The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Muhammadu Buhari

  • 2019: ‘Why Buhari deserves second term’

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s unwavering commitment to put Nigeria back on the path of cohesive national development is hinged on human and natural assets, Chairman, Senate Committee on Labour and Productivity, Senator Abu Ibrahim has said.

    Senator Ibrahim who is also Chairman, National Committee Buhari Support Group (NCBSG), stated this at the just concluded National Consultative Forum of NCBSG in Abuja.

    The Katsina South senator noted that President Buhari has worked tirelessly and selflessly to put the economy of the country back on track in the last 36 months.

    He said that while inflation has been on the downward trend generally for more than a year, the manufacturing sector has seen consistent growth in output through friendly policies.

    According to him, the agricultural sector has not only put millions back to rewarding work, it has inched the country closer to self sufficiency in food production.

    The lawmaker added that it is obvious that the deliberate ease of doing business drive has seen a boom in micro, small and medium scale enterprises and engineered renewed foreign investment interest in the country’s economy.

    Read Also: Buhari declines assent to 2018 Electoral Act Amendment bill

    He said that high-impact social investment programmes have engaged hundreds of thousands of youths while small scale businesses are receiving soft loans to boost their businesses.

    Ibrahim noted that millions of school children are being fed nutritious meals daily while tens of thousands of indigent citizens are also being provided succor through cash transfer scheme.

    He said that a prudent management style has seen the country’s foreign reserves approach $50 billion for the first time in many years even while pursuing social investment and aggressively executing infrastructure development projects in the maritime, power, railways and road sub-sector.

    The projects abandoned in the years of surplus earning, he said, are now being successfully executed with much less income in testimony to President Buhari’s love and dedication to the country.

    The senator said that President Buhari has shown exemplary aversion to the plundering of the country’s collective patrimony and has given pertinent organs of government the free hand with which to reign-in the monster of corruption that has blighted the national psyche for decades.

    Ibrahim said, “Though it is not yet Uhuru, and we still have challenges to confront as a determined multi-cultural development nation, Nigeria has made real progress under President Buhari.”

    The lawmaker insisted that “In President Muhammadu Buhari, we have a leader we are sure will never abuse his office and use our collective sacrifices to feed his personal financial empire.”

    He noted that “We can go to sleep knowing that Mr. President will not be entertaining nocturnal meetings at which our common destines are packaged and shared amongst a kleptomaniac few.”

    Ibrahim urged Nigerians to remain steadfast in the onerous task of national building and continue to support President Buhari.

  • Group urge Buhari to dismantle roadblocks in S/East

    President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to direct the Inspector-General of Police (IG) to dismantle road blocks mounted by his officers on the South Eastern roads.

    Human Rights, Liberty Access and Peace Foundation (HURIJE), which made the call in a release in Onitsha, on Friday, described the increasing number of checkpoints in the zone as haven for corruption.

    The statement signed by chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of HURIJE, Dede Uzor Uzor, revealed that there were over hundred road blocks mounted by the Police in different routes in South East.

    The group said there were not less than 25 road blocks from Onitsha to Owerri, 28 from Enugu-Port Hacourt, 16 from Enugu -Owerri, 24 from Onitsha-Enugu, 18 from Onitsha -Orlu, among others.

    “While the Police cited checkmating of criminals as reason for mounting these road blocks, it has become clear that the road blocks have become “oil well” for Police authority, their officers and men.

    Read Also: You can’t sway S/East with false promises, PDP tells Buhari

    “The roadblocks have outlived their usefulness. They don’t provide the expected security again. They have been grossly abused and therefore should be scrapped and dismantled immediately,” it decried.

    The group wondered why the larger chunk of the road blocks were prevalent in the South East, saying “You don’t see much of Police roadblocks in the North and West.”

    It however lauded President Buhari for dismantling the roadblocks mounted by the army in various parts of the South East, saying their removal had brought relief to the people of the zone, especially travellers.

  • Miners list impeding challenges to Buhari

    The Miners Association of Nigeria on Friday visited the Presidential Villa, Abuja and complained to President Muhammadu Buhari on some challenges impeding their operations in some states.
    The Minister of State for Mines and Steel, Bawa Bwari, spoke with State House correspondents at the end of the closed doors meeting.
    According to him, the government is committed to encouraging mining activities in the country.
    The Minister assured the the government will look into the plights of the miners.
    He said “The miners Association of Nigeria seek for a courtesy call to Mr. President and he granted it. This is historic because this is the first time Miners Association of Nigeria has been received by a president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
    “They came to commend the president for what we have done in the mining sector. Government is putting in place some incentives that are encouraging mining activities in Nigeria.

