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Tag: Obama

  • Obama, Clinton top list of most admired in US

    Obama, Clinton top list of most admired in US

    Former President Barack Obama and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton retained their titles among U.S. adults as the most admired man and woman anywhere in the world in 2017 for the tenth consecutive year.

    Àccording to a poll by the Gallup organisation, Obama edged out [President] Donald Trump, by 17 per cent to 14 per cent, while Clinton edged out Michelle Obama, by nine per cent to seven per cent.

    Trump won handily among Republicans, 35 per cent name him as the man they admire most, with only one per cent Obama, the release explained.

    In contrast, Obama led among Democrats, with 39 per cent mentioning him and 3 percent mentioning Trump.

    Read also: How Obama  Michelle spend after presidency

    Meanwhile, Clinton ’s nine per cent marked the lowest score she has received since 2002, when named by seven per cent, the release noted.

    She has held the title a record 22 times in total, with Eleanor Roosevelt in second place with 13 wins.

    Obama has been named the most admired man ten times, trailing only President Dwight Eisenhower, who earned the distinction 12 times, according to the release.

    Barack Obama won all eight years he was president, plus 2008, the year he was first elected, and this year, his first as a former president of the U.S.

    (Sputnik/NAN)

  • Uncle Ebele must sue Obama

    At first I thought it was a joke. Now, the truth is out. Better still, the truth has been reconfirmed. The wind has blown and we have seen the fowl’s anus. The evil Barack Obama did against ex-President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan has been scientifically exposed by a renowned researcher of no mean standing, Reno Omokri. The snippets are out and later this month when the details of the research as packaged in Omokri’s book are out, the world will ask for Obama’s head.

    The about-to-be-released book, written by Omokri, who was Special Assistant to Jonathan—my one and only Uncle Ebele—on New Media, quoted a top intelligence analyst with the Obama administration, Mr. Matthew Page, who he claimed admitted that his boss was not against a change of government in Nigeria because Uncle Ebele disappointed the U.S. on a number of key issues.

    Please let us take some excerpts from this book, which is bound to win a Nobel prize. The excerpts will open your eyes to the wonderful job Omokri has done Jonathan, Nigeria and the world.

    Omokri quoted Page as saying about a meeting the Obama administration had with Northern governors: “Admiral Murtala Nyako read out a memo he had written itemising the case against Jonathan. He was so openly and almost violently against the Jonathan administration in his speech that he had to be openly rebuked at the meeting by the then Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Ambassador Adebowale Adefuye of blessed memory.

    “Admiral Nyako’s belligerence to the Jonathan administration was so venomous that it prompted a rebuttal from the Gombe State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, who showed loyalty to the then Nigerian president. This prompted most of the other Northern governors present to turn on him.”

    He went on: “The Obama administration was a bit disappointed (I know that sounds paternalistic) but there were some issues they had felt let down on.

    “The human rights situation in the North-east, which has still not changed under Buhari, and Diezani Alison-Madueke, who they felt should have been removed. There were some issues with some clauses in the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2013.”

    Desperate to draw a link between the governors Washington meeting and the presidential election, Omokri wrote: “Another interesting connection is that these high level meetings arranged for Northern governors by the Obama administration took place in 2014, at the same time that Obama confidant and former White House Senior Advisor, Mr. David Axelrod’s firm, AKPD Message and Media, began to work as a paid consultant to the then Nigerian opposition party, All Progressive Congress.”

    He added: “Subliminal messages were communicated by President Obama when he took the unusual step of addressing Nigerians on March 23, 2015, just five days to the presidential elections on March 28, 2015.

    “In that broadcast, Obama told Nigerians: ‘Now you have an historic opportunity to help write the next chapter of Nigeria’s progress by voting in the upcoming elections…Boko Haram wants to destroy Nigeria and all that you have built. By casting your ballot you can help secure your nation’s progress.’

    “Note the words ‘next chapter’. During the present Fourth Republic, Nigeria had had four successful presidential elections before 2015. 2015 was not a ‘next chapter’. The only way it would have been a next chapter would be for the incumbent to be unseated by the opposition.”

    More excerpts please: “The issues were human rights situation in the North-East, which has still not changed under Buhari and Diezani Alison-Madueke, who they felt should have been removed. There were issues with some clauses in the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2013.

    “Although he listed three reasons the Obama administration felt let down by Dr. Jonathan, my conversation with Mr. Page gave me a sense that the first two reasons were just excuses and that the main reason was the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition ) Bill 2013.

