The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Jonathan

  • PRESIDENT JONATHAN Fix these federal roads

    THIS is to appeal to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to do something urgently about the federal roads which are in bad shape.

    I am not talking about a particular state. I am referring to all the states in the country. There is no state without a bad federal road.

    People die daily on these roads as a result of potholes, craters and other horrible features on them.

    To prevent untimely deaths, occurring everyday, something must be done urgently. This is not a matter to be politicized. It is the right of Nigerians that must be protected.

    As the president goes around the country, campaigning for re-election, he will be seeing the roads, if he travels by road. But I do not think he can see anything because he does his travelling by air.

    The bad conditions of these roads should be the concern of our president. He should go into action on them in the interest of all Nigerians.

     

    Akin Alabi Moses,

    Minna,

    Niger State.

  • Patriotic Nigerians will re-elect Jonathan – Abati

    Patriotic Nigerians will re-elect Jonathan – Abati

    Reacting to the endorsement of General Muhammadu Buhari by The Economist for the forthcoming Presidential Election, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Dr. Reuben Abati said that it is patriotic Nigerians that will vote and not the magazine.

    According to a statement issued by him on Friday, Nigerians are aware of the achievements of the administration in the last six years.

    He said: “We have noted with surprise, The Economist’s tongue-in-cheek endorsement of General Muhammadu Buhari in the run-up to Nigeria’s general elections and the international magazine’s baseless, jaundiced and rather malicious vilification of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who retains the trust and confidence of majority of Nigerians as the outcome of the Presidential elections will undoubtedly show.

    “We are sure that many Nigerians and other readers of the usually urbane, thoughtful and well-reasoned editorial opinions of the Economist will be shocked that the magazine has taken the very ill-considered decision to throw its weight behind a candidate who, as a former military dictator, curtailed freedom of speech, ordered the kidnapping of opponents and jailing of journalists, and is accused of incitement to violence and grave human rights violations in Nigeria’s current democratic dispensation.

    “The Economist may feign ignorance of President Jonathan’s remarkable achievements as leader of his country in the past six years, but Nigerians who, unlike the magazine’s opinion writers, will actually vote in the country’s forthcoming presidential elections, know that President Jonathan has worked very hard to fulfill all the major promises he made to them on assumption of office.”

    He said that Nigerians know that President Jonathan has developed Nigerian economy, created more jobs, and has given policy support to the real sector of the economy.

    He added: “They know that he has encouraged locally owned enterprises to take advantage of our resources in growing the domestic economy and they also know that he has successfully attracted greater foreign direct investment to the country.

    “Nigerians are also aware that President Jonathan has worked tirelessly to improve power supply across the nation, rebuild and expand national infrastructure, improve public transportation and provide greater access to quality education for all Nigerian youth.”

    Speaking further he said; “They know very well too that President Jonathan has significantly improved healthcare services in the country, revolutionized agriculture, promoted gender equality and women empowerment, and done his very best to stem corruption in government.”

    Despite insurgency and other challenges, he said that contrary to the Economist’s assertions, Nigeria, under President Jonathan has made very considerable progress.

    “President Jonathan has ensured that Nigeria has become a more vibrant democracy with free media, an independent judiciary, free, fair and credible elections, and greater respect for human rights.

    “The Economist is entitled to its erroneous opinion on who represents the best leadership option for Nigeria in the coming elections, but happily for the country, it is not the magazine’s lead writers, but more knowledgeable and patriotic Nigerians who actually work and live in the country, that will vote and re-elect President Jonathan for a second term in office.

    “They will do so, because unlike the Economist’s opinion writers, they understand that a Buhari Presidency will, for their beloved country, represent a stark setback and retrogression from the tremendous ongoing positive transformation of Nigeria under President Jonathan’s leadership,” he stated

     

  • Jonathan launches three security strategy documents

    PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan moved yesterday  to check terrorism and cyber crimes in the country with the  launch of three national security documents.

    It was at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The three documents as presented by the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, are: National Security Strategy, Counter Terrorism Strategy and Cyber Security Plan and Strategy.