    Read Also: I’ll sign PIB into law, Buhari assures oil workers

    “They came to show their appreciation and also to complain about what they are encountering, especially in states where state governments are charging them multiple taxes and some of their activities are disrupted by state government agencies. In fact, sometimes their mines are closed down.
    “This, we are talking with the state governments involved. We intend to take up this matter at the National Economic Council (NEC); where state governments should know their limits and they should know they are also beneficiaries of whatever mining activities is going on because 13 percent derivation is supposed to go to state governments for mining activities taking place there.” He said
    Bwari stressed that the government has recorded major achievements in the mining sector.
    He said “For example, we have a company called Symbol Mining. It has started modern mining in Bauchi. It is mining led at 32 percent grade compared to the world average of 6 percent.
    “This is a good development for Nigeria because mining is structured in such a way that any discovery like that will attract bigger mining to come to Nigeria.
    “We have no choice than to encourage mining for one reason; our population. When you consider our population and you discover that we have more than 44 minerals cutting across all the 774 local governments, this will create activities and create opportunities for our teeming population.” he stated

     

  • Buhari declines assent to 2018 Electoral Act Amendment bill

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday declined assent to the 2018 Electoral Act Amendment bill and returned it to the National Assembly.
     
    That was the fourth time the bill is being rejected by the President as earlier rejections were said to be due to errors in the bill. 

    Read Also: Abia honours Buhari with another chieftaincy title

     
    Briefing State House correspondents on Friday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly matters (Senate), Ita Enang said that the President in line with the constitution has communicated his decision and returned the bill to the National Assembly. 
     
    Enang, who was not categorical on whether the President rejected the bill, said that it’s the National Assembly that can reveal the content of the communication. 
     
    But he said that the President has signed the National Open University bill into law.

  • FG housing programme: Minister lauds pace of work in Benin

    The Minister of State  for Power, Works and Housing, Mr Mustapha Shehuri, has lauded the pace of work at the site of the National Housing Programme in Edo.

    Shehuri gave the commendation on Friday in Benin during an inspection of ongoing Federal Government’s project in the state.

    He said that the achievement recorded so far in the state and the pledge by the contractors to complete the project by the end of December was a welcome development.

    The minister urged the contractors to live up to their promises, adding that the programme was in line with the federal government’s efforts to provide affordable housing to Nigerians.

    He pledged that the government would continue to support committed and hardworking members of staff to achieve its goals adding that the project was being undertaken in the 36 states of the federation.

    Shehuri said that the national housing programme was part of the campaign promises of President Muhammadu Buhari to deliver affordable housing to Nigerians.

    Read Also: Benin wears new look for Buhari’s visit

    Mrs Evelyn Ani-Otoibhi, the National Housing Programme Team Leaders in Edo, said the project, consisting of houses and infrastructure was commenced in February 2017.

    She said that the housing project was made up of 28 units of two-bedroom bungalows, 16 units of three-bedroom bungalows and a three storey condominium consisting 24 flats.

    The team leader said that construction of roads, provision of electricity and motorised boreholes were ongoing in the site.

    Ani-Otoibhi said that the entire project had attained between 80 and 100 per cent completion and that the 15 contractors had pledged to hand over the building by December ending.

    She said that it was 100 per cent local content-based, adding that the contractors, suppliers and artisans were all sourced locally.

     

    NAN

  • Abia honours Buhari with another chieftaincy title

    In 2014, in Aba, Abia State, then Candidate Muhammadu Buhari was conferred with the Ogbuagu 1 of Igbo land title. Four years later, the President gets another: Ikeogu Ndi Igbo. SUNNY NWANKWO reports

    Four years ago a bold monarch in Abia State, the Enyi of Aba, His Imperial Majesty Eze Isaac Ikonne, honoured then Candidate Muhammadu Buhari with a chieftaincy title: Ogbuagu 1 of Igboland. The title literally means the lion killer, a metaphor for a champion, but the gesture was not popular. It was thought that some traditional rulers were opposed to it. The Enyi begged to disagree. Four years down the road, the president has picked up another title in the state, this time in Bende Local Government Area of the state. Over 60 traditional rulers in Isiukwuato/Umunneochi constituency conferred the president with the Ikeogu 1 of Igboland (fighter for Ndi Igbo). Many dignitaries graced the occasion.

