cardinal from which position he retired recently. In his usual blunt manner, Okogie in a recent interview said pointedly to President Jonathan to forget about running for a second term.

    “If I were Jonathan, I will not try it (running for a second term in 2015) because the writing on the wall does not favour it… Jonathan will be there for almost six years (by 2015), there was a time he was vice, and now president for four years, what is he looking for again?” He compared President Jonathan to former President Olusegun Obasanjo who still roils from his obnoxious attempt to run for a third term in office. “What was Obasanjo looking for in third term (?)” The fiery clergyman also noted the issue of an alleged agreement by the president with some of his colleagues to the effect that he would serve for just one term and suggested that the president should honour his word if he ever gave it.

    Hardball hereby acknowledges that the president is entitled to a second term in office and that it is his prerogative whether to run or not. It is also to be noted that he has a difficult as well as delicate decision to make. Apart from Nelson Mandela who famously chose to serve just one term, not many heads of state have free-willingly elected to hand power over when they are statutorily entitled to it.

    Having said that, President Jonathan must always remember that it is never the number of years a leader perches on the thrown that makes him a great man of history; the Mandela example is there for all to learn from. It is accomplishments, character, legacy and honour that one brings to the office that endure. If his running would imperil his party; if another term for him has the slightest potential of leading to the death of Nigerians and the destruction of the country, surely he needs to subject his quest to the deepest of reflections.

    There is also that little matter of honour: if President Jonathan truly gave his word that he would do only one term in office, just as Cardinal Okogie has pointed out, he would do well to keep his word. Though honour may seem intangible and easy to trample upon, it remains our veritable garb, without which, we are naked. And even if it is as much as soiled, we are tainted. Would Jonathan want to be a president who is naked and bereft of esteem in the eyes of the world?

    Finally, Jonathan may need to hearken to the old Cardinal and shun the teeming sycophants around him who would urge him on for their selfish motives. He must listen and reflect if only for the fact that he never dreamt he would be president of Nigeria and now that providence has ensconced him onto that exalted position, he must remember that there is life after Aso Rock.

  • Group faults G7 governors’ demands on Jonathan

    A socio-political group, Youth Movement for the Defence of Democracy (YMDD) has condemned what it called “the ongoing orchestrated political crisis in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)”

    It said the crisis was a deliberate ploy to distract and derail the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and polarise the National Assembly.

    The group (YMDD) said the demands by Governor Amaechi-led faction of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) for the resignation of the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy; Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as undemocratic and undermining of the constitutional powers of the President.

    It said, “We recall that the reported demand for the resignation of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala came at the heels of widely speculated (and yet to be refuted) demand by these same governors for presidential protection against investigation and prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC). It is indeed ridiculous that elected representatives of the people in the stature of state governors could be making such demands; without remorse or refrain as condition for truce with the President.”

    The group in a statement by Mr. Omotayo Olanrewaju, Public Affairs Officer call “for immediate and unconditional cessation to the deliberate and orchestrated distractions of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan by forces angling for power in 2015. ”

     

  • Jonathan to hand over PHCN’s successor-companies to buyers Monday

    Jonathan to hand over PHCN’s successor-companies to buyers Monday

    President Goodluck Jonathan will on Monday hand over certificates and licences to purchasers of the successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Limited.

    Chief Press Secretary, Ministry of Power, Mr. Timothy Oyedeji, disclosed this yesterday.

    According to him, the ceremony is scheduled to hold at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja.

    Following the Power Sector Reform, the Federal Government concluded the sales of the PHCN entities on August 21 with the investors in the electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) and generation companies (GENCOs) paying up the 75% balance of their transactions.

    The only preferred bidder (Interstate Electric (IE)) that reneged on the payment on that date has completed its payment.

    President Jonathan had, on April 22, signed a presidential agreement with the buyers of the 15 PHCN entities.

    The outstanding issues in the power sector remain the settlement of some PHCN staff severance packages and weak transmission network.

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has unfolded plans for the expansion of the transmission network.

    The Federal Government has always said that it has the capacity to generate 10,000megawatts, but the transmission network is weak to wheel it to the customers.

    In its expansion plan, TCN is strategizing to evacuate the 10,000mw in 2013.

    Although the Federal Government pledged to complete the disengagement of PHCN staff before yesterday, it was not clear whether all the staff were already paid or not.