     The President directed all security agencies to adopt the principles enshrined in the documents.

     He said: “Today, the foremost threat facing us is clearly the terrorism perpetrated by the Boko Harram, the radical Islamic sect, in its bid to further its misguided cause. This cowardly group has continued in wanton disruption of lives and property, particularly in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.

     “Boko Haram has systematically targeted the poor and the wealthy; it has employed violence to intimidate and instill fear to the general populace and media propaganda to manipulate the minds of our people.

     “The sect, its supporters and allies, seek to undermine our national security. They neither believe in our country nor the sanctity of human lives. The counter terrorism strategy document is a major contribution to our determined national efforts to effectively and comprehensively deal with the challenges posed by Boko Haram and other insurgency groups.”

    President Jonathan  noted that the Maitatsine attacks in 1982 was not on the same scale with the Boko Haram attacks.

     According to him, Public-Private-Sector (PSP) partnership, multi-stakeholder engagement and international cooperation were three key approaches to a successful national cyber security programme.

     He called for cooperation among stakeholders to eliminate the security threats.

     The president said the three publications would be of immense benefits to the business community and in communication.

    His words: “These documents will no doubt contribute immensely to our collective efforts at finding solutions to the security challenges that posed threats to our progress and development efforts.”

     The document on cyber crime strategy is aimed at identifying forensic measures to address the nation’s cyber space exposure and risks.

    Also yesterday, the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, ordered that all government buildings and critical infrastructures across the country be adequately protected as part of preparation for the election.

  • Jonathan to Deltans: we’ll complete $16b gas city

    Jonathan to Deltans: we’ll complete $16b gas city

    President Goodluck Jonathan has pledged to complete the $16 billion gas city project if he is re-elected.

    According to the President, the gas city project was very important to Nigeria as it would generate employment for the youth and boost the country’s economy.

    Jonathan, who was addressing members of the Delta State Traditional Rulers’ Council after a presidential campaign rally in Asaba, said the gas city project, to be the biggest oil and gas investment in Africa, was dear to his administration.

    He said the project would be launched in a few weeks and appealed to the traditional rulers not to relent in their support for his administration.

    Jonathan told the traditional rulers that he was seeking re-election to complete projects that would be beneficial to Nigerians.

    The Obi of Owa, Efeizomor II, who spoke on behalf of the traditional rulers, described Jonathan as a performer whose projects transformed the lives of Nigerians and repositioned Nigeria for faster economic growth.

    The Owa monarch explained that with Jonathan in charge, Nigeria would get a better deal.

  • ‘Jonathan doesn’t deserve North’s votes’

    ‘Jonathan doesn’t deserve North’s votes’

    A Kaduna State chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ashafa Ayuba, has said the next President should know every part of the country, including the culture and ethno-religious background of the people.

    Addressing reporters yesterday in Kaduna, Ayuba noted that President Goodluck Jonathan had never known any part of the North; neither did he associate with those who matter in the region before he became President.

    The politician said it was the reason the President was finding it difficult to administer the zone and other parts of the country.

    He said Jonathan should vacate the seat and allow someone with a good understanding of the country, including the people and their cultural backgrounds, to administer the nation.

    Ayuba noted that the inability of President Jonathan to tackle Boko Haram insurgency was additional reasons for him to go this year.

    According to him, Jonathan should allow capable hands to charge of the nation’s affairs.

    Ayuba said: “It is very unfortunate that we are having a President as Goodluck Jonathan, who does not know any part of the North. I ask fellow Nigerians how such a leader would be capable of administering or governing the country when he does not know much about the people and their cultures.

    “I want to say that Nigerians should elect a President who knows every part of the country, including the tribes, religions and cultural dispositions of the people. This is the way a leader would be able to appreciate the people and tackle their problems without reservations or sentiments.

    “Look at the Boko Haram insurgency ravaging the Northeast for some years now. President Jonathan cannot end it. Then, what are the people benefitting from the government they elected into power? No, this unbearable. We need another President who has the feelings of the people at heart.”

