The Nation Newspaper

Tag: speech

  • That Buhari’s speech

    When the presidency announced the return of President Muhammadu Buhari back to the country after 103 of medical vacation in the United Kingdom (UK), the social media moved into frenzy. Youths started to talk about the development, with some being mischievous while others hailed the presidency for sharing the information.

    Many a Nigerian wanted to hear what the president would say about his three-month absence and perhaps, why we needed not to worry about the state of his health. But, the president stunned every one of us. In the almost five minutes broadcast, President Buhari’s address focused on Nigeria’s unity!

    Just before the last paragraph of his speech was read, citizens started to analyse the import of the broadcast. Social media was agog with engaging and nasty commentaries. Some people’s expectations were met by the president, while others were disappointed.

    This prompted this writer to download the full speech and critically examined it in comparison with the Buhari’s inaugural speech in 2015. Some were probably expecting a lengthy speech last week. They were hoping the president would pick each of the segments of our national life and gave reassuring commitment to make up for his absence.

    I have observed that Nigerians had expectations too high on the president’s broadcast, thereby allowing sentiments to override their sense of reasoning in interpreting the messages embedded in it. The issue threatening the national unity of a country of over 170 million people with diverse ethnic groups is the most urgent matter that should stoke the interest of a progressive leader, irrespective of other things on the table. We can only talk about economic prosperity in a united society. If the people are not united, such nation is doomed.

    While the president was away, the country was run by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in acting capacity. We needed not to expect the president to quickly dabble into affairs he had scanty knowledge about, because his deputy was yet to brief him about happenings in the country while he was away. But, Nigerians reacted too fast and submitted that the president missed the opportunity to set all things aright because he didn’t talk about issues, such as university teachers’ strike, renewed Boko Haram threat, cabinet reshuffle and other security related challenges.

    What President Buhari achieved with his speech was to reassure Nigerians about his promises in the 2015 inaugural speech. In a way, his famous quote “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody” reflected in another form as he sounded a note of warning to warmongers.

    Buhari hails from a region where a “quit notice” was recently issued to people from a section of the country and where herdsmen are increasingly becoming a threat to other people’s existence. President Buhari simply told his kinsmen that, although he is at the helm of affairs, no one has freedom to say inflammatory statements.

    And, for the Igbo groups that are clamouring for secession, the president sent s strong message that Nigeria remains indivisible entity. He recalled his meeting with the late Chief Emeka Ojukwu, in whom the Biafran agitators seems to have found their strength.

    Buhari said: “In 2003 after I joined partisan politics, the late Chief Emeka Ojukwu came and stayed as my guest in my hometown, Daura. Over two days we discussed in great depth till late into the night and analysed the problems of Nigeria. We both came to the conclusion that the country must remain one and united. Nigeria’s unity is settled and not negotiable. We shall not allow irresponsible elements to start trouble and when things get bad they run away and saddle others with the responsibility of bringing back order, if necessary with their blood. Every Nigerian has the right to live and pursue his business anywhere in Nigeria without let or hindrance. I believe the very vast majority of Nigerians share this view.”

    This statement did not only show a clear warning to those toying with Nigeria’s unity, it rekindles the spirit of our federation that Nigerians can live anywhere within the boundary regardless of their ethnicity or religion. We have responsibility as a people to key into this idea and stop drumming the beat of war.

    It is not sensible to criticise the president for not mentioning all that happened during his absence. Mentioning those things won’t fix the problems quickly, because governance is a process. The critics forgot there was an Acting President while Buhari was away. Prof Osinbajo, in response to renewed attacks by insurgents, ordered redeployment of the Defence Staff to the epicentre to lead the onslaught against Boko Haram. It was needless to expecting President Buhari’s comment on this.

    As the president resumes fully, we should expect him to speak on cabinet reshuffle, lecturers’ strike and other pressing issues and hear his solution. We can only question or applaud him for his actions and inaction at the end of his tenure.

    There was a moral lesson learnt from the president’s broadcast. Speaking is not the same as taking actions. Talk is cheap but it takes courage to implement spoken words. The country needs action leaders, not skilled orators who may not achieve anything at the end of their speeches.

     

    Gabriel is a graduating student of Social Studies, OAU Ile-Ife

  • Hate speech as harbinger of war

    SIR: Unless urgent steps are taken to address myriads of discordant tunes now dominating our socio-political space, the country may be fast gravitating towards war. We have in this country witnessed how a small gang led by late Mohammed Yusuf in Borno State which constantly gushed out vitriolic criticisms against the state government degenerate into the hydra-headed monster called Boko-Haram today.

    Our government is obviously deficit of the proactive approach in forestalling crises situation; ours is always at the reactionary side. For instance when Boko-Haram abducted Chibok girls, the government then dismissed it as a farce. It took the concerted efforts of civil society groups both home and abroad to galvanize it to the reality of the situation.

    Today many separatist groups have sprung up clamouring for secession, organizing and mobilizing supports from both local and abroad; still we feel they are pursuing their fundamental rights to self-determination.

    With quit notices generously released and retrieved at will across the two sides of the divide of the Niger, we carry on as if everywhere is just bright and right.

    Now with hate-speech being elevated to songs concurrently rendered in Hausa and Igbo lyrics against themselves, are we not on Rwanda’s gory lane? As tribal animus is gradually being entrenched in the fabric of our consciousness, should we still pretend as if nothing is wrong? Must we wait until we are trapped in the looming conflagration?  Recession, hunger, unemployment and even marginalization can be controlled and managed, but certainly not war.

