Oshiomhole: You Fear Holes When Your Name Ends With Hole
By Reno Omokri
I read Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s comments to the effect that he heard from the Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Chief John Oyegun, that former President Goodluck Jonathan had told him (Chief Oyegun) that after the election, he would put Governor Oshiomhole in a hole, but today the ex president is the one in a hole.
Reno Omokri
This statement, while seemingly an attack on the person of former President Goodluck Jonathan, says more about the character of the Edo State Governor than it does about the former President.
A good leader does not act on hearsay and gossip especially when he has channels to verify such information.
One would have thought that Governor Oshiomhole would have learnt his lesson after the embarrassment from the gossip he shared, to the effect that unnamed US State Department officials told him that a minister under Jonathan stole a billion US dollars every month (which was confirmed to be a lie by an investigative report by a national daily).
Apparently no lessons were learnt from that misadventure.
Even ex-President Jonathan’s arch opponents cannot deny the fact that no Nigerian was ever put in a hole or arrested for his comments or criticism during his time in office. Such is out of character for the former leader.
In fact, at the very moment Oshiomhole was making his fallacious claims, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was being honored in Atlanta by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference for his role in advancing peace and human rights as well as good governance. President Jonathan is to be similarly honored in Europe in the coming weeks.
On July 17, 2012, Governor Oshiomhole himself said “President Jonathan has demonstrated statesmanship. I think there is hope for Nigeria”.
Suffice to say that I understand where Governor Oshiomhole is coming from.
Obviously, when your name ends with the word HOLE, you will be afraid of holes, but Goodluck is the portion of Jonathan!
Let me end by saying that Governor Adams Oshiomhole is a gifted labour leader and has made progress as Edo state Governor. He had previously been known for prudent speech. I therefore scratch my head in wonder at what recent event may be making him as giddy as a teenager. Your guess is as good as mine.
However, it is no guess, but fact, to state that Governor Adams Oshiomhole cannot put Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in a hole that God has not put him.
(An Open Letter to the Honourable Minister of Information of the Federal Republic of Nigeria)
Dear Honourable Minister Lai Mohammed,
Greetings and congratulations on your recent and well deserved appointment as Nigeria’s Minister of Information.
Reno Omokri
You may recall that we met on the set of ‘Politics Today’ in May of 2011 soon after I was interviewed by Deji Bademosi and just before you were interviewed.
The purpose of my letter to you today is in response to your statement made on Monday the 21st of December, 2015 in which you accused former President Goodluck Jonathan, whom I served as one of three spokesmen, of being responsible for the current excruciating fuel scarcity now subsisting in Nigeria.
Your exact words were “What I will be telling Nigerians is that what we met on ground is such that we are paying for the sins of the last administration…..One of the reasons for the fuel scarcity was the inability of the last government to make adequate provision for fuel subsidy”.
My candid take on your message to Nigerians is that it is an abdication of responsibility on your part and does not project you and the government you represent as being responsible.
Government, as you very well know, is a continuum. One government takes over from where the other stopped and to say that an action in December of 2015 (six months after ex President Jonathan handed over to the incumbent on May 29th, 2015, ) is the fault of the last President, is to confer super human powers on Jonathan.
To prove to you that it is wrong to blame the former President, I will quote the words of the incumbent President.
A month ago, President Buhari, while speaking to the Nigerian community in the Iranian capital, Tehran, said “I believe if you are in touch back at home, you would have been told that already there is some improvement in power”.
Those were the words of President Muhammadu Buhari in Tehran on November 25th, 2015.
You, Honourable Minister, also boasted about the improvement in power back in August 2015, when you attributed the improvement to the ‘body language’ of the ‘new sheriff’ in town.
You may recall that you said “I say it anywhere I go that even though we have not added one single megawatt to power, there has been improvement. My colleagues in the PDP will say no; that’s not true. But I maintain that this improvement is as a result of the kind of integrity that President Buhari has brought to leadership.”
Now, you and I know that despite what you said about the President’s “body language”, there is absolutely no way that any action or inaction of President Muhammadu Buhari could have led to an improvement in power.