  • Jonathan: Laughing at missing trillions

    SIR: President Goodluck Jonathan received the forensic audit report on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on February 2, 2015. It was served like revenge – cold! – almost one whole year after the Federal Government commissioned the audit in response to public outcry over the claim made by then Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Lamido Sanusi, that $20 billion was not remitted to the Federation Account by NNPC.

    The submission happened a day after former CBN governor, Charles Soludo, released a clincher on the state of the economy, a highly charged riposte to the judgment of his person and his tenure by Madam Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy.  Soludo estimated that a lot of money has disappeared under Okonjo-Iweala’s watch : N30 trillion!

    The submission of the report reawakened embers in the memory. Only very few people still remember that there was a shakedown of the NNPC, the holy of holies of corruption in Nigeria. We had moved on, not in the least because we supposed that meat will come out of the eater. There was a more current and important missing, the missing of human beings. Chibok girls and others taken into captivity by the death cult named Boko Haram. The submission had a necromantic effect. It recalled the ghost.

    On the day Okonjo-Iweala announced the appointment of PriceWaterHouseCoopers for the auditing, she said the investigation would take 16 weeks. PWC does not have a reputation for clumsiness. If anything, it has an almost unblemished track record professionalism and integrity. It is arguably the best pick anyone could make for such tasks. So why did the submission of the report take so long?

    Some reports say the audit was completed on schedule and was ready for submission. The only problem was that the Jonathan administration did not want to glimpse the picture of the secrets of its painted sepulcher.

    The submission was apparently arranged to extinguish the Soludo question. It is less than two weeks to the Presidential polls. This is the time you need weighty endorsements. Not a red capped Professor overseas stoking excitement in your challenger’s camp.

    In his campaign rallies, Jonathan talks up his capacity for leniency. While seeking to contrast himself with his apparently stern rival, Jonathan introduces himself as the hater of jails; the one who would rather shield you than permit you to get your deserts. No, I won’t send you to jail because some valuable was guilty of tempting you to make it disappear!

    In my own city of Enugu, President Jonathan, a PhD, asked a rally of thousands, ‘’how much did Jim Nwobodo stole? Money not up to the price of a Peugeot and Buhari regime send him to jail. Is that good enough?’’

    Now Jonathan has a sense of proportion that is difficult to calibrate. While you reckon that the theft of a coin makes a thief, Jonathan believes and propagates the idea that there is some threshold, a magic sum ostensibly known only to him, that someone has to labour hard to appropriate before they qualify to be numbered among transgressors. That concept of relativity spewed forth that viral and virulent wisecrack,’’ stealing is not corruption’’.

    So the odds are that if the amount established to have disappeared in the audit report is in the realms of stealing, that is, not equal to or greater than corruption, the audit is a wasted venture. The white paper will reach his desk and then end up in the disused part of his library labeled WHITE PAPERS.

    Now, the theft of ‘’ money not up to the price of a Peugeot’’ in the eighties has evolved to the  procurement of two bulletproof BMW cars at N225 million. The generation that stole ‘’money not up to a Peugeot’’ has begotten a much more ambitious one. The children sent to rob by their fathers are not sneaking in: they are kicking the door open!

    President Jonathan says ‘’ the kind of figure people bandy in the papers look so ridiculous’’. The kind of money he permits people to steal without consequence is anything but ridiculous. But when you have a warped sense of humor, you can see comedy in the figures that are reported stolen in the country you lead!

     

    • Emmanuel Uchenna Ugwu

    @emmaugwutheman

  • We’ll invest in youth empowerment, Jonathan tells rally

    President Goodluck Jonathan has reiterated that his administration will continue to invest in youth development, if re-elected.

    He spoke at a campaign rally at the Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City, the Edo State Capital, attended by party faithful and supporters who came in buses from Delta, Ondo and Anambra states.

    Men of the armed forces, Department of State Security (DSS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) condoned off the airport road leading to the venue of the rally for several hours.

    This forced motorists and residents to divert to alternate routes to get to their destinations while other trekked long distances.

    The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  called on Nigerians to reject what he described as the “deceit” of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, whom he said will build more prisons than schools for the people.