    Speaking on behalf of the traditional rulers, the Logo I of Amuda Isuochi, Eze Okechukwu Chukwuji who was at the event to mark the flag-off campaign for the reelection of the All Progressives Congress lawmaker representing Umunneochi/Isiukwuato, Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejiocha stated that the traditional rulers’ decision to honour Buhar with a chieftaincy title was based on the good work that the President has done since assuming office in 2015.

    He said, “Our presence here is to show the APC family that we are supporting her. We are going to give you our support. Based on the good job of Mr. President; Muhammadu Buhari, we the committee of traditional rulers in Isiukwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency decided that we should honour him because of the great job that he has been doing.

    “In every society, everyone must not agree with you. We honoured him with the traditional title of Ikeogu Ndi Igbo because Mr. President is a brand and we are supporting him.”

    Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje who received the chieftaincy title on behalf of the President thanked the traditional ruler for such an honour

    Ganduje said, “President Buhari loves Nigeria…There is no doubt about it. The president of Nigeria is always telling us that we should take advantage of our diversity. Every ethnic group has its comparative advantages in terms of nature, achievements.

    “Everybody knows that the people of the southeast geopolitical zone are very hardworking people. That is why they are succeeding in cohabiting peacefully with other members of the country. Your people have gone high in terms of entrepreneurship. We should take advantage of that. So, President Buhari is happy with the chieftaincy title and I will convey it to him and we appreciate what you have done.

    “I want to seize this opportunity to thank the paramount ruler and chairman council of chiefs Abia State for giving me the Agu n’eche mba I of Igboland. I was at his palace and I received the title which was in appreciation of the role that I played especially during the quit notice given to Igbos living in Northern Nigeria by the Arewa Youths. There is nothing like non-indigene in Kano State. Everybody is an indigene.

    “We have seen a number of infrastructures created and implemented by the federal government. I think that this is a good development. Mr. President is concerned about your roads, in the southeastern geopolitical zone. That is why he has committed a lot of funds [for them in the budget].

    “And on our way here, we see the road construction that is going on. So we are not surprised, all the states that we have visited, there is political revolution. People are coming into APC. So we believe that this time around, you will be integrated into the national politics. The issue of being onlookers will be a thing of the past.

    “I think that the strong politicians from this zone who are now in APC will make you proud. We know that it is already done. Mr. Buhari is not only looking for 25 percent, he is looking for more than 50 percent of your votes.”

    The Kano governor came in the company of Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, Southeast National Vice Chairman, Emma Enukwu, former National vice chairman southeast and APC 2015 governorship flag bearer, Chief Nyerere Anyim, APC national woman leader and among other members of the party.

  • brahim,Buhari’s vision for Nigerian Youths

    The appointment of Brig Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, a renowned military scholar and administrator of repute as the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) penultimate week by President Muhammadu Buhari has come with a lot of expectations and hope for revitalized national service scheme. Certainly, it is clear to all Nigerians that the NYSC is yet to fully explore its mandate and or, its impact felt appreciably on Nigeria’s national life in tandem with the spirit and mandate of its establishment.

    Youths are the fulcrum of a sound society and where development eludes youths, it poses present and future danger. And those who have meticulously decoded the focus of the administration of President Buhari would concede that the years of massive youth disempowerment in the country, unemployment and underemployment have been his main mania from the outset.

    A neglected and abandoned youth has remained a serious national malaise. And the problem is compounded by the growing strength of employable youths, but collapsed companies and the glaring impossibility that government alone cannot absorb this huge number into its workforce.

    It is the conviction of Mr. President to see a Nigerian youth population that is self-dependent and self-reliant as well as active contributors to national productivity and growth. And the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) offers a veritable platform for the attainment of these national aspirations and goals.

    President Buhari knows that a huge and frightening idle youth population is a recipe for the widespread and assaulting criminalities in Nigeria. It ranges from insurgencies, insurrections, armed robbery, kidnapping, banditry, militancy, communal skirmishes, entrenched and pervasive cultism, prostitution and a myriad of other social vices. Idle and redundant youths provide a rich reservoir of foot soldiers for the lords of these anti-human and anti-social acts and misconducts.

    Buhari’s launch of the Social Investments Programme (SIP) schemes and his administration’s unyielding focus in the promotion of agricultural enterprises and the resuscitation of some collapsed industries are policies and actions packaged to reduce the massive youth unemployment.