All the new power stations that have come on stream this year were either built or completed by Jonathan. Absolutely all of them were conceived, funded, built and commissioned by Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Presidents, the same party that you said had destroyed Nigeria.
On October 19th, 2013, then President Jonathan completed and commissioned the 530 Megawatts Omotosho Power station Phase 2 begun by his predecessor.
On February 20th, 2015, he commissioned the 750 MW Olorunsogo II Power Station in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State.
On March 24th, 2015, Jonathan also commissioned the Phase I 504MW (Simple Cycle Gas) Alaoji Power Plant at Umuobasi-Ukwu, Abia State.
Former President Jonathan was also the leader who successfully privatized major chunks of our power generation and distribution infrastructure. He also created the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading PLC.
So concerned was President Jonathan to know the state of electricity provision that I had to do regular, sometimes weekly, polls and surveys on Twitter to get the public’s feedback on the state of power in their locales.
Yet, despite all these, President Buhari and you, Honourable Minister, were not shy at taking credit for the improvement in electricity in far away Tehran and Lagos at various times this year.
One wonders why the same “integrity” you credited for automatically improving power cannot provide fuel?
Don’t you think it is a bit rich to blame ex President Jonathan for the current fuel subsidy especially given the fact that leading lights of your party resisted and rejected the ex President’s move to do away with fuel subsidy by deregulating the down stream sector of the petroleum sector?
Indeed Honourable Minister, you may recall that as the National Publicity Secretary of the then Action Congress of Nigeria, you released a statement condemning the then government’s plans to deregulate the petroleum industry and remove fuel subsidy and also said that the removal of fuel subsidy was “a threat to Nigeria’s unity”.
Sir, you would agree with me that it is only honourable to take the bitter with the sweet.
I am reminded of my 10 year old daughter’s comments to me every time I accuse her of watching too much television. She quotes a line from the Disney movie, ‘A Bug’s Life’ in which Hopper says to Atta “First rule of leadership: Everything is your fault”.
If my daughter at 10 is aware of this rule, shouldn’t a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who also happens to be over 60 years of age, and who also happens to be the official spokesperson of the current administration know this rule?
A bad workman may blame his tools, but it takes an irresponsible workman to blame his predecessor!
When Jonathan became President on May 6th, 2010, he met a comatose railway network. He did not blame his predecessors. Rather, he went to work.
Within two years, he successfully rehabilitated a significant portion of our national railway infrastructure and had restored intra and inter city routes for the first time decades. He made it possible for Nigerians to travel from Lagos to Kano for less than $10 (₦1600).
There were services from Port Harcourt to Enugu, Makurdi to Port Harcourt and Gombe-Kafanchan-Kaduna to mention but a few.
For the first time in decades, there was a direct rail transport from Tin Can Island Port in Lagos all the way to Kano with stops along the way.
Jonathan successfully built the brand new standard gauge 187 kilometer Abuja-Kaduna railway which will make it possible to live in Kaduna and work in Abuja.
Within Lagos, he introduced air conditioned fast Diesel Multiple Unit trains, the first of its type in Nigeria.
I quite remember that when I wrote about these accomplishments, members and sympathizes of your party publicly labeled me a liar.
I remained a liar in the eyes of the Nigerian public until my recent surprise vindication by the new Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, who said while on a familiarization tour of the Nigerian Railway Corporation as follows “in fact, I think we have a problem; most people don’t believe that the railway transport is functioning in Nigeria. I didn’t even know, until I started this tour, I never knew that the railway was functioning, it was even from his (MD’s) speech that I learnt that there are some coaches or services that go to Kano or Port Harcourt or elsewhere. So we need to make people become more aware that the narrow gauge is working, and that people can still use it to travel around that country.”
Now, Honourable Minister Lai Mohammed, who do we blame for this remarkable progress in our rail sector?
Let me end this letter to you with a quote from best selling author, Dr. Steve Maraboli: “It’s time to care; it’s time to take responsibility; it’s time to lead; it’s time for a change; it’s time to be true to our greatest self; it’s time to stop blaming others.”
Thank you and be assured of my continued loyalty and support to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Regards,
Reno.
Reno Omokri, former Special Assistant on New Media to President Goodluck Jonathan.