    Jonathan said: “In 2011, when we came to seek your votes, you voted for us and I can assure you that we will not disappoint you. So, when we are talking about transformation, we are talking about real transformation, not a matter of change. Change takes place every day. When you move from your sitting room to your bedroom, it is change. But you have not transformed yourself.”

    “We are going to transform this country. Look at a country like Singapore. Singapore, which was at he same level Nigeria. But it has changed from Third World to First World country and that as the transformation we are talking about. And that is why we are investing in the education of our people.”

    According to him, his administration’s commitment in ensuring that youths acquired quality education was responsible for the establishment of 18 universities.

    “When we came on board, we discovered that we don’t have enough universities and that is why we opened 14 new universities and we also built more primary and secondary schools for our young people.

    “So, we are encouraging young people with talents in sports, music and comedy so that they can contribute to development. Our government is interested in encouraging young people, rather than building prisons. Anytime the APC comes to you, ask them how many schools they built? Prison does not develop people and that is why we are different.

    “When we called on the party to attend the conference, the APC refused to be part of it and these are the same people, who are talking about change? They are deceiving us.

    Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih assured the President of block vote from the Southsouth, adding that a vote for Buhari is a vote for tyranny and autocracy.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Student and Youth Matter, Comrade Jude Imagwe, said youths are ready to vote for the President for according them the opportunity to be part of decision making in governance.

    He mentioned the 18 slots allocated to them in the national conference.

    However, the Benin Monarch, Oba Erediauwa, stated that the Bini would accept whoever God choose to lead the country after the presidential elections.

    Oba Erediauwa, who spoke when the President visited his palace as part of his campaign rally, said his ancestors and God know who would be the next President.

    The Benin Monarch, who was represented by the Iyase of Benin Kingdom, Chief Sam Igbe, called for  peaceful elections and campaigns.

    He said: “God and our ancestors already know your (President Jonathan) aims; whoever God has chosen is our choice.”

    Jonathan praised the Oba and his chiefs for sustaining the country’s peace.

    He said he was at the palace to inform the monarch of his presence in Benin for the presidential rally.

  • Niger Delta students root for Jonathan

    Niger Delta students root for Jonathan

    Students of Niger Delta origin have held a rally and seminar in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, to drum support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid. EMMANUEL AHANONU (Corps member, NYSC Enugu) reports.

    The leadership of the Niger Delta Students’ Union Government (NIDSUG) has urged students from the oil-producing region to support President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid. The NIDSUG held a seminar and a rally, where the students adopted the president as their candidate in the February 14 election.

    Obada Akpomiemie, the NIDSUG president, led about 1,000 Niger Delta students from some higher institutions in a three-hour rally in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, last weekend. The students moved from Arium Hall to Azumini Ezimgbu and to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) office on Aba Road.

    They were clad in a white T-shirt with the inscription: “The role of students in consolidating the Transformation Agenda”. Riot policemen trailed the students’ procession to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

    After several minutes of pro-Jonathan songs at the NDDC office, the students were addressed by an official, who did not mention his name. He said: “The support for the president’s re-election, which you have taken as a cause is good. But, our principal is not on seat to speak to you.”

    The rally was preceded by a seminar, where Obada urged the students to vote for their kinsman. Speaking on the theme: The role of students in consolidating the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan, Obada said the leadership of the union supports Jonathan because he stands for peace and development.

    On why Jonathan should be re-elected, the pioneer president of the NIDSUG, Genesis Idikibiebuma, said the country has been transformed under the present administration. He said despite the problems inherited by Jonathan, the nation is waxing stronger.

    He said the president had given voice to ordinary Nigerians and is fighting their cause. Genesis urged all Niger Delta students to get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to enable them exercise their right at the polls.

    Tonbara Yalah, immediate past president of NIDSUG, who spoke on Welfare of Niger Deltans, said no administration achieved what Jonathan had achieved in six years, stressing that the youth must support leaders who care about their welfare.