    “That issue was a deal breaker for the Obama administration because of the strong support they had from the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender) community for Mr. Obama’s re-election in 2012. “From the foregoing, it would appear there is a strong circumstantial case for the belief by Dr. Jonathan and other people who were on the front burner of Nigerian politics, that the Obama administration, for reasons bordering on the Jonathan administration’s seeming anti-gay stance, was determined to unseat the Goodluck Jonathan administration as part of its efforts to ‘stabilise’ Nigeria.”

    On Chibok girls kidnap, this is the outcome of Omokri’s painstaking research: “Let us connect some dots. One of the governors who was most vociferous against Dr. Jonathan at those meetings was Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State. Bear in mind that he and his colleagues had a closed-door meeting with the then US National Security Adviser, Ms. Susan Rice, on March 18, 2014.

    “Is it a coincidence then that three weeks after Governor Shettima returned from his meeting with Ms. Rice, Boko Haram struck at Chibok town and kidnapped 276 girls at Government Secondary School, Chibok?

    “The meeting with Ms. Rice occurred on March 18, 2014, the kidnap of the Chibok girls occurred on April 14, 2014. Prudent-minded persons may be wise to take a second look at the Chibok kidnapping.”

    Omokri is not the first to reveal Obama and others’ secret regarding the 2015 presidential election. Jonathan let out some cats out of the bag in ‘Against the Run of Play’ by ex-presidential spokesman and This Day Editorial Board chairman Olusegun Adeniyi.

    The book is full of drama. Of course, the main character is our dear Uncle Ebele. He really gave it to Obama. Obama, said Uncle Ebele, played a major role in the debilitating defeat, which ended his quest for a third oath of office as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He did not spare immediate past United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron and ex-French President Francois Hollande.

    Uncle Ebele revealed the secrets that Obama, Hollande and Cameron thought he would be afraid to let out. He caught them red-handed scientifically juggling figures for now ailing President Muhammadu Buhari and doing all manners of things which led to his defeat. They thought he would not talk. Now, Uncle Ebele has spoken and Obama, Hollande and Cameron must take cover. Omokri’s book has further compounded their woes. When the details are eventually out, there will be no hiding place for them.

    If I were Uncle, I would not take this lightly. Thank God, Hollande is also out of power, which means all the three of them who denied Nigerians of corruption-free democracy do not enjoy any form of immunity. Uncle Ebele should drag the three of them before the International Criminal Court. These guys deserve to stand trial for crimes against humanity.

    By their actions and inactions, they have robbed Nigerians of Boko Haram insurgents carrying on as if they were God’s anointed; they have robbed us of the treasury being open for every Dick, Tom and Harry to have unfettered access to; they have robbed us of the theatrics and good dictions of Dame Jonathan; they have robbed us of having the special privilege of having the beautiful Diezani Allison-Madueke in government and in power; and they have denied us of the honour of having the ‘boy is good’ in power. What evil these oyinbos have done us! What is their own in our own self?

    I must point out that the conspiracy against Uncle Ebele was not only international. There were local collaborators. Some of them include: ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, ex-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman Adamu Mu’azu, Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal and Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi.

    These four guys and some others did unforgiveable damage to Uncle Ebele’s good intention to take Nigeria to the Eldorado.

    My final take: With the evidence at the disposal of Uncle Ebele and Omokri, Obama must be sued. Hollande and Cameron should also be accessories before, during and after the fact of election manipulation. They deserve to be taught a lesson not to influence Nigerians on where to cast their votes!

  • Trump and Obama’s shadow

    In a few days’ time, the Trump administration will mark its 100 days in office. To what extent President Donald Trump has so far been able to successfully focus on fulfilling his electoral promises to the American electorate is neither here nor there. One thing that is, however, clearly identifiable  and deeply entrenched in the Trump administration’s  style is Mr. Trump’s predilection towards demonizing his predecessor, Barrack Obama over every challenge that his administration has had to grapple with since its inauguration. This approach has become so recurring that it is almost becoming an obsession for President Trump.

    In the wake of recent horrific gas attack on civilians in Syria, the void in the Trump administration’s foreign policy became quite pronounced. Initially, the White House was unusually quiet in its reaction to the ugly incident. While the attack was swiftly and roundly condemned by leaders across the world, the US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, who was then on a visit to neighbouring Jordan disregarded questions from probing newshounds about the event, thereby maintaining his habitual quietness in the face of  troubling global occurrences.

    When the Trump administration eventually found its voice, it simply laid the blame on Barack Obama. In what now seems like a routine, President Trump used the attack, which killed dozens of people, including children, to score a cheap domestic political point against Barrack Obama when he described it as a direct “consequence” of Obama’s Syria policy. He said:  “These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the last administration’s weakness and irresolution. President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a ‘red line’ against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing.”