  • Reading Jonathan’s lips

    Even if those close to him pretend not to know, President Goodluck Jonathan knows what he is up against in the build up to the 2015 general elections. Many members of his party, especially from the North do not want him to seek reelection in 2015. These people claim that he reached an agreement with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors that he would only do one term. But from the look of things, the president seems interested in more than one term. That is no news, you would say.

    But, it is news because he has not come out to tell the nation categorically that he will be running. He has promised to do that next year. The chairman of his party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, wants him to declare before next month. The president may have tacitly done that with his statement in the United States (US) a few days ago. Until now, we had followed his body language, which spoke volume than words before his New York Declaration.

    Although as usual, he chose his words carefully, his message was crystal clear. What he will tell us next year will not be different from what he said in New York on Monday. As we have always said here, Jonathan will run in 2015, no matter how the Babaginda Aliyus of this world feel. What matters to the president is that he returns to office in 2015 and he will give 1001 reasons why he should do so when he addresses a world press conference on the matter in 2014.

    The president does not give a hoot whether or not his ambition will overheat the polity, that is if it has not started doing so already. In the past few months, from Abuja to Bida, Lagos to Lokoja, Enugu to Kaura Namoda, we have heard nothing but talks about Jonathan’s plan to return to the job at the expiration of his present tenure. The Group of Seven Governors and their loyalists stormed out of the PDP convention in Abuja some weeks ago partly because of what they termed the president’s plan to use the party’s structure to push his ambition.

    Led by a former chairman of the party, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, the G7 has been unrelenting in its campaign that Jonathan should not seek what it calls a third term through the backdoor. The group believes that the president will be going for a third term if he seeks reelection in 2015. Its position is informed by the fact that Jonathan was sworn in first as president in 2010 after the death of President Umaru Yar ‘ Adua. In 2011, he stood for election and won and was sworn in on May 29 of that year for his current tenure.

    By virtue of the Constitution, the president is entitled to two terms of eight years after which he becomes ineligible to run for office again. While the New PDP members insist that he is no longer eligible to seek reelection, the president and his supporters believe that he is eminently qualified to return to office in 2015. Besides the Constitution, they are also citing his experience on the job to support their case. The president, they say, has no less than six years experience as president and two as vice president. He was also governor for one – and – a – half years, and deputy governor for six – and – a – half years. What else are we looking for in a president? Tell me, will Nigeria not be lucky to have such an experienced person lead it for life?

    This is what the president’s supporters have been trying to say to us, but we have refused to listen. Why dump an experienced and God fearing candidate like Jonathan because of a so-called one term pact to which the people are not a party? If some politicians reached such a Gentleman’s Agreement with him in the confines of their homes, should they now draw us into it? Should such an agreement be binding on us? Is the agreement cast in iron that it cannot be breached? If these people were in the president’s shoes will they behave differently? Agreement ko, agreement ni. Agreement or no agreement, the president has told the world that he is qualified to run, if he seeks to do so in 2015.

    He said it was not illegal for the president or a governor to stay in office for two terms, apparently referring to the Constitution, which says in Section 137 (1): A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of president if –

    (b): he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections and Section 182 (1) : No person shall be qualified for election to the office of governor of a state if –

    (b): he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections.

    Armed with these provi

    sions, Jonathan gushed

    before the world: : ‘’Already, we have a Constitution that makes provision for a maximum of eight years for anyone who wants to become a president or a governor. There is no president or governor that all citizens vote for but at the end of the election, if somebody emerges, you must allow the person to work. If you love your country, you would want your country to work. That does not mean that you will not vote against the person if you don’t like the way he works, but you must allow him to work’’.

    Interpretation; those of you who do not want me to run in 2015, yes, you are entitled to your position, but for God’s sake allow me to work. You have the right to exercise your franchise for or against me at the poll, but for now allow me to work until the election. Can the president accuse the opposition of distracting him? Is he not the one distracting himself with the many battle fronts he has opened to ensure that he crushes those who stand in his way on the road to 2015? Can he honestly say he has no hand in the Nigeria Governors Forum brouhaha?

    Can he say he is not empowering Nyesom Wike, the supervising Minister of Education, to fight Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi? Can he say he is not in support of his wife’s needling of the same governor? The truth is the president is fully involved in the fray, which has affected governance. What job does the president do these days than to attend to issues concerning his ambition. If he is not meeting with the G 7 to resolve the crises rocking the PDP, he may be having talks on how to reconcile the warring governors.