    “I charge you all not to cast your vote for any political party or individual because of what you will get immediately but because the person has something to offer to the entire nation and generations unborn,” he said.

    A member of the union, Edward Odum, dismissed the notion that  youths of Niger Delta would foment trouble should the election outcome did not favour the president. He said Niger Delta students are not violent but added that the students would ask questions if the exercise is rigged against anyone.

    He said: “Niger Delta comprises merely nine states while Nigeria has 36 states. So, the possibility of Jonathan’s re-lection lies on our ability to convince our colleagues in other states to see reason why the president should be re-elected. If we cannot convince people to buy into this idea, we may have failed,” he said.

    Obada said the event was not sponsored or financed by any politician. He said the union embarked on the project to enlighten students. He also expressed dissatisfaction with what he called “anti-student policies” of Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, calling for change of programmes and promotion of Niger Delta students’ welfare.

  • 2015: Jonathan, Buhari, the Rich and the poor (6)

    Buhari’s health

    The Peoples  Democratic Party (PDP) began by saying Buhari was too old for the job, but backed down when the ploy did not appear to work. It was probably unknown to the arrow heads of this campaign that, in the United Kingdom for example, the retirement bar has been moved upwards as longevity improved to over 100 years and old people were found to be more mentally and physically astute than they were a few decades ago. Later, this age campaign was enlarged to capture his health. In one of such attacks, he was said to be suffering from cancer. Who would hear that a Presidential candidate was suffering from cancer and waste his vote on him? The campaigners diagnostic report produced a letter purported written by a medical doctor. But the campaign was botched by three different hand-writings. And, in any case, the hospital purported to have issued it said Gen. Buhari was never its patient. This campaign shows how empty the architect can be. Any one who has been close to a cancer sufferer would know Buhari doesn’t look like one. For the sake of argument, why make merry over an opponent health? Who from 40 or 50 doesn’t cover up one condition or other with clothes? Such conditions may range from hypertension and diabetes to drunkenness. President Bill Clinton had 95 percent blockage in his coronary (heart) arteries and had to have “coronary bypass” surgery to survive and carry on in office. A well known former Nigerian President was diabetic. Another had a pace maker (battery) in his heart. Didn’t Ibrahim Babangida suffer from “radiculopathy” while in office? Ayo Fayose assault not to be left out of the Buhari bashing party, this Governor of Ekiti State who enjoys being described as a dirty fighter has just added a real dirty twist to this smear campaign. He caused to be published in the Punch, one of Nigeria’s integrity conscious newspapers, an advertisement which details Heads of State of Nigeria from the Northwest region who died in office and suggested that Buhari, like them, would die likewise. The goal of the advertisement is to dissuade voters from investing their vote and hope on this man. It is an insult to all Nigerian people who come from the Northwest region, to say the least. And it has been roundly condemned nationwide. Even the PDP has condemned it. Fayose comes from the Southwest of Nigeria, a civilised, compassionate and justice seeking region. The forebears of this region have captured in proverbs the wisdom of the Ages for even generations unborn. One of these proverbs says: … ti a ba nja, bi ti kaku ko. This means “… when we quarrel or disagree, our differences are not to cause death.”

    Thus, the opponent is not wished death, and we do not speak ill of the dead. The Southwest is well-known for maturity, civility, accommodation, respect for human life, pursuit of justice and fair play and robust condemnation of omo ita (street child) lifestyle. So, such an attack on Buhari’s person as Fayose, can only weird together Buhari’s supporters in the Southwest, his Northwest region and elsewhere. Such attacks as stated can only be born out of fear and desperation.  Fayose suspects Buhari’s victory may see him out of office if the courts become free again to do their jobs unmolested. Some of the indicators of fear and desperation are to be found in the mathematics of the 2011 Presidential election, in which President Jonathan defeated Buhari by about 12 million clear votes, and the emerging shifting landscape.

    •                Jonathan 22 million

    •                Buhari 10 million

    There were votes for other candidates, including that of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). The bottom line was that President Jonathan beat Buhari by about 12 million votes. That was a whopping landslide which President Jonathan may have replicated on February 14, had the APC presented a candidate of lesser integrity than Buhari.