    The response, no doubt, exemplified President Trump’s continuing sense of being in his predecessor’s shadow. Curiously, aside lambasting Obama, President Trump did not reveal what impact the attack would have on Washington’s approach to Russia and Iran who are major backers of Assad. It would be recollected that President Trump and his campaign team are being investigated to ascertain the extent of Russia’s involvement in the last American election.

    Till date and in-spite of his blame game, the Trump administration is yet to come out with an official position on Syria. Interestingly, prior to the Idlib attack, Paris had expressed deep worries over Washington’s inability to take a definite stand on Syria.  Indeed, after the gory Idlib event, French Foreign Minister, Jean -Marc Ayrault, vented his frustration at the confusing Trump’s Syria policy, arguing that the Idlib attack was carried out by Syria as a result of the Trump administration’s seeming non- committal stance towards Syria. He said: “It’s a test. That’s why France repeats the messages, notably to the Americans, to clarify their position.” Rather than blame his government’s failure on the previous administration, the Idlib massacre only goes to underscore a deep hole in the Trump administration’s weak approach to Assad’s barbarism.

    The same Obama bashing trend was taken to a rather ridiculous height when President Trump made unsubstantiated claims that Obama wiretapped him during the last election. This wild allegation which President Trump made on Twitter, as usual, has since been debunked by the chairman of a congressional committee investigating the affair. Indeed, Mr. Trump has been accused by former CIA Director, Leon Panetta of making the claim as a calculated diversionary ploy. He said: “They are trying to obfuscate and trying to cover up. They are trying to somehow raise other issues”.

    Similarly Republican and Democratic leaders of the House Intelligence Committee have affirmed that they had no concrete evidence backing President Trump’s claim that the Obama administration wiretapped him. Curiously, when President Trump alleged that Obama ordered a wiretap on his phones during the election, he didn’t turn to the federal intelligence agencies for proof.

    There is, perhaps, no other event that portrays President Trump’s obvious discomfort with Obama’s shadow other than his administration’s recent bungling of its controversial health care legislation. After the health bill hit the brick wall, President Trump blamed everyone but himself. Characteristically, President Trump figured out Obama as the key guy responsible for the premature death of his health bill.

    Ironically, President Trump’s Republican Party controls the majority in both the House of Representatives and Senate. That he could not push through his first major bill in a government where his party controls the legislative arm speaks volume of the amateurish character of the government he leads. While he lashed out at the Democrats for not supporting the bill, one doubts if the usually self-confident President Trump ever deemed it fit to approach members of the Democratic caucus in the two legislative houses for support. He was so sure that his party’s superior numerical strength in the two houses was enough to seal the deal.

    Ironically, there were reports that he didn’t even make any concrete overture to the particular Republican caucus that was strongly opposed to the bill. At the end, President Trump unwittingly acknowledged his administration’s incompetent handling of the wobbling bill when he said: “We have learnt some hard lessons about negotiations through all this”. Certainly, a larger chunk of the lesson learnt would be that he failed to appropriately canvas for the bill before it met its waterloo. To highlight his gross disdain for the shadow of Obama, President Trump said that Obamacare offers nothing good for the Americans and will simply “explode” by itself. What simply meant is that, if possible, his administration would undermine Obamacare.

    Funny enough, analysts have claimed that there seems to be no remarkable differences between Mr. Trump’s aborted health bill and the much vilified Obamacare. Interpretation: He wanted Obamacare out at all cost and by all means, but he had no superior replacement for it. Before now, one used to think that it is only in Africa that this sort of politics that tends to undermine or obliterate the achievements of a previous government out of sheer envy and malice. President Trump has simply proved that politics in his homestead could be as crude as it is in other climes.

    In a nutshell, it would do Mr. Trump and his administration not much of a good, if he continues to make chasing the shadow of Obama as a key policy of his administration. The earlier he realizes that the elections are over, the better for him.

     

    • Ogunbiyi is of the Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

  • A word for Obama, new honcho of Censors Board

    LIKE an uncertain lover, the news was received with reservation, when Thomas Adedayo was named the new Executive Director of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB).

    Although the announcement came with great relief, it was received with more expectations, because, while the film industry continues to thrive through individual efforts, the lot of government’s regulatory/support agency like the Censors Board is not up to speed. As a matter of fact, producers and marketers have never had it bad with the Censors Board the way it had been in the last four years.