    In the NYSC scheme, Mr. President sees another flank of his vision of securing the future of young Nigerians through gainful ventures to take them off the streets or insulated from crisis entrepreneurs who recruit them as merchants of violence, deaths and arson for peanuts. Therefore the introduction of the mandatory Skills Acquisition Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) in NYSC for serving corps members across the country was propelled by the same motivation.

    Though, these initiatives and programmes are beginning to impact positively on youth engagements in the country, but the results are far from President Buhari’s expectations. And added to the existing problems, ethnic, religious, and regional sentiments or animosities seemed to have deepened in contemporary Nigeria, than wane. The prevalence of divisive tendencies, hate sermons and religious segregation have been amplified in Nigeria, much against the spirit of the nation’s founding fathers and primarily, against the word and letter of the concept of the NYSC.

    Nigerians can reminisce that when the military government of Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd) established the NYSC with Decree No.24 of May 1973, three years after the end Nigeria’s bitter civil war, it was conceptualized to promote national unity, communality and speedy up, the assimilation of the 3Rs (Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation) in national psyche. Nearly four decades after and with Nigerians more enlightened, these afflictions have taken a stronger stranglehold on Nigeria, especially among the younger generation of Nigerians.

    It is clear public institutions like the NYSC are grossly under-utilized in erecting a pool of millions of graduates who would be meaningfully supported to become self-dependent, creators and employers of labour after the mandatory one-year service. Also, Gen. Ibrahim has a presidential mandate to restructure and reposition the NYSC to churn out young Nigerians who would be true ambassadors, champions and crusaders of national unity, and ethno-religious tolerance, as against the present trend of acting as purveyors of these retrogressive proclivities.

    Therefore, President Buhari’s appointment of Brig Gen Ibrahim to pilot the affairs of the NYSC was not a surprise or accidental. It came after a thorough in-house search and the impeccable credentials of Gen. Ibrahim and previous stint with the scheme placed him topmost among competing contenders and his eventual emergence.

    The NYSC’s new Director-General has an uphill task. The Buhari Presidency expects him to immediately embark on a total overhaul of the system to place it on a pedestal that would truly fulfil its mandate focus and manifest in the attitudinal change of graduates in productivity and perception of the concept of national unity and tolerance. The anticipated reforms and innovations are expected to deepen inter-tribal and inter-religious mix among young Nigerians.

    Gen. Ibrahim must discourage the trend of parents who lobby for their children to be posted back to their states of origin or specific establishments. It demeans the essence of the scheme and deprives these generation of Nigerians the rare opportunity to taste and feel the impact of the country’s diversities.

    Furthermore, the new NYSC Director-General would have to explore ways to make the Skills Acquisition Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) more visible, lucrative and beneficial to participating Nigerians after the post-service year. Currently, only few of the beneficiaries of the skills acquisition training are persuaded to put it into practice, even with start-up packs extended to deserving participants.

    It is the responsibility of the NYSC management to appraise SAED and come up with appropriate recommendations that would make the scheme more effective, productive and beneficial to even youths outside the targeted participants. The requirements of such recommendations for improvement of SAED would either be fused into the Presidency’s subsisting social investments windows or forwarded to it separate consideration.

    This will blend with President Buhari’s vision for Nigerian youths. It is a sure path for reducing unemployment, over dependence of white-collar jobs, arrest youth restiveness and most importantly, make every Nigerian an active contributor to the peace, growth and development of Nigeria.

  • Buhari’s second term, time of harvest for Nigerians – Lawmaker

    A Lagos lawmaker, Mr Victor Akande on Thursday said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term in office would be a time of harvest for Nigerians.

    Akande, representing Ojo Constituency 1 in the Lagos State House of Assembly, made the remark in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    According to him, it is not easy to repair in three years of what was destroyed for 16 under previous administrations.

    He said that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government was moving the country to the next level of harvesting, all the sacrifices it had made.

    Akande said: “After we have moved from this stage to the next level, which is a performing level, we will do better.

    “When you want to plant, you clear the ground and plow it. That is what you are seeing now.

    “We are sieving corrupt minded-people away.

    “We have planted, we have watered it, so the people should wait because it is germinating now and it will soon be harvest time,” Akande, Chairman.

    Akande, who is the Chairman, Committee on Science and Technology of the House, said that Buhari’s second term was not threatened by the candidature of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and others in the 2019 presidential election.

    Read Also: Akeredolu to Npower beneficiaries: Vote for Buhari

     

    According to the lawmaker, the only opposition APC has is the one against itself.