    Between 2011 and 2015 the landscape 12 million winning or differential votes of President Jonathan may have become significantly fractured in many states, and this probably accounts for the fear and desperation in the PDP to destroy Buhari’s person at any cost. The south-west region voted overwhelmingly for President Jonathan in 2011.

  • ‘Why past leaders are not supporting Jonathan’

    ‘Why past leaders are not supporting Jonathan’

    Former Kogi State Acting Governor Clarence Olafemi is a member of the Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview with JAMES AZANIA, he speaks about the chances of the party in the North Central state. 

    THE APC presidential campaign rally in Kogi was a huge success. How did you achieve that?

    We have no sitting governor. So, we had to carry our cross by ourselves. The whole thing is gone, but we thank God that it was a huge success. I have never witnessed the kind of crowd that I saw in Obajana alone. What I saw in Obajana was about three times what I saw in the stadium. It is unbelievable, even those ones alone vote in Kogi and they are all of voters’ age; forget about the problem of distribution of permanent voters’ card (PVC) cards, I have no doubt that the result of election, come February 14, will be too fantastic in Kogi.

    Initially, they were saying Kogi will be only 20 per cent but I told them they should aim at 80 per cent. I have been able to prove my worth, having overseen the conduct of a governorship election in 2008, that we won massively, I have proved that I am a manager of election process, by making sure that I delivered over 80 per cent of the total vote cast to my party, PDP then. There is no assignment you give me you judge me by my result. The next thing you can use in judging me was the decamping. The decamping to APC has never been so successful.

    The records are there. The leadership of the APC were so happy. In Kogi, we can get this crowd? There was no sort of insinuation that was not made; they said we rented crowd. Even if we borrowed, we borrowed from PDP and PDP cooperated? Is that not interesting? Even if to say we rented it means that the people we rented they have agreed to be hired. But the truth of the matter was that it was a fantastic success, the decamping was also centred around me, with the likes of Baba (John) Oda who was the leader of the group. He is a leader but the engine room is somewhere, and this one now has proved beyond reasonable doubt that Clarence Olafemi is capable of managing any political activity or structure. My concern is that let Clarence Olafemi not work and some sycophants will go and take the credit somewhere. The only leader ahead of me is Prince Abubakar Audu and he was not around, he came two days to the day. I have to give the credit vintage information because you don’t value what you have until you don’t have it again. I predicted to one of my closest political friends, Barrister Haruna, that there is going to be a Tsunami two weeks to the election and it is happening now. It has not even gotten to two weeks; people are going to start moving because we are tired of the government that is inactive. Why is Ekwueme not supporting Jonathan? It’s in the papers. Why is Obasanjo not supporting Jonathan?

    It’s in the papers. Why is Shagari not supporting Jonathan? Why is Babangida saying vote wisely; not supporting Jonathan? Why is Abubakar not? All these are past leaders that are still living by the special grace of God. They know that the country is not the country they wish and whatever is responsible for what is happening today is very unfortunate, its condemnable, that Chad will now be spearheading security safety of Nigeria. Chad! A state in Nigeria is richer than that country called Chad. We have crashed and collapsed the country called Nigeria; economically, politically, militarily, every sphere of this country has collapsed and people are paying lip service.

    What were your achievements when you were Acting Governor of Kogi State?

    When Clarence got into power as Acting Governor of Kogi State, he left a legacy; he established a college of education, staff and student today over 3,000 are feeding from it. Let everyone who steps into the corridor of power be able to say this is what I have done. We voted in the state house of assembly for state fund to be deducted at source to increase electricity supply in this country. Today, where are we? The money was deducted, the electricity has not come. I was Speaker of the House. I know what I am talking, Today, I spend an average of N8, 000 per day buying fuel and I have three generators in my house, yet I can still go without light. Eight times 30 will give you 240 Today, NEPA is charging me N8, 000. I am saying, NEPA please, charge me N30, 000, charge me N40, 000, but give me regular light, it is better than the diesel I am buying. I went to UK, I spent 31 days for holiday they never took my light and my computer was working on my computer Wi-Fi. Nigeria, Obasanjo gave us a platform for IT but we cannot develop it, we are retrogressing. You go to petrol station in UK that will be manned by nobody but by yourself, you plug your card, you put the nuzzle in your car, as soon as it sells the amount you want to you it cuts off and you go, whether it is 12 midnight, whether it is 11pm, you buy your fuel and you go your house. Our people go there they see them, why are they not able to allow that thing to happen in Nigeria?