    In journalism, we say a writer is as good as his last byline, just as a filmmaker, as his last movie: the Censors Board is as good as the tenure of its erstwhile Director-General, Emeka Mba. And the last four years had only been about the memory of a man who himself was yet to deliver fully on his promises before being taken away. In those four years, the industry had moved double-pace with award-winning movies, Box Office earnings like never-before-experienced and international profiling of Nollywood like the Toronto International Film Festival exposure in September of last year. As it stands today, Thomas Adedayo is saddled with completing Emeka Mba’s projects, cover the deficit of the last four years, catch up with the extra pace of Nollywood’s growth before running his own race as Executive Director of an agency that, in my estimation, is more accountable to the film industry than the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) which prides itself with the apex ranking.

    By accountability, I am talking about the sanity of the distribution space through classification and enforcement and extended functions, such as seminars, licensing for distribution and marketing of Nigeria’s films and image for financial and diplomatic advantages.

    Thomas Adedayo is on a hot seat. I do not envy him.

    But who says this job is beyond a novice who may be blessed with managerial ability, passion for success, a fast learner, a good listener? It doesn’t matter how a man gets to a position, how he leaves the position is what matters most.

    I have often cited the case of my friend, Ayeni Adekunle Samuel, CEO of Black House Media (BHM) who studied Microbiology in school. Not only did he leave a remarkable imprint as a practising journalist, he is a proven entrepreneur, and today, a force to reckon with in the Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN).

    The story of George Lucas is also not new to many: talking about how the once race-car driver has become a revered name in Hollywood with Star Wars franchise.

    For Adedayo Thomas, I am enamoured of his resume – his media and theatre background – which shows he is one of a kind.

    I am also optimistic of the Buhari’s government’s diversification policy to boost the creative non-oil sector of the economy. And because it is no time to make mistakes again, I want to believe the Federal Government has chosen the right man for the NFVCB job.

    I was curious like any other stakeholder in the film sector, that I started searching the internet for Adedayo Thomas, shortly after he was announced by the Federal Government as the new honcho of the NFVCB. I stumbled on a remark by a gentleman, Gilbert Mfitundinda (I think he is a Ugandan, based in the U.S.), congratulating the new NFVCB boss. His words were encouraging.

    He said: “Congratulations on your appointment my friend Adedayo Thomas. You are such a servant leader. I remember the time I got to spend with you in Mukono-Uganda. Your conversations and insights left me a better person. Thank you for your services, they never go un-noticed and that’s why even the president had to recognise them.”

    Hmmm. Even before finding the profile of Thomas Adedayo, his major posts on Facebook were from developmental events he had either organised personally or papers delivered to youths on entrepreneurship, touring the African continent.

    However, let me attempt a summary of his two-page resume, and see if Dayo Aduke-Thomas, aka Obama, is one of the voices that the film industry needs to coast to Eldorado.

    “…A Journalist, Liberal Political and Economic Advocate, Theatre Artist/Critic and Philanthropist with strong believe in Free Market Economy, Peace and Prosperity. He is the Executive Director/Publisher of African Liberty Organisation for Development (ALOD) –A non-profit Think-Tank that strives to promote ideas and institutions of the free society in Africa. He is also the Africa Regional Director of Language of Liberty Institute, USA. At the Initiative for Public Policy Analysis (IPPA), he is the Director of Research and Operations.

    “…A regular guest speaker at over 50 universities spread across African continent on developmental and policy issues is a board member of several Non-Profit Organization including but not limited to Istanbul Network for Liberty.UK, Foundation for Economic Initiative and Development.

    “…Adedayo has a B A (Theatre Arts) and Post Graduate Diploma in Public Relations from University of Jos and Nigerian Institute of Journalism respectively, a Diplomate of Cato University, USA in Philosophy, History, Jurisprudence, and Economics of Liberty and an MBA in Think -Tank Management from the Atlas Economic Research Foundation in Washington D.C. He also bagged a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the Nigerian Defense Academy. Kaduna. Nigeria

    “…He has written, presented and published several papers on economic development, Theatre Arts, conflict, good governance and democracy at national and international conferences. He co-authored -A letter from Jonathan Gullible based on the original novel, The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible by Ken Schoolland.

    “…As a core evangelist of a free society, Adedayo carries his messages to University students in English speaking African Institutions in Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda and a host of others. He is mostly seen in the Nigerian Parliament in defense of sound policies and features in both local and international media.

    “…He published Victor Dugga’s two award-winning plays called ‘A bridge of Strings and Hope Harvesters’, ‘Had I known and April 1421 by Tor J. Iorapuu, In Defense of Global Capitalism by Johan Norberg, Selected Essays on Political Economy by Frederic Bastiat, Twenty Myths about Markets by Tom G. Palmer, A letter from Jonathan Gullible (a play based on the original novel, The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible by Ken Schoolland), Voices from Africa edited by George Ayittey and The African Version of “The Morality of Capitalism titled The Free Markets and Justice. The African Version of After the Welfare State retitled The Bubble that Crashed the World Economy, and many others.”