    It continues to baffle my imagination, when l see a Nigerian like Femi Fani-Kayode championing the course of hatred in the country. Many have wondered what could be his mission and reasons for such actions. We understand, the party that he served as its election publicity committee chair lost at the centre during 2015 elections but won at some of the federating units. Why should a man who has benefitted so much from this country be the one fanning embers of disunity and acrimony? If he truly hates this country this much, why did he serve as a minister during Chief Obasanjo’s administration? What has suddenly gone awry in the structure of the country that he did not see when he was in power?  We can recall that he was so loyal to his boss and was irrefragably committed to the unity of this country to the extent that, he could not brook any dissenting view from anybody, no matter how highly placed. Was it a case of one not being able to talk while eating? Now that someone has decided to talk long after the meal, of whose interest and for what advocacy should we ascribe this to?

    May we stroll along memory lane; we could draw a remarkable analogy thereafter. In 1930s, Adolf Hitler’s publicized anti-Semitic views inflamed a universal hatred against the Jews in Germany, culminating in the infamous Holocaust.

    Events that built up to the 1967-70 civil war among many factors were aggravated by hate-speeches churned out by the then Radio Biafra which urged Easterners to see Northerners and indeed Nigeria as their enemies.

    In 1993, a broadcast station called Radio Mille Colline sponsored by Hutu extremists launched a massive verbal attack against their Tutsi brothers and the corollary pogrom that followed reportedly claimed more than 800,000 lives in Rwanda.

    Since Radio Biafra has been resurrected and repositioned as a major platform for dissemination of animosity, the proposed bill by the Minister of Interior, Abdurahman Dambazau against hate-speeches is a step well directed.

     

    • Itaobong Offiong Etim

    Calabar, Cross River State.

  • Speech impairment: Presidency releases Buhari’s voice message

    Speech impairment: Presidency releases Buhari’s voice message

    The Presidency has released President Muhammadu Buhari’s voice message to Nigerians to debunk reports that he is suffering from speech impairment.

    NAN reports that recently there have been reports in the social media claiming that the President was suffering from speech impairment and memory loss.

    However, in the recording, aired on Sunday by some radio stations, including the BBC, the President was heard felicitating with Nigerians on the occasion  of Eid-el Fitr.

    Buhari thanked them for their consistent prayers for his well-being.

    The President also urged all citizens, irrespective of their socio-political affiliations, to always avoid hate speech and divisive tendencies capable of causing disaffection among them.

    He also prayed for good harvest as farmers embarked on agricultural activities occasion by the commencement of rainfalls across the country.

    Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity had on Saturday in a statement issued a similar  message.

    A presidential source on Saturday had earlier confirmed that “the President is getting better “will return to Nigeria very soon”.

    Buhari left Abuja for London on May 7, to see his doctors for follow-up medical checks.(NAN)

  • Cyberstalking vs. freedom of speech

    Sir: I have always maintained that the problem we have in Nigeria is not a dearth or lack of laws and policies. No. We have very good laws. But we lack a system that is capable of executing or enforcing these laws. A couple of months ago, there was hoopla about a proposed social media bill. Apart from some ungodly aspects of that bill, we do not even need it not because there were no offences in our cyberspace to curtail, but because we already had a law to deal with cyber offences: The Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015.

    The Act provides an effective, unified and comprehensive legal, regulatory and institutional framework for the prohibition, prevention, detection, prosecution and punishment of cybercrimes in Nigeria. The act also ensures the protection of critical national information infrastructure, and promotes cybersecurity and the protection of computer systems and networks, electronic communications, data and computer programs, intellectual property and privacy rights.

    Section 24 of the Act defines, describes and penalizes a crime known as cyberstalking:

    “Any person who knowingly or intentionally sends a message or other matter by means of computer systems or network that —

    … (b) he knows to be false, for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will or needless anxiety to another or causes such a message to be sent: commits an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not more than N7, 000, 000.00 or imprisonment for a term of not more than 3 years or to both such fine and imprisonment.

    (2) Any person who knowingly or intentionally transmits or causes the transmission of any communication through a computer system or network — … (c) containing any threat to harm the property or REPUTATION OF THE ADDRESSEE or of another or the reputation of a deceased person or any threat to accuse… commits an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction— … (ii) in the case of paragraph (c) … of this subsection, to imprisonment for a term of 5 years and/or a minimum fine of N15, 000,000.00 “.

    Reading this provisions of the Act, one will wonder how enforcing this law infringes the Fundamental Human Right of Freedom of Expressionencapsulated in section 39 of the 1999 Constitution as amended that says:”(1) Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.”

    Freedom of expression or speech is not the same thing as “… knowingly or intentionally send(ing) a message or other matter by means of computer systems or network that —… (b) … (is) false, for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, ill will or needless anxiety to another …

    (2) … knowingly or intentionally transmit(ing) or caus(ing) the transmission of any communication through a computer system or network — … (c) containing any threat to harm the property or REPUTATION OF THE ADDRESSEE or of another or the reputation of a deceased person …”

    You can criticize. You can rant. You can hold an opinion. You can blog. You can receive and publish intelligence from a source without revealing your source. You can damage anybody’s reputation with THE TRUTH. I repeat with the truth. But not with lies.