    Governance has taken a back stage because of his ambition. There is no way he can be fighting for his political future and still have time to attend to state matters. It is just not possible. So, why delay what he can do now till next year? He should just accept Anenih’s advice and declare his political stand today. We are tired of reading his lips and body language. As the Yoruba will say, let him unmask the masquerader. But will he?

    Apo 9

    Eight years ago, the news of the killing of six persons in Apo, Abuja, by the police shook the nation to its foundation. As usual to justify their bestial act, the police described the victims as “robbers”. Their families, friends and business associates challenged the police claim. Through these people, the nation got to know that the police killed the Apo6, five men and a woman , and tagged them robbers in order to hide their dastardly act. Eight years on, the families of these people are still crying for justice. Don’t forget, the police chief, who led that operation, escaped from custody and is still at large. Last Friday, a similar scenario played itself out in the same Apo. Nine persons, described as commercial tricycle operators (Keke NAPEP) were killed by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) in a dawn operation. The SSS described the victims as members of the dreaded Boko Haram, the insurgent group terrorising the Northeast. The SSS may have received information that Boko Haram members were in that place before storming there, but did it verify the report. Security agencies are not expected to take any information at its face value. They must sieve it to know how to use it. Did the SSS do that in this case? Or did it just act on the spur of the moment? These are some of the puzzles that must be unravelled so as to avoid another extra – judicial killing by another security arm in Apo.

  • Jonathan, Ban discuss violence, developments in Nigeria

    Jonathan, Ban discuss violence, developments in Nigeria

    President Goodluck Jonathan met on Tuesday with the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, where both discussed recent developments in Nigeria, particularly the persistent violence in northern part of the country.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that they also discussed the need to ensure that humanitarian aid remained accessible to all civilians.

    Both parties also exchanged views on the welcome progress achieved in Mali and Guinea-Bissau as well as implementing the Green tree agreement between Nigeria and Cameroon.

    Ban, however, reaffirmed the readiness of the UN to continue to support Nigeria’s efforts to restore peace and security, and to protect civilians in the northern part of the country.

    He underlined the importance of the post-2015 agenda, while he welcomed the critical role that Nigeria would play as co-chair of the Intergovernmental Expert Committee on Financing Sustainable Development.

    The secretary-general also met with the President of South Africa, Mr. Jacob Zuma, and they discussed political developments in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, especially Zimbabwe and Madagascar.

    Both parties also focused on Guinea-Bissau and the Central African Republic.

     

  • 2015: Jonathan’s ambition deepens PDP’s trouble

    2015: Jonathan’s ambition deepens PDP’s trouble

    Baraje faction: his bid ‘dangerous’

    Ex-governors back President

    The President is yet to announce his plan to run for another term, but his perceived ambition is overheating the polity.

    Dr. Goodluck Jonathan said in New York on Monday that the constitution provides for “maximum of eight years for anyone who wants to become a president of a governor”.

    To many, this is an indication that he plans to run – against the stand of some leading lights of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who believe that such a step will weaken Nigeria’s unity.

    The New PDP – a group of seven governors and some party chiefs who are against Jonathan’s yet unannounced bid – advised him yesterday to dump the idea.

    But a forum of former governors said the President should be allowed to exercise his right to run.

    The Abubakar Baraje-led PDP called on Jonathan not to seek re-election in 2015.

    The faction said it decided to advise Jonathan not to run, after reviewing the state of the nation and the pulse of Nigerians on his ambition. Doing so would be against the interest of the country and its people, it said.

    In a statement issued yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Chukwuemeka Eze, the party noted that the President has given enough clue of his intention to run, although he has not declared it openly.

    “The latest of such clues came on Sunday in New York, USA. Speaking at a luncheon with Nigerian professionals in the United States, President Jonathan insisted that he is eligible to contest in 2015 as ‘we have a constitution that makes a provision for a maximum of eight years for anyone who wants to become a president or a governor’, the faction said.

    Baraje observed that the President had made a similar statement in April 2012, in an affidavit in response to a suit instituted at an Abuja High Court by a PDP chieftain, Cyriacus Njoku, seeking to stop him from contesting the 2015 presidential election.