    On this note, I wish to say, I do not know why you are so called, but that nick name, as many will agree, is not derogatory. So, I say welcome, Obama, to the industry of creatives. If you get the distribution framework right, I bet the filmmakers will be grateful. Its effect is far-reaching, including a succour from the much dreaded piracy. Bonne Arrivée!

  • Wiretap: FBI chief dismisses Trump’s claim on Obama

    FBI director James Comey has rejected President Donald Trump’s claim that his predecessor, Barack Obama, ordered a wiretap of his phone before he was elected United States president.

    Mr. Comey reportedly asked the US justice department (DOJ) to publicly reject Saturday’s allegation, according to the New York Times and NBC.

    He is said to have asked for this because the allegation implies the FBI broke the law.

    The BBC reports that the DOJ has not commented on the matter.

    US media quoted officials as saying that Mr. Comey believed there was no evidence to support Mr. Trump’s allegation.

    The Republican president, who faces intense scrutiny over alleged Russian interference in support of his presidential bid, made the claims in a series of tweets on Saturday.

    He offered no evidence to support his allegation that phones at Trump Tower were tapped last year.

  • Obama is ‘a bad, sick guy’ –Trump

    Obama is ‘a bad, sick guy’ –Trump

    Says ex-president tapped his phone before election

    US President Donald Trump got his English lexicon mixed up again yesterday as he exploded on Twitter against former President Barack Obama, accusing him of wire tapping his phones before the election.
    Although he provided no evidence to back up the claim, one of his Tweets gave evidence of his weak English knowledge by not spelling correctly the simple word: tap. Trump spelled it as ‘tapp”. It was not the first time that the US leader would be so cavalier in his writing.
    “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!,” he wrote.
    “Is it legal for a sitting President to be ‘wire tapping’ a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!” he added
    It wasn’t clear what, exactly Trump was referring to as he raged against his predecessor, whom he labelled a bad (or sick) guy!”
    He also said a talented lawyer could make a “a great case” out of the situation.
    Obama’s post-presidency office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Yahoo News on Trump’s accusation, and the White House did not immediately clarify from whom Trump had “just learned” this new information.
    Trump has the authority to declassify almost any classified material, and could substantiate his accusations if he wanted to.
    The Saturday-morning Twitter storm was striking as Trump and Obama had largely appeared to paper over their differences — at least publicly — since the election.
    Trump called Obama “a very good man” shortly after his stunning November victory.
    But Trump had started to increasingly blame Obama for his misfortunes, particularly an embarrassing and politically toxic string of leaks coming out of the federal government.
    Trump has been particularly irked by reports linking his campaign and transition team to Russia.
    He fired his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, after it was revealed that the retired lieutenant general talked to Russia’s ambassador about Obama-era sanctions and then misled Vice President Mike Pence about them.