    The offence of cyberstalking is not an infringement of the Right to freedom of expression or speech unless you are saying that to propagate falsehood or tell fabricated lies on social media is what you understand as freedom of expression. That is not the understanding of the law.

    Let me be clear. You can be arrested and prosecuted for cyberstalking for just sharing even if you are not the one that wrote the original post or article. By sharing you are liable for the same offence as the original author.

    Freedom of speech is not the same thing as freedom to fabricate lies and disseminate falsehood. Those who fight to uphold the right to freedom of speech should also be seen fighting to defeat those who fabricate lies and propagate falsehood. We cannot enjoy Freedom of Speech when falsehood is allowed to reign supreme.

     

    • First Baba Isa (FBI),

    Abuja.

  • ‘Early treatment ’ll check hearing, speech disorder’

    ‘Early treatment ’ll check hearing, speech disorder’

    Experts have called for early detection and treatment of hearing and speech disorders in children.

    They spoke at this year’s Speech Pathologists and Audiologists Association of Nigeria (SPAAN) International Conference with the theme Communication disorders in children: Assessment and intentions.

    SPAAN President Prof Julius Ademokoya said prompt treatment would help nip disorders in the bud and  avert the consequences of untreated childhood communication disorders.

    ‘’Moreover, the consequences for failing to identify and treat various communication disorders in early years are that they become more intractable with age,’’ he said.

    The don said the onset of childhood communication disorders and prompt commencement of rehabilitation was very important to make a meaningful change.

    “Early years of an organism is very crucial as its biological make ups are more responsive to hearing and language interventions than in later years,” he said.

    He said poor hearing and cognitive skills can affect a child’s placement in an education programme, such that the child may be unable to develop appropriate social and psychological skills.

    Ademokoya decried Nigeria’s lack of universal newborn hearing screening and management of attendant speech consequences.

    “Many children in Africa continue to suffer from undetected and unmanaged hearing and speech disorders. When their disorders are diagnosed, particularly after their second birthdays, therapeutic interventions are likely to yield less result than if administered earlier. There can be irreversible consequences, which such children live with throughout their life,” he said.

    Ademokoya said there was the need for stakeholders in communication disorders, education and management disciplines to urge early identification and treatment of children’s hearing and speech disorders.

    Professor of Otorhinolaryngology, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Dr. Abayomi Somefun, said many people with communication disorders do not know who to consult and cannot afford the cost of care.

    Besides, many government or private health institutions lack diagnostic and rehabilitative equipment, with inadequate or lack of manpower and training facilities.

    He said despite these challenges, experts render audiological and speech therapy services to Nigerians with communication disorders.

    Communication disorder, he said, is an impairment in the ability to receive, send, process and comprehend concepts or verbal, non-verbal and graphic symbol systems.

    He listed communication disorders as hearing, speech, language and central auditory processing.

    Children, he said, may demonstrate one or a combination of any of the aforementioned subtypes or even suffer from another sensory disorder, blindness.

    He called for cooperation among audiologists, speech-language-pathologist and otolaryngologist for the holistic care of the child with          communication disorder.

    This, he said, will go a long way in fostering continued language learning and enhanced communicative interactions in children.

    Causes of communication disorder, he said, might be genetic or acquired, adding that the disorders in early childhood are more often related to congenital or early onset hearing impairment.

  • Buhari’s 55th Independence Day speech

    Buhari’s 55th Independence Day speech

    55th Independence Day Speech by President Muhammadu Buhari

    October 1st is a day for joy and celebrations for us Nigerians whatever the circumstances we find ourselves in because it is the day, 55 years ago; we liberated ourselves from the shackles of colonialism and began our long march to nationhood and to greatness.

    No temporary problems or passing challenges should stop us from honoring this day. Let us remind ourselves of the gifts God has given us. Our Creator has bequeathed to us Numbers – Nigeria is the ninth most populated country on the planet. We have in addition:

    • Arable land
    • Water
    • Forests
    • Oil and gas
    • Coastline
    • Solid minerals

    We have all the attributes of a great nation. We are not there yet because the one commodity we have been unable to exploit to the fullest is unity of purpose. This would have enabled us to achieve not only more orderly political evolution and integration but also continuity and economic progress.

    Countries far less endowed have made greater economic progress by greater coherence and unity of purpose.

    Nonetheless, that we have remained together is an achievement we should all appreciate and try to consolidate. We have witnessed this year a sea change in our democratic development. The fact that an opposition party replaced an entrenched government in a free and fair election is indicative of the deeper roots of our democratic system. Whatever one’s views are, Nigerians must thank former President Jonathan for not digging-in in the face of defeat and thereby saving the country untold consequences.

    As I said in my inaugural speech, I bear no ill will against anyone on past events. Nobody should fear anything from me. We are not after anyone. People should only fear the consequences of their actions. I hereby invite everyone, whatever his or her political view to join me in working for the nation.

    My countrymen and women, every new government inherits problems. Ours was no different. But what Nigerians want are solutions, quick solutions not a recitation of problems inherited. Accordingly, after consultations with the Vice President, senior party leaders and other senior stakeholders, I quickly got down to work on the immediate, medium-term and long-term problems which we must solve if we are to maintain the confidence which Nigerians so generously bestowed on us in the March elections and since then.