    “We are worried that Mr. President is intent on running despite his earlier promise not to do so and in spite of the wise counsel of well-meaning Nigerians, including respected elder statesmen,” it said.

    The faction reminded Jonathan of a statement he made in Ankara, Turkey in February 2011, during an interactive session with Nigerians and diplomats working in the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Union (AU).

    The statement quoted Jonathan as saying: “I would have loved that the Nigerians in the Diaspora vote this year (2011) but to be frank with you, that is going to be difficult now. At present, the law does not allow the voting outside Nigeria and so this year Nigerians in Diaspora will not vote but I will the work towards it by 2015 even though I will not be running for election.”

    It also quoted the President to have said: “Four years is enough for anyone in power to make significant improvement and if I can’t improve on power within this period, it then means I cannot do anything even if I am there for the next four years.”

    The faction said there was no way the President could deny his own statements now, since he failed to deny them over the past two years.

    “How does Mr. President want Nigerians and the entire world to see him for this volte face? Why can he not keep his word as a man of honour instead of allowing himself to be misled by selfish advisers to go back on his word, thereby overheating the polity,” the statement added.

    The New PDP continued: “Mr. President should heed the advice of well-meaning distinguished personalities, such as constitutional law guru Prof. Ben Nwabueze (SAN) and Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, His Eminence, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, all of whom have advised him to correctly read the handwriting on the wall and stay away from the 2015 presidential race.

    “By 2015, President Jonathan would have served our nation for six solid years. This, surely, is enough time for him to achieve whatever he is capable of doing for Nigeria.

    “What else is he looking for that is making him desperate to participate in the 2015 presidential election despite warnings that doing so may spark a chain of events capable of culminating into the country’s disintegration’ thereby bringing to pass the predictions of Lord Lugard that Nigeria as a nation by 2014 may become history, which was later confirmed by the USA Think-Tank that Nigeria may disintegrate by 2015.

    “Apart from all these, should President Jonathan contest and win by 2015, it means he would have spent ten years in office and will be sworn in three times as the President of Nigeria against the provisions of the country’s constitution.

    “We wish to appeal to Mr. President to abandon this ill-advised move and save our nation from catastrophe. God has been merciful to you, Mr. President; lifting you from being a university teacher to President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in so short a time is something you should be grateful for and be contented with.

    “We urge you Mr. President to listen to the voice of reason and avoid overstretching your good luck. A word is enough for the wise.”

    But the President got the support of a group of former governors and governorship candidates on the platform of the PDP.

    Former militant Mujahid Asari-Dokubo also supported Jonathan to run in 2015. To him, that Jonathan will run in 2015 is a “forgone conclusion”.

    The former governors and candidates said yesterday that it would be unfair to deny the President the right to seek another term.

    Speaking under the aegis of G13 Candidates/Former PDP Governors Forum, they said Nigeria’s problem should not be blamed on the Jonathan administration.

    They were led by a former governorship candidate of the PDP in Edo State, Major-Gen. Charles Arhiavbere.

    Also at yesterday’s meeting in Abuja were a former Minister of Sports, Damishi Sango; former military governor and one-time Chairman of Nigeria Football Association Col. Abdulmumuni Aminu; former governor of Adamawa State Boni Haruna; former deputy governor of Ogun State Alhaja Salimot Badru; former governorship candidate of PDP in Ondo State Mr. Olusola Oke; former Minister Dauda Birmah, former Military Governor John David Dung and retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Donald Iroha

    After the meeting, they asked the group of seven governors to embrace peace and return to the mainstream of the party under the leadership of Bamanga Tukur.

    Gen. Airhiavbere who read the decisions, said: “The constitution provides for eight years for every office and I believe that going by natural justice, if there is a tenant in a house and it is going for sale, the first opportunity of refusal should go to the occupant.

    “And I believe that based on the midterm report of the President, we believe that he should be given a second term in office to finish his project.

    “President Jonathan has the right. It has not been published anywhere that he signed an agreement to run for one term. He should be given support and peaceful environment to implement his projects to completion.”

    Asari-Dokubo described the G-7 governors and leaders of the Baraje faction as political miscreants who cannot stop Jonathan’s re-election.

    Asari-Dokubo, who spoke exclusively with our correspondents in Abuja, said five of the G-7 governors worked against Jonathan in 2011 in their states and the President still won the poll.