  • Trump defends travel ban as Obama backs protests

    Trump defends travel ban as Obama backs protests

    Business giants kick

    1.3m sign petition in UK against president

    Former United States President Barack Obama yesterday gave his backing to the global protests against the travel ban by President Donald Trump.
    Citizens of seven mainly-Muslim countries have been banned from entering the United States for 90 days while refugees have been prevented in an executive order signed by Trump.
    The countries affected are Libya, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Yemen and Sudan – they have all denounced the order with some of them vowing retaliation.
    In his tweets yesterday, Trump blamed “big problems at airports” on the demonstrators themselves, an airline’s technical problems and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who teared up while discussing the ban. (Delta suffered technical issues Sunday evening — 48 hours after Trump signed the immigration order — that canceled about 150 flights.)
    “Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning,” Trump tweeted. “Big problems at airports were caused by Delta computer outage…..protesters and the tears of Senator Schumer.”
    Business giants are uncomfortable with the ban.
    Ford CEO Mark Fields and Chairman Bill Ford strongly rebuked Trump’s travel ban in a joint statement yesterday, breaking with other major automakers who have largely remained silent so far.
    In the first statement released since leaving the White House, Obama’s new spokesman Kevin Lewis said: “President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country.
    “Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organise and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake.”
    Lewis added that Obama “fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion.”
    He noted that in Obama’s farewell address to the nation earlier this month, he spoke about “the important role of citizen” not just on Election Day, but every day.
    Also yesterday, dozens of U.S. diplomats around the world were set to formally criticise the immigration restrictions, according to U.S. media report.
    A “dissent cable” has been drafted for senior State Department officials, ABC News and the Associated Press reported.
    Draft text seen by the BBC says that the ban on nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries will not make the US safer and is un-American.
    President Trump issued the restrictions on Friday.
    His executive order halted the entire U.S. refugee programme for 120 days, indefinitely banned Syrian refugees and suspended all nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
    The list does not include Saudi Arabia, where most of the hijackers in the 9/11 attacks came from.
    News of the complaint from U.S. diplomats comes amid a global chorus of condemnation of the new policies. The White House has defended the restrictions as necessary safety measures.
    The statement by Ford’s CEO and chairman, said: “Respect for all people is a core value of Ford Motor Company, and we are proud of the rich diversity of our company here at home and around the world,” Fields and Bill Ford said in the joint statement.
    “That is why we do not support this policy or any other that goes against our values as a company.”
    The travel ban has impacted people with green cards who were previously approved to travel freely.
    The fourth American automaker, electric-vehicle maker Tesla Motors, denounced the Trump immigration policy on Saturday. CEO Elon Musk has pledged to pursue a consensus among fellow Strategic and Policy Forum members on needed changes to the plan to propose to the president.
    Other major automakers have not spoken but a group of other majr form’s CEOs have lashed out at the order.
    Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein became the first major Wall Street leader to speak out against the order.
    .In a voicemail to employees on Sunday, Blankfein said diversity was a hallmark of Goldman’s success, and if the temporary freeze became permanent, it could create “disruption” for the bank and its staff.
    “This is not a policy we support, and I would note that it has already been challenged in federal court, and some of the order has been enjoined at least temporarily,” Blankfein said, according to a transcript seen by Reuters.
    Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, wrote to employees with “deep concern and a heavy heart” about the executive order from the U.S. president two days earlier.
    Schultz said he would hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years at Starbucks businesses worldwide.
    “We will start this effort here in the U.S. by making the initial focus of our hiring efforts on those individuals who have served with U.S. troops as interpreters and support personnel,’’ he said.
    Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to twitter to voice his concern.
    “The blanket entry ban on citizens from certain primarily Muslim countries is not the best way to address the country’s challenges.
    “Many people negatively affected by this policy are strong supporters of the U.S. They’ve done right, not wrong and don’t deserve to be rejected,’’ he added.
    CEO Travis Kalanick said Uber would be supporting all of its drivers who are citizens of the countries named but who were currently stuck outside the U.S. because of the president’s “unjust immigration ban”.
    And Jamie Dimon, the company chairman of America’s biggest bank JPMorgan Chase, also said that employees would be supported if they were affected.
    Dimon, Kalanick and Musk are all members of Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum, a group of business people called together by the president to advise him on economic policy.
    The CEOs of the top three advertising holding companies also issued statements vowing to protect their employees.
    “We are a talent business and we’ve long been committed to making diversity and inclusion a core part of our company’s DNA,” said Interpublic Group Chairman and CEO Michael Roth, in a statement. “We therefore remain committed to protecting our colleagues, and will provide whatever assistance is necessary to keep our employees and their families safe and a valued part of our organisation, no matter their nationality or religious beliefs.”
    While IPG is based in New York City, the holding company has agencies and employees in more than 100 countries worldwide. Though Roth made no specific mention of the ban in his statement, it was issued in response to requests to address the situation.
    Likewise, John Wren, CEO of Omnicom Group, issued a brief statement emphasising the company’s concern for its workforce. “Our people are our greatest asset and right now, our top priority is to protect and support employees, their families and all those otherwise affected,” Wren said.
    Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP, issued a somewhat more extensive statement that cited his family history and a longstanding distaste for such measures.
    Regarding the effect of the ban on WPP employees, Sorrell said there had been “no immediate impact we are aware of in the first few days of the ban.”
    He added that WPP is “concerned about the impact it may have on our people and their families both inside and outside the USA and on innocent people generally.
    “As the grandson of Eastern European grandparents, who were admitted to the UK in the very late 19th and early 20th centuries, I have an instinctive dislike of such measures,” said Sorrell.
    Though prominent industry partners such as Nike, Google, Twitter and Apple made their opposition to the travel ban public over the weekend, the major holding companies and agency leaders had remained silent until Monday morning. Individual agency leaders have still refrained from commenting on the matter publicly.
    On Saturday, a U.S. federal judge issued a stay that forced the administration to release certain travelers being detained in airports. The administration itself revised the ban on Sunday to allow freer travel for U.S. residents in possession of green cards.
    At the DealBook conference hosted by New York Times columnist Andrew Russ Sorkin last week, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi said she fielded questions from her employees who were “all crying” after the election. She said: “The question that they’re asking, especially those who are not white: ‘Are we safe?’ Women are asking: ‘Are we safe?’ LGBT people are asking: ‘Are we safe?’ I never thought I’d have had to answer those questions.”