    As you know, I toured the neighboring countries, marshal a coalition of armed forces of the five nations to confront and defeat Boko Haram. I met also the G7 leaders and other friendly presidents in an effort to build an international coalition against Boko Haram. Our gallant armed forces under new leadership have taken the battle to the insurgents, and severely weakened their logistical and infrastructural capabilities. Boko Haram are being scattered and are on the run. That they are resorting to shameless attacks on soft targets such as I.D.P. camps is indicative of their cowardice and desperation. I have instructed security and local authorities to tighten vigilance in vulnerable places.

    On power, government officials have held a series of long sessions over several weeks about the best way to improve the nation’s power supply in the safest and most cost effective way. In the meantime, improvement in the power supply is moderately encouraging. By the same token, supply of petrol and kerosene to the public has improved throughout the country. All the early signs are that within months the whole country would begin to feel a change for the better.

    Preliminary steps have been taken to sanitize NNPC and improve its operations so that the inefficiency and corruption could be reduced to a minimum. Those of our refineries which can be serviced and brought back into partial production would be enabled to resume operations so that the whole sordid business of exporting crude and importing finished products in dubious transactions could be stopped.

    In addition to NNPC, I have ordered for a complete audit of our other revenue generating agencies mainly CBN, FIRS, Customs, NCC, for better service delivery to the nation. Prudent housekeeping is needed now more than ever in view of the sharp decline in world market oil prices. It is a challenge we have to face squarely. But what counts is not so much what accrues but how we manage our resources that is important.

    We have seen in the last few years how huge resources were mismanaged, squandered and wasted. The new APC government is embarking on a clean up, introducing prudence and probity in public financing.

    At an early stage, the federal government addressed the issue of salary arrears in many states, a situation capable of degenerating into social unrest. The APC government stepped in to provide short-term support to the owing states and enabled them to pay off the backlog and restore the livelihood of millions of Nigerians.

    Fellow Nigerians, there have been a lot of anxiety and impatience over the apparent delay in announcement of ministers. There is no cause to be anxious. Our government set out to do things methodically and properly. We received the handing over notes from the outgoing government only four days before taking over. Consequently, the Joda Transition Committee submitted its Report on the reorganization of Federal Government structure after studying the hand over notes. It would have been haphazard to announce ministers when the government had not finalized the number of ministries to optimally carry the burden of governance.

    Anyway, the wait is over. The first set of names for ministerial nominees for confirmation has been sent to the senate. Subsequent lists will be forwarded in due course. Impatience is not a virtue. Order is more vital than speed. Careful and deliberate decisions after consultations get far better results. And better results for our country is what the APC government for CHANGE is all about.

    I would like to end my address this morning on our agenda for CHANGE. Change does not just happen. You and I and all of us must appreciate that we all have our part to play if we want to bring CHANGE about. We must change our lawless habits, our attitude to public office and public trust. We must change our unruly behavior in schools, hospitals, market places, motor parks, on the roads, in homes and offices. To bring about change, we must change ourselves by being law-abiding citizens.

    HappyIndependence Celebrations. Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

  • NHRC to begin probe of pre-polls violence, hate speech

    NHRC to begin probe of pre-polls violence, hate speech

    The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has begun investigation into cases of pre-election violence and hate speech.

    Members of the governing council/management of commission will soon be dispatched to states like Kaduna, Benue, Lagos and Rivers, which had recorded high cases of pre-election violence.

    In a statement yesterday, the commission’s Chief Press Secretary, Mrs. Fatimah Mohammed Agwai, said the NHRC has so far received about 16 complaints from persons and groups on election related violence.

    She said the visit by the commission’s officials to the identified states would enable them interact with key political actors and security personnel on strategies to prevent election violence during the general elections.

    The NHRC urged “all stakeholders to avail it with useful information  to enable it take informed decisions on cases of election violence.”

  • Jonathan’s campaign speech in Lagos

    Jonathan’s campaign speech in Lagos

    FULL TRANSCRIPT OF PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN’S REMARKS AT THE FLAG-OFF OF THE PDP 2015 CAMPAIGN IN LAGOS ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2015

    Your Excellency, the chairman of our great party, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, senior members of our party here on this great occasion, we have spent so much time here so I will not bore you with protocols.

    Today, I am going to address only a segment of the Nigerian population. I am going to address the people who are voting for the first time, those of you who will attain 18years this year.

    That means I am addressing the young people. I donot want to address old people like me, because we are spent already and I will crave your indulgence Nigerian youths, those of you who are here, and those of you watching us at home, listen to what I am saying.

    I am going to address political gatherings in 37 cities and I am going to dwell on three key things. I am focusing on the young people.

    Whatever I say, when you go back, call your aunts or call your uncles, your father or your mother, or your cousin, that is at least 60 years old and confirm and ask them what you heard that the Presidential candidate of PDP mentioned in any of the rallies because 2015 elections is about the young people: either you vote and continue to be relevant in Nigeria’s political history or you vote for you to be irrelevant.

    And I will repeat it, those of you who are voting for the first time, your decision to vote could mean you vote for a Nigerian youth to be important, to be relevant in this country or be a Nigerian person to be treated as a nonsense person and I believe all of you want to be relevant.

    Of course you have seen…we have just introduced our governorship candidates and you see how many of them that is of your age bracket. Which other party will give that kind of opportunity?