    He said: “They (the G-7 governors and those in Baraje’s faction) are political miscreants because there is no faction in PDP. PDP is PDP and there is only one PDP recognised by the law. What they are doing is illegal and against the law.

    “They cannot stop Jonathan in 2015. How? Did the President win in Kano, Sokoto, Niger and Jigawa states?

    When reminded that Joanthan won in Kwara and Rivers states, Asari-Dokubo said: “Yes, and Jonathan is going to win in Kwara; he will win in Niger now clearly and he will win more votes in Kano. He will win.

    “Did Kwankwaso people not print his poster with Buhari in 2011? Did Kwankwaso support Goodluck?

    “If it is Lamido, yes we agree but did the support translate into victory? So all this their bragging is nothing. Did Amaechi bring any vote? I was a chieftain of ACN. All other parties scored zero. Goodluck scored 100% vote in my ward. There were agents for all the parties but in my ward, every party scored zero; they didn’t score one vote. Did Amaechi bring it or did he come near my ward?

    Asked why Jonathan had been having peace talks with the governors, Asari-Dokubo said: “That is why we are angry with Jonathan. Why should the President hold meetings with them? The President should put them where they belong to.

    “Where they belong is to be chased from PDP and those of them that do not have immunity, the full weight of the law should be brought against them and they should be dealt with decisively.”

     

  • Sovereign Wealth Fund ‘in nation’s interest’

    Sovereign Wealth Fund ‘in nation’s interest’

    Shortly after addressing the UN General Assembly yesterday in New York, President Goodluck Jonathan was “ambushed”  by The Nation correspondent Adeola Oladele-Fayehun, who interviewed him for about one minute.

    Do you think it’s OK to go ahead with the sovereign fund when the governors are in disagreement?

    Sovereign fund is for the interest of the nation, it’s not for the interest of Mr. President. Anybody who is disagreeing with the sovereign fund, doesn’t really appreciate how nations manage their resources. That is one thing we have done that all the professionals at the World Bank, IMF, and other institutions that manage finances appreciate that the government has a focus. And it has helped to give us a better focus in terms of the economic stability.

    So if anybody is going against it, it’s quite regrettable.

    But I don’t think the governors are against it anyway.

    But that’s why they took the issue to court. Is it democratic that they’re not for it and you’re going ahead?

    We did that with the consent of the states. The federal government did not impose it on the states’ no!

    What exactly are you doing to stop Boko Haram?

    We’re working very hard on that.

    How exactly sir?

    We’re working very hard.

    And 3,000 people have died?

    Maybe you need to update your statistics.

  • 2015: Jonathan justifies second term ambition

    2015: Jonathan justifies second term ambition

    ASUU strike ‘politicised’

    Help fix Nigeria, President urges Obama

    President Goodluck Jonathan gave yesterday in New York perhaps the clearest indication yet that he will run in 2015.

    Dr. Jonathan, who has not declared his interest in the yet-to-open but rancourous race, is faced with a group of seven governors elected on the platform of his party – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)- challenging his yet unannounced bid to seek a second term.

    At lunch with some Nigerian professionals in New York, United States, as a sideline of his visit to address the United Nations (UN), General Assembly, he said it was not illegal for a president or governor to spend two terms.

    Jonathan said: “Already, we have a constitution that makes provision for maximum of eight years for anyone who wants to become a president or a governor. There is no president or governor that all citizens vote for but at the end of the election, if somebody emerges, you must allow the person to work.

    “If you love your country, you would want your country to work. That does not mean that you will not vote against the person if you don’t like the way he works, but you must allow him to work.”

    Apparently replying critics of his administration, Dr. Jonathan went philosophical. He said: “No matter how you feel about the political situation, consider the interest of your country first before yourself. If you are struggling to enter a house, you must not put dynamite to destroy the house. By the time you get there, there will be no house for you to stay.”

    “So, first and foremost, we must collectively build our country. Don’t bother about who is there now because power is transient, very very temporary,” he added.

    The President also urged the political class to drop do-or-die approach in politics and allow him to concentrate on his core mandate of governance.

    He said Nigerians hold the power to vote out anybody they are not comfortable with.

    According to him, political leaders must be mindful of what they say or do in order not to undermine Nigeria’s sovereignty.