    1.3 million sign petition to stop Trump’s UK visit

    More than 1.3 million people have signed a petition urging the British government to call off President Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK, amid a row over his recent immigration measures.
    Downing Street, however, said Prime Minister Theresa May was looking forward to the visit.
    Mr Trump’s executive order on immigration has caused anger worldwide.
    Protests in response to Mr Trump’s order took place yesterday in London, Manchester, Bristol, Brighton, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, York, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Swansea and other UK cities.
    Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on the row.
    The Foreign Office said on Sunday the clampdown should not affect UK nationals travelling to the U.S., even if they had shared nationality with one of the countries on which restrictions have been placed.
    But the US embassy in London has issued a statement telling any citizens of the seven countries in question and also those holding dual nationality not to apply for a visa for the time being.
    The petition is now the second-most popular on the government’s website, which was set up in July 2015.
    Downing Street said on Monday that Mrs May “extended an invitation on behalf of the Queen – and she was very happy to do so.
    “The USA is one of this country’s closest allies, and we look forward to hosting the president later this year.”
    Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also urged the postponement of the visit.
    “Donald Trump should not be welcomed to Britain while he abuses our shared values with his shameful Muslim ban and attacks on refugees’ and women’s rights,” the Labour leader said.
    State visits are grand occasions requiring an invitation from the Queen, and are distinct from regular visits by heads of state. The Queen usually receives one or two heads of state a year.
    When the petition passed the million mark, it was found that about 30,000 came from outside the U.K.
    It is now second only to last year’s petition signed by more than four million people calling for a fresh referendum on whether to leave the European Union.
    Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the visit should not happen while the executive order was in place.

  • Obama’s enigma

    Obama was here briefly.  The 44th President of the United States (POTUS), Barack Hussein Obama’s eight years in office seems condensed and related events so complex and compacted, yet seemingly uncomplicated. The sojourn seems to have ended, just as it started. Obama’s reign was far from nondescript. While the Obama years may not have been epochal, much was accomplished.   The various global challenges and the scourge of international terrorism though not solved entirely were tampered extensively.  He tried to end the whimsical wars his predecessor started. There were pitfalls, many from an inherited past.  And there were fault lines and red lines, including Benghazi Libya and Aleppo, Syria both being part of the intractable Middle East mosaic.

    Obama was president, but his thought process was primarily, that of a lawyer, a professor, a diplomat and a grassroots proselytizer combined. He understood the president’s power to be the power of persuasion, at home and abroad.  He understood also that a successful president must convey confidence, strength, compassion and the ability to speak rather bluntly.  Soft power was always key- hence speaking softly but wielding a big stick often paid off on a world stage where finding a balance required carrot and sticks.

    For eight years, there were many who could not grasp Obama’s enigma.  They formed a bandwagon of critics and traducers.  Many, in the end, accepted reluctantly that Obama was an American, a smart politician who happened to be black and who served two full terms as president without and major scandal or crisis of note. Yet, Obama came, served and departed, leaving a deep and pragmatic footprint in different facets of governance, including job creation, growing the manufacturing base and the economic bucket, but no scandals.   Consequently, he gained acceptance based on his audacity of hope philosophy and telling the world and America that ‘yes we can’ and proving that an intractable problem like affordable healthcare for all Americans was possible.

    Obama always looked serious, oftentimes stern, but retained the capacity to be easily affable.  He was flexible. He spoke the mainstream establishment lingo, but could also drift comfortably to the lingo of the neighborhood with a touch of compassion and lithe shock and jive.  The world’s people related well to Obama. They appreciated his calmness and related assurances; but perhaps less so the enormous pressures of the office, which he faced with such equanimity.  The only betraying evidence were the incremental grey hair; not the absent worry burrows engraved on the face or eye bags. He had neither.  All through, he stayed fit and trim and added vim to the presidency with his sartorial elegance.  Obama presented to America and the world, a vintage first family: three gracious ladies who complimented his persona and office.

    Obama also portrayed candor, decency, humility, integrity, compassion, warmth, and gravitas and at all times, genuine bonhomie. He could do the bump shake with a janitor, a senator or a grassroots mobilizer.  When he was on the road campaigning or talking to working folks, he rolled up his sleeves, conveying a sense of readiness to do business and dirty his hands in service, if that was what was required to get America moving. He embraced friendly nations; confronted rogue nations and ignored and bypassed unserious and unfocused countries, such as Nigeria. Obama stood up to bullies and to U.S. long-term ally, Israel a nation that refused to give peace and a two-state solution a chance. On the strategic sphere, Obama ensured a global balance, despite China’s economic expansionism that borders on economic irredentism and growing right wing political extremism in Europe. He literally looked Russia and Vladimir Putin in the face – eye-ball-to-eye-ball- without blinking first. Using soft power and the treats of agonizing reprisals, he pushed Iran to toe the line of the Six-plus talks.