    I am going to dwell on three things because those who say they want to take over power from PDP have been telling a lot of lies. They have hired people from all over the world and those of you in the social media carry all forms of lies, painting all kinds of colour and giving me all kinds of face that I cannot defend.

    If you listen to us in the 37 places we will address these issues, you will now know where to cast your votes. I will address you in all the places on three issues.

    The first is the issue of insecurity. I am also going to address whether this administration is fighting or encouraging corruption. I am going to address the issue of weak government and unfocused government that has no plans. Yours is to listen and compare with everything that has been done before in this country and take a decision.

    I will not keep you here for too long because we still have the opportunity… I am going to raise just very few issues today and tomorrow I will continue in Enugu and then on and on and on.

    First let me tell you about the voter’s card. First when we came in here we saw some placards, some of you complaining that we are yet to get a permanent voters card. Only yesterday, I directed that every Nigerian (of voting age) must vote. INEC must make sure and government will not allow a situation where some (eligible) Nigerians will not vote; we will not allow it. All Nigerians must vote and I mean it.

    I told you that I am addressing those of you who are voting for the first time. Those of you in the age bracket of 20 to 24, if you go back, ask your uncles, before 2011 no Nigerian complained that he had no voters card. People voted themselves into office. We came and said every Nigeria vote must count and since then, the voter’s card has become relevant.

    This is the party that is giving political strength to all Nigerians. Already you have been told from intelligence reports that some people are already cloning cards so that your voter’s card will no longer be relevant. Is that the kind of people you want to take over government?

    They want to take us to the old days when nobody sawvoter’s cards but results were announced. They want to take us to the old days when ballot papers would be in South Africa and results would be announced. Are you going back to the old days?

    Nigeria must move forward, Nigeria is for the youths. Nigeria is not for old people like us. The young generation must redefine this country. We must take this country to where we want it to be. Nobody can push us backwards. The past is past. They have led us backward and backward.

    In fact when we were young, we were told that at Independence, Nigeria, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia and even India were all at the same level. That was what we were told when I was in the secondary school and the university. Now all those countries have left us behind and now some people want to take us backward. Do you want to go backwards? Nigerian youths do you want to go backwards?

    Young Nigerians were doing things fantastically well, they were acting films and these very people were snubbing them, they were playing music and these very people were abusing them. But we are encouraging them and the world has accepted them. Do you want to move forward? ….. Do you want to go backward?

    I told you I was going to address things and I will be very brief. They talk about insecurity. That they will fight insecurity. And you will ask are our armed forces weak? Are the Nigerians in the Armed Forces weak? If we have problems what is the cause—equipment. And somebody who wakes up and tells young people of 23 years old that he wants to fight insecurity, ask him when he was the head of government did he buy one rifle for a Nigerian soldier.

    These people did not buy anything for the Nigerian soldiers. They refused to equip them. No attack helicopter, nothing. Ask them what they did with the defence budget for the whole time they were in office. No country equips armed forces overnight. What they use is quite expensive and they are built over the years. Even if you spend 10 billion dollars today, you cannot equip the army, navy and air force.

    The capacity is built overtime. They refused to build the capacity. They instigated crisis and now they are telling us they will fight insurgency. Ask them and they will answer. I will elaborate more as we progress to other places.

    The next is that they say government is corrupt; or we are not fighting corruption. Only yesterday, I addressed the anti-corruption agencies. I said look people are deceiving young Nigerians. You must tell Nigerians what you are doing. We have arrested more people within this period. Gotten more convictions within this period but everyday they tell us lies.

    At this point, let me apologize to some Nigerian civil servants who did not receive their salaries in December early enough and I will tell you what happened. I apologize to those families that suffered because we believe that for you to fight corruption; you must take measures, establish and strengthen institutions. You just don’t wake up, enter the street, arrest one person and lock up and show on television and say that you are fighting corruption.

    If they had succeeded in fighting corruption, corruption would not have been with us here today. If they had set up structures and especially in today’s modern science using ICT to manage resources, we would not have been talking about corruption today. What happened in December was that IPPIS, software for processing salaries, — sometimes people steal through salaries- and some federal government agencies including some ministries tried to divert funds to pay some allowances. The system is scientific, it is not a human being, and as long as money meant for salaries is about to be diverted to other things, it shuts down. Those departments of government were shut down, this is the only way that you can prevent corruption.

    I served in Bayelsa as deputy governor and governor for eight years; I also served as Vice President and President for another four years at the centre, for all this period, the fertilizer area is where states and federal governments spend billions of naira but less than 10 per cent of fertilizers go to the farmers. The rest is stolen and sent out of the country. Even the 10 per cent sometimes is adulterated. We came and cleaned up the sector and today there is no corruption in the fertilizer industry again.

    What did we do? We assembled some young Nigerians that are IT gurus and we developed the e-wallet system and through that the farmers now get their fertilizers directly and nobody is cheating the government again. Is that not the way to stop corruption?

    If somebody tells you that the best way to fight corruption is to arrest your uncle or father and show him on television, well, you won’t stop corruption, you will even encourage corruption. I used to tell people and I will also address press conferences so that people can ask me direct questions. Armed robbery is still with us, despite the fact that we are shooting (death penalty) armed robbers. Is that stopping armed robbery?

    So arresting people and demonstrating on television will not fight corruption, we must set up institutions, strengthen them to prevent people from even touching the money and that is what we are working on and we are succeeding.