    The President also spoke on his fight against corruption and the ongoing university teachers’ strike which is nearing three months.

    On corruption, he said: “So many people are saying we are not doing well in fighting corruption and before you say that, there must be a parameter for judging us. What are the yardsticks they are using to judge us?

    “Before the advent of this government, the Federal Government was spending a whopping N25 billion on fertiliser with only 11 per cent reaching the farmers. But since the coming on board of his administration, government now spends between N5 to N6 billion on fertiliser and we are getting 80 per cent reach.”

    “If we wanted to continue to steal money or look for money for election, we could have continued,” Jonathan said

    Giving kudos to his team, the President said his administration had made significant progress in reviving rail transportation, aviation, road and other infrastructure.

    He said the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had politicised the teachers’ strike.

    Jonathan, a former university teacher, said: “We’ve gone very far with the ASUU strike. We believe ASUU has some kind of politics that crawled into the strike, but we are still discussing with them. If things were normal, by now they would have called off the strike,” he said.

    He added: “We are doing a lot in terms of improving infrastructure and every other thing in our universities. In fact, this is the very first time a government has set up a team to go around all our universities to examine the infrastructure and a report has been written, which was presented to the National Economic Council and all the governors, and we are working.”

    With the President were Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Olusegun Aganga, Dr. Doyin Okupe and Dr. Reuben Abati, among others.

     

  • Help fix Nigeria, Jonathan urges Obama

    Help fix Nigeria, Jonathan urges Obama

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday urged United States President Barack Obama to help to “fix Nigeria.”

    “For you to fix the world, you must fix Africa. For you to fix Africa, you must fix Nigeria,” Dr. Jonathan told his American counterpart.

    Both leaders met at the Lyndon B. Johnson suite in the Waldorf-Astoria. It was Obama’s first stop in his swing through town for the United Nations General Assembly.

    Noting his trip to Africa at the beginning of the summer, Obama said he saw common interests in helping Nigeria improve its rural electrification, empowering young people through the Young African Leaders programme, improving internal security in a way consistent with human rights and “making sure” Nigeria’s elections in 2015 continue to improve the country’s democratic process.

    And he said the attack at a Nairobi mall over the weekend “underscores” the level to which all countries are connected and their need to work together.

    “We stand with them against this terrible outrage that’s occurred, we will provide them with whatever law enforcement help that is necessary,” Obama said. “The United States will continue to work with the entire continent of Africa and around the world to make sure that we are dismantling these networks of destruction.”

    “I feel the pain of President Kenyatta … terror anywhere is terror on all of us,” Jonathan said.

    Obama was joined by Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power and deputy chief of staff Rob Nabors.

    In a statement on the meeting between the two Presidents, Dr. Jonathan’s spokesman Reuben Abati said:

    “President Goodluck Jonathan Monday in New York called for a stronger global consensus and determination to end the scourge of terrorism as quickly as possible.

    “Speaking at talks with President Barrack Obama of the United States ahead of the opening of the 68th session of the United Nations tomorrow, President Jonathan said that unless the international community unites and deploys its enormous resources to eradicate terrorism, it will continue to be embarrassed by terrorist outrages such as the heinous attack on defenceless shoppers in Nairobi at the weekend which both leaders strongly condemned.

    “President Jonathan expressed his appreciation of the support and assistance Nigeria has been receiving from the United States for its fight against domestic terrorism. He added, however, that Nigeria will welcome even more bilateral collaboration in this regard.

    “The President said his administration also looked forward to the further strengthening of Nigeria’s relations with the United States in the areas of trade and economic development.

    “He reassured President Jonathan of his commitment to the continuous strengthening of Nigeria’s electoral processes and the country’s democratic institutions.

    President Jonathan also applauded President Obama’s Power Africa and Youth Leadership Initiatives, saying that both initiatives would complement aspects of his administration’s agenda for national transformation.

    “President Obama had while welcoming President Jonathan to their meeting at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, described Nigeria as a critical partner of the United States in Africa.

    “He assured President Jonathan that the United States will continue to cooperate with Nigeria in all possible areas, including the war against domestic and global terrorism.

    “President Jonathan was accompanied to the talks by the Minister of State (Foreign Affairs) Prof. Viola Onwuliri, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States, Prof. Adebowale Adefuye, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison Madueke, and the Governor of Gombe State, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo.”