    Akande, who recently defected from PDP to APC on the floor of the House, said that Buhari had nothing to fear.

    “We cannot be talking about the people who ruled Nigeria for 16 years and have nothing to show for it. We are talking about somebody who has only ruled for three years and is performing.

    “Should we be afraid of those who looted the economy. There is nothing to fear about the judgment is for the masses.

    “We cannot be fighting corruption and some people will be complaining.

    “Things were spoiled for 16 years and another government now came to revive them,we will have to sacrifice and give them time.”

    While carpeting those blaming APC for the harsh economy in the country, he said that the party did not cause the current poverty in the land.

    He said APC had its manifestos, agenda, and blueprints, saying that these had to be followed gradually, adding that they could not be done overnight.

    “We are not magicians. The United States of America did not get to where they are today overnight. Economy that has been bad for 16 years, we cannot perform magic in four years.

    “We had to find the root of the problem and that is what President Muhammadu Buhari has done, that is what APC has done.
    “They have tried to get to the root cause of the problem and they found a heavy corruption.

    “The whole thing fall in the hands of the bourgeoisie and who now came up with propaganda to run down the government.
    “The coming together of unscrupulous elements cannot bring down a working government.”

    On the conduct of 2019 general elections, Akande advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) do the needful so that the people would not doubt its integrity.

    Akande, who urged the politicians to desist from anything capable of jeorpadising the country’s democracy, advised voters to vote according to their conscience.

  • Buhari greets Chief Mathias at 70

    President Muhammadu Buhari has joined the media world in celebrating veteran broadcaster, columnist and media consultant, Chief Timawus Mathias, as he turns 70.

    President Buhari, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina, sent warm felicitations to friends, family and professional colleagues of the renowned journalist, who has spent most of his time writing and counselling institutions and governments on the value of effective and integrated communication.

    Read Also: Reps urge Buhari to implement agreement with ASUU

    As the ace broadcaster turns 70, the President believed Chief Mathias’ early foray into journalism was divinely orchestrated as he worked with Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria for a while, before moving to the Nigeria Television Authority and hitting the limelight with Verdict’83 in 1983.

    President Buhari commended the versatility of the media professional, who continues to inspire and mentor younger people into journalism by utilising modern digital tools of communication, and remaining active on social media.

    He prays that almighty God will grant Chief Mathias longer life, good health to enjoy his passion, and more fruitful years of service to the nation.

  • Ex-lawmaker advocate two party system

     says it will stabilize democracy

    A former member of the House of Representatives,  Nze Chidi  Duru  has advocated the collapsing existing political parties into two,  saying a two party system was. More desirable for the sustenance of democracy in the country.

    Duru who is seeking to return to the House on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) however expressed fear that those left the party as a result of the outcome of party primaries may pitch tent with opposition candidates during the election, but assured that President Muhammadu Buhari would emerge victorious in the 2019 elections.

    Duru said: “I think it is the political behaviour and i believe that like we did propose in a meeting held in 1999, the agenda was to shrink the political space, to have at least not more than two political parties. But for reasons that suited the authority, after we left, they allow the possibility of 2-4 political parties. And after that, you now have different political environment where anybody can conjure a political party and then registered and people will start moving from party A to party B.

    “I also think that if we had kept faith with the two party systems that we propose, the electorate will begin to notice that the movement across parties is not in the interest of the electorate. It is basically selfish interest that drives one politician to the other party. Once the electorate becomes aware, they can choose to punish those itinerant politicians or political party as the case maybe.”

    Duru who assured that he would not relent in his effort to attract developmental project to his constituency said he would be preoccupied with the task of ensuring the passage of the Antitrust Bill if elected at the poll.

    He said: “As you know, i have been in the private sector. I will continue to support policies and legislation that will enhance governance and businesses. It is only the private sector that reduces the amount way and manner that people live and the way they conduct their businesses.

    “I will encourage legislation that will enhance ease of doing business in Nigeria. One of the cardinal causes that i will champion is to ensure that the bill pending over the years is allow to see the Light of the day.

    “You will remember in 2003, the Bill passed through the third reading in the House of Representatives but didn’t make it in the senate. That was why it was not passed. In the second attempt,  it was not passed in the National Assembly. Since then every effort to encourage a friend or a colleague who have been reelected into the National Assembly to Champion the bill didn’t work. I will revive it ice again because it would serve the interest of the country.”