    His strategic, military, and economic policies were predicated on American interest, but not necessary the mantra of “America First”.  Obama arrived on stage when globalization and climate change were trending. When the world oil cartel had a stranglehold on the world, he advocated alternative energy as a means of reducing the carbon footprint, and in the end, promoted shale oil and crashed the global oil prices in the common interest. He may not have liked outsourcing American jobs, but realized that the world had become so interconnected.  He eschewed demagoguery and rejected collectivized criminalization of nations, races or religion, even when it would have been convenient and politically corrected to do so.  For that, he was labeled a Muslim sympathizer.   In all, Obama proved that political, economic and strategic adjustments were acts of pragmatism, not weakness.

    Obama is no longer U.S. president.  But he will be known as an American president in perpetuity.  Obama left the political stage, when the ovation and popularity decibel were resoundingly high. And he left office with a very high popularity rating, despite failing to put in place a successor that will build on his legacies.  History will be his ally, but the greatest impetus of his presidency will emerge and resonate from the conduct, and enunciations of his successor.  If Obama is ever deemed to not be at par with great presidents, then Donald Trump would be more so, given his trajectory.  Paradoxically, as Trump’s presidency progresses and Obama’s tenure recedes into twilight, Obama’s legacy will gain vim and any setbacks he might have encountered while in office, will be burnished by broad nostalgia.

    Overall, Obama served exceedingly well. Henceforth, history will underpin the rich heritage of his presidency. We therefore, applaud the 44th POTUS for teaching the youths of the world to say “yes, we can”, regardless of any odds they confront.  I suspect strongly that he will wield moral vast influence as a private citizen and ex-president, since age is on his side. Ultimately, Obama’s legacy and hence his enigma, will intrude into the minds of those who were not Obama aficionados, even if subliminally.

     

    • Obaze is MD/CEO of Selonnes Consult Ltd.
  • A man called Obama was here

    A man called Obama was here

    As the remarkable Obama presidency wound to a graceful halt this last Friday, there were many across the globe who would have been very sad to see America’s first president of African extraction go. Many will miss Obama: for his honesty, his candour, his decency, his integrity and above all for the humanity he so warmly exudes. Even the White House will miss one of its most storied occupants.
    There was always something intensely personal about Barack Obama. You always have this feeling that you have seen or met him somewhere before. He seems exactly the kind of fellow you could share a can of beer or a stick of cigarette with. He appears to have listening ears and steady nerves; a man who would keep his own side of the bargain no matter what, and who expects you to keep yours. He was a gentleman in the old sense of the word.
    Opinions are sharply divided about the ultimate worth of this norm-breaking presidency. Many have long concluded that rather than being a great presidency, Obama’s was merely remarkable stint. Great presidencies often require great events to lift the presidential game from mere humdrum competence to exalting distinction.
    But we should not race ahead of the narrative. In order to have a full measure of the Obama presidency, we have this morning decided to read things backwards, in a manner of speaking; that is to project back to the beginning of it all before leaping forward to conclusion and closure in the coming weeks. As this column is wont to assert, history often moves sideways in order to move forward. Some gains are reversible until they become irreversible, etched everlastingly in the marble of human progress.
    We publish this morning a piece that first appeared eight years ago upon the advent and inauguration of the Obama presidency. The mood was upbeat, rosy and brimful of optimism. Eight years after, the expectations have been tempered by sober reality. The liberal resurgence epitomized by the rise of Obama has produced a neo-conservative reaction in Europe and America epitomized by the rise of Trump and others with right-wing trump cards. No matter which forces are ascendant, the world would be a poorer place without the rich ironies of history.

  • Wikileaks: Obama commutes ex-soldier’s sentence

    United States President, Barack Obama, has commuted Chelsea Manning’s sentence for leaking documents to Wikileaks in 2010.

    The 29-year-old transgender U.S Army private, born Bradley Manning, will be freed on May 17 instead of her scheduled 2045 release, the BBC reports.

    She was sentenced to 35 years in 2013 for her role in leaking diplomatic CABLES to the anti-secrecy group.

    The leak was one of the largest breaches of classified material in U.S history.

    The White House had suggested in recent days it was open to commuting Manning’s sentence.

    She twice attempted suicide last year at the male military prison where she is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

    Manning also went on a hunger strike last year, which ended after the military agreed to provide her with gender dysphoria treatment.

    In one of his final acts as president, Mr. Obama granted commutation of sentences to 209 individuals and pardons to 64 others.