    Some people say they are finding corruption… some of you know, I am not addressing people of 20 years and below but people from 30 years and so on… Nigerians go to fuel stations and sleep overnight to buy fuel or tip those who sell fuel to buy fuel. They hoard fuel and they benefit from the hoarding. Who are those who benefitted from hoarding fuel? Since we came on board, have you suffered? Do you need to bribe someone before you get fuel?

    When the crisis of insecurity came up, we had nothing. So to get things very quickly, we used some vendors to make procurement. But now what we are doing is government to government. Now any new procurement we are doing whether for the air force, navy or army it’s government to government, so there is nothing like corruption anymore. Even if we have some issues, maybe… is that not the way to fight corruption?

    You must prevent people from touching money, you don’t give them the opportunity or test them with money and this is what government is doing and we are succeeding in a number of areas in our procurement processes. The relevant agencies will address Nigerians for you to appreciate what we are doing.

    They say the government is weak, they say we are un-focused; we have no plan.

    They say we are weak because there were some people who took our fathers, our mothers and our uncles while they were abroad put them in a crate and flew them to Nigeria but they were intercepted by superior powers. That blocked Nigerians from even going to Britain at a time and the relationship between Nigeria and Britain… the whole world isolated Nigeria.

    They said that is the way to fight corruption. So immediately I suspect your uncle, I can just crate him and throw him into Kirikiri. Is that the way to stop corruption?

    If somebody tells you that he will not follow due process… I came in with Yar’Adua and he advocated due process and I stand by due process. Any country that does not abide by the rule of law is a jungle.

    Do you want Nigeria to be a jungle society? Immediately I suspect you that you have done something wrong I just ask the police or army to arrest you and throw you into jail. Is that the country you want?

    They say to be strong is to jail people indiscriminately for 300 years. Is that where you want to go?

    A country is like an industry. It must be managed properly by people who have brain and great ideas upstairs.

    Let me just give you some highlights: they say we are not focused; we are not planning. But our economy has become the biggest in Africa; it was not the biggest in Africa before. Without planning, can your economy become the biggest in Africa?

    They say we are not planning, we are not focused but we have cleaned up the corruption in fertilizer distribution in the country. The farm inputs are getting to the farmers and our import bills, the money we use in buying things from outside is coming down. Can you get that without planning?

    You are no longer queuing up and leaving your cars in fuel stations. Can you do that without planning?

    I believe that some few years back some young people have not seen trains except when you travel abroad and you have never boarded a train. Now our trains are moving. Can you do that without planning?

    In the power sector, we are in Lagos; Egbin power sector got burnt in 2005 and remained so until now when we are fixing it. We have been able to finish the privatization of the power sector. This is an interface period but you already know that the generation capacity is almost double. Can you do that without planning?

    This government feels that Nigerians are very dynamic people, very creative, very industrious, very talented in music, arts and business. Many of them do not have money and you know we are almost 200 million in Nigeria and we cannot reach everybody the same day. We came up with the concept of YOUWIN to give grants not loans to young Nigerians that have ideas. If you interview them, some of them are already manufacturing and in the next four to five years, we will be exporting things from this country. And they say we have noplans for the youths? They should come and tell us what plans they have for the youths.

    I believe that young Nigerians, not people who are spent and finished. not people of my age, we are gone… that is why I said I am addressing people from the ages 18- 23 those who are voting for the first time, we believe that you people will take us to the moon. My generation has failed we couldn’t take Nigeria to the moon. Look at what India is doing. Look at what countries we were at par with at independence are doing and I said for us to get to the moon, that’s a special area; you need to expose your best brains.

    I came up with a special scholarship that you must first of all make a First Class in the university. We have scholarship for everybody but you must first of all make First Class from your university and then we test the best brains and send them to the best 25 universities in the world. Can someone who has no plans for the future of this country do that?

    Can somebody who does not think about the Nigerian youth do that?

    Do you want to go back to those days when they had no plans for us?

    When I came on board as President, I noticed that though in the country and on paper, there is this programme or policy of government that every state must get a Federal government owned university. Out of the 36 states we have, 12 had no federal universities and people were deceiving Nigerians that they were doing something.

    I said we must establish these 12 universities in the remaining 12 states, start as small universities and grow and we have done that successfully and they are growing gradually.

    We did not stop there. We looked at the school drop-outs in some parts of the country and they were quite high. We came up with the Almajiri educational programme and we thank the Governors from many of the states where we have those set of students. We have programmes for Almajiri students and we have the programme for out-of-school children. Can somebody who has no plan for the country think about that kind of programme?

    You will ask some of those people who are deceiving you now and who hired some people from outside the country to go on social media and tell all kinds of lies, that when they were in power did they build any nursery school for anybody? Ask them, ask them, I say go and ask them.

    If they did not build nursery schools for anybody, what did they use our money for? They built prisons or universities for you?

    I will build universities for you, I will build secondary schools for you, I will build primary schools for you.

    They say we have no plans for this country but we established the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF)—out of the money that comes into this country we reserve a little so you just don’t squander it.

    This is a government that introduced for the first time what we call the SWF and I want to thank the Governors from the states who keyed into the SWF idea. In addition to the SWF, you know that there are some stolen monies, which from time to time government gets back. They have been getting these monies back but we do not know how they are spending it.

    The ones that have come in within this period, we have not even started spending it but first of all we agree on how to spend it. Because we have security challenges and this money is primarily for security and they used security channels to take it, 50 per cent of it will be used for security, 25 per cent of it for development and 25 per cent of it will be used for future generations. This is the decision we have taken even before we start spending the money. Can somebody who has no plan for the future of the country do that thing? They should come and tell you what they used our monies for.

    We believe that so many young Nigerians, some young workers find it very difficult to own a house of their own. We introduced the Mortgage Refinancing Company. It is just coming up, estates are being built and we are working with the Labour unions. As we pursue that programme in the next five years, most Nigerian workers either working in private sector or in government can own houses. They have no plans for you; they are coming to tell you false stories. We have said you do not need to have so much money to own a house. Do you want to go back to the old days?

    We have plans for employment generation. We know one of the greatest challenges for most governments including Nigeria is to get jobs for our youths but we are not sleeping. So far we have been able to create a number of jobs… I have set up two bodies headed by the Vice President made up of people in government and the private sector. We call them Presidential Job Creation Board and Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Council, working very hard to ensure that every year two million jobs are created. Can somebody who has no plans do that?

    Of course we have been told that I have other opportunities. I have many other things to say but people are getting tired … … we’d have the opportunity to talk and talk and talk.

    Some groups of people have said that you have to vote for your liberation or imprisonment. Some groups of people came, and I read it in the papers, when they see people in government maybe governors, ministers, commissioners and so on … they will say we will draw a line, we are not probing the past because they want to deceive them to get their support.

    So they will draw a line and start fighting corruption after they cross the bridge. Only two days ago, somebody stood in Port Harcourt and said he was going to catch people in the streets and throw them into Kirikiri.

    The same mouth says something from the right, and from the left, making contradicting statements. Can you trust those people? Are they not deceiving you?

    They want power by all means and all what they want to use power for is to lock up and imprison their enemies. I have no enemy to fight. My interest is your interest. My interest is the Nigerian interest and for the future generations and young Nigerians to develop. Not to fight enemies. We must stop corruption. I will not stop corruption by catching people, putting them in trailers and dumping them off to be killed. You can’t stop corruption that way. Someone wakes up and he feels he can jail all his enemies and he thinks that is how to fight corruption? I think we have advanced beyond that point.

    Somebody wakes up and says “O, Nigerian women I am going to give you position.’’ And you ask him when you were a Head of Government, you had a cabinet, I have the list of the cabinet members, there was no one single woman. Not even one in the cabinet.

    So Nigerian women, you cast your votes and go back to the kitchen and die there or you cast your votes to liberate yourself.

    The Nigerian women must decide where to cast their votes: you vote and go back to the kitchen and die in the kitchen or you cast your votes to liberate yourself. We are ready to liberate all Nigerian women.

    Let me say one more thing and conclude. I read a headline in one paper yesterday: MEND DUMPS JONATHAN… did you read it?

    I am from the Niger Delta. The leader of MEND is one Okah. He is in South African prison. Why is he there? South Africa is not Nigeria where people will say Oh, President (Jonathan) manipulated it. Okah is in the prison because 1st October 2010 when we were to celebrate our independence, our golden year of independence, Okah was procured by some Nigerians to assassinate me. Okah bombed Abuja, but the attempt was to assassinate me and South Africa intelligence system caught him in the plan to assassinate me. He is now in jail in South Africa and they say MEND dumps Jonathan.

    Okah that wanted to assassinate Jonathan, will he support Jonathan? I am told that Okah is supporting some people… I am told that Okah who is in a South African prison for killing Nigerians is endorsing some people. Is that the country you want to live in? Count me out.

    Let me conclude by thanking all Nigerians, especially Lagosians. Let me sincerely on behalf of my party apologise to you because we are having this rally today so the whole of Lagos is at a standstill. We beg you, we have to do it and we know you love us, will support us and we promise to make sure that… this is the very first government that has supported the industrial sector very well. Ask your brothers and sisters in the private sector, if they are sincere they will say that we have come up with policies that have encouraged commerce and industry.

    Government alone cannot employ people. The private sector must grow to create jobs for the people. Bear with us because the PDP government will continue to encourage the private sector to create jobs for Nigerians.

    Finally, let me tell all of you especially those of you, who want to go to the National Assembly that we just had a national conference. The document from that conference, because of the controversy we have in the present National Assembly, you know how chaotic the present Assembly is, we know that if you bring that document to the Assembly they will dump it.

    So we want to present it to the next Assembly. So those people you are sending, if you mean well for this country, you must vote people who can go to the National Assembly, discuss and adopt that document that our leaders have agreed so that this country can move forward.

    I stand today in the city of Lagos, in the south west on behalf of the leader of our party, Alhaji Muazu, the Vice President and all the leaders and promise that if you vote the PDP en masse to the National Assembly and to the Presidency, we will adopt that document so that this country will move forward.

    That document is to liberate you, we did not influence it, our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters that are credible came up with it.

    Ask them, we did not influence it. I did not ask them to dot any `I’ or cross any `T’ because I have no personal interest. My interest is the Nigerian interest.

    It is either we vote to be prisoners as we were- and I will tell you maybe some of you do not know, in 1983, I don’t know for the young people, some of you who are writing all sort of things on the social media. In 1983/84, what they called discipline as a post graduate student instead of reading my book, the whole night I queued up to buy two tins of milk. And they say that is discipline.

    So we should make you queue up the whole night as students to buy two tins of milk? Is that the discipline you want?

    You must vote for your liberation, you must vote for your development, you must vote to take Nigeria to the moon. You cannot vote to take Nigeria backward.

    Leave us who are half dead to bury our dead.You must vote for the progress of this country, you must vote for the Nigerian youth, you must vote for the Nigerian women. PDP!… POWER!

    Thank you all.

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • Speech contest holds today

    The Tola Olukilede International Ministry, in conjunction with Heal The World Mission International, will tomorrow hold its Prefect Summit/Speech Competition at the Banquet Hall, Sheraton Hotel, Lagos.

    The President/Coordinator of Heal the World Mission International, Pastor Tola Olukilede, who spoke with reporters at the church’s headquarters in Sango-Ota, Ogun State, said that the competition is to motivate young people to participate in community development and be agents of positive change.

    He said that the competition’s draw, which started in November last year, was held in the six education districts, adding that 30 students from 30 different schools, public and private, competed against one another in each district, with the first five best performances from each regional draw qualifying for the final.

    “It will feature speech competition among 30 schools in six educational districts of Lagos State. Winners will enjoy three-year scholarship, computers, printers, books and automatic membership of World Changers Club”, he said.

     

  • Entertaining Speech

    Recently, I watched a TV programme in which a celebrity was interviewed. She was asked several questions, but a particular one caught my attention. She was asked what she wanted in her “man”. Well, the question did not interest me as much as her response did. This celebrity mentioned a number of virtues she expected in her man, but she kept on emphasizing that he must have a very good sense of humour. This got me curious. What’s with a sense of humour anyway? But then, after discussing with several ladies, I discovered that our celebrity was not alone. Most ladies prize a good sense of humour in men. So, where does that leave some of our boring friends?

    The reason they want humour in men is not farfetched; they want someone who can lighten up the seriousness of life on a permanent basis. I’m sure you realise that you “somehow” prefer your friends who make you laugh or give you interesting gist. This crystallizes the importance of entertaining speech, even in our daily lives. I understand the uniqueness of human nature, not everybody is a “joker.” Nevertheless, we will learn in this topic over the next few weeks that it can be learnt. Learning to use humour appropriately aids your ability to carry on a good conversation.

    Entertaining speech is one that the audience is supposed to listen to without any care in the world. It does not require the listeners to learn or to act; they are simply expected to relax and enjoy themselves. Before going further, it is very important to mention that, more often than not, you have a mixture of the different types of speeches. An informative speech can have elements of entertainment. What determines the type of speech we are dealing with is the percentage of each that goes into the speech. For instance, in an entertaining speech, not less that 85% of the content should be entertainment based.

    Entertaining speeches can come in the form of welcome addresses at luncheons, stand-up comic acts, red carpet interviews and toasts at wedding ceremonies, among others. The most important element of this type of speech is the ability to captivate, interest and amuse the audience. Have you ever seen a comedian struggling so hard to impress a crowd and only very few of them are laughing? It can be demoralizing. That tells you how difficult it can be to attempt to entertain people.

    Considering all the above, it becomes very important to understand the nature of entertaining speech. Here are some of its characteristics:

    •Entertaining Speeches are Brief: as far as this type of speech is concerned, moderation is the key. Even if you are extremely funny, you will tire your audience out if you don’t know when to stop. That’s why you realise that MCs only make short but interesting remarks in-between different programmes, toasts at weddings are brief, and comedians don’t take forever to speak.

    •Entertaining Speeches are Simple: you cannot be invited to a science exhibition as the key-note speaker and you want to deliver an entertaining speech! You will seem like a joker. Likewise, how can you have just two minutes to toast to the happiness of a new couple and you want to talk on “seven steps to successful marriage?” Whatever you will talk about needs to be simple enough, so that your listeners don’t need to try before they understand. Your speech should contain information that they can easily relate to.

    3. Entertaining Speeches Should Reflect the Audience: it is very important that you relate your presentation to your audience. If you are trying to be funny for instance, you should consider the demography of your audience and the nature of the joke. A joke about a bad wife may “fly” among a male dominated audience, but may earn you hostility among women dominated audience. Don’t tell stories of somewhere far way that they cannot relate with, rather, localize your stories. Make sure that in your entertainment, you treat your audience with utmost respect. Sometimes you see some comedians walk into the audience and pick on one or two people. You may even see a Best-man mention a few guests while telling the story of how a couple met. All of these are done to make the audience a part of the fun. You should, however, be careful to use this only in a complementary manner.

    •Entertaining Speeches are Creative: you don’t have any restriction placed on your creativity. If your speech is to entertain, you can sing, dance or even act. Your main aim is to entertain your audience, and that you must do. First evaluate your audience and determine the kind of creativity that will impress them. If you are the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of your organization, and you are expected to make the guests at your company’s luncheon feel comfortable, your creativity must be displayed in such a way that your employers will not consider it an embarrassment.

    The key to successful delivery of an entertainment speech is deep desire to interest your listeners. If you focus on what you enjoy instead of what they enjoy, you may find yourself laughing at your own joke while they are all looking at you with a straight face. We will continue this topic next week by discussing what you should avoid when presenting an entertainment speech. Don’t miss it.