    My ticket is what make me to enter the airport. I put it on something, once it picks the ticket it opens the gate for me I pass. These are IT and technology base that could revolutionize Nigeria.

    How do you respond to allegations by Chief Femi Fani-Kayode that the APC presidential candidate is batting serious health challenges?

    Let me just tell you, my problem with Fani-Kayode is that he is the most inconsistent Yoruba politician that we have in Nigeria. He’s the ‘jeun jeun’ kind of politician, he moves by the current. I will not be surprised if tomorrow the good people of Nigeria decide Buhari should be the president and he won that election, he will criticise Goodluck Jonathan as the worst president Nigeria has ever had. So, for you people that are taking Fani-Kayode serious, I don’t take Fani-Kayode serious. I don’t see him as a politician of substance. He knows how to make noise. What has Fani-Kayode been able to electorally change in this country? Nothing. Since 2003 that I have come home to come and play politics are you not able to tell the story of Clarence Olafemi politically? Are you not able to say how he has impacted on the life of the average Kogite? I have a list here, which my lawyer was talking about, of how I have been able to transform the live of Kogites. Fani is an opportunist. Full stop. Is he a medical doctor? Which hospital diagnosed Buhari of cancer? And who told him that the law of nature cannot even make him to be sick tomorrow? Anybody, no matter who the person is, can fall sick. The man who owns the body has said that he only has cold, and in this changing of weather, catarrh and all these things, it is natural in African, in a tropical country. Even my little kid, Princess Tinu Olafemi, she has cold now. Are you going to say she has cancer? Can you be more Catholic than the pope? Anybody who is reckoning with Fani is wasting his time. He is an unnecessary distractions at these age of our election. He cannot gain any vote for Jonathan.

    There was a time the Kogi Elders Forum wrote a letter to the President that if something is not done to right, there will be repercussions. Your decamping with others, is this part of the repercussions you talked of?

    You have mentioned Chief John Oda, you mentioned others, the three of us were part of the six that signed the letter and in fact, they even took us to court that we are not elders from this state and the court ruled that we are elders. You know we did not come back to tell you the end of that judgment? We won. How will you say Clarence Olafemi, who is 64, who has been governor of this state, who has been Speaker of this state, is not a stakeholder of Kogi State? And, how do you define elders? Baba Oda is about 70.

    I saw long time ago that the PDP was going to crash. When you see an umbrella that the cyclone is blowing and you say you are looking for cover, I will not stay under the umbrella that is torn. We saw this thing coming and more will come. PDP has collapsed due to mismanagement.

    The impression is that you are nursing gubernatorial ambition. Is this true?

    Is it a crime for somebody of my age, who has acted as governor of the state to want to contest? Even if I say I will not, you will say I should and do so. Let me tell you, I am going to contest. Look at what is happening in Kogi, where nothing is working and you say that you are happy.  Kwara gets about N200 million per month less than Kogi in terms of allocation but go to Ilorin and see what they have done. The other state you should be thinking about is Nasarawa, go to Nasarawa, go to Niger, go to Plateau; don’t go and talk of Rivers, don’t go and talk of Akwa Ibom; they will say they have oil advantage. My brother, what we have here is a desert, and if some of us do not stand up, our children, children yet unborn will ask us, ‘they said your father was very prominent’, prominent doing what? Looking for what he will come into his pocket. I remain the only Acting Governor that returned over N3.7 billion back to government purse. If I’m looking for how to make millions, I would have made two out of it to my private pocket and leave 1.7 and they would still have praised me. Or, I could have attempt to transform to become the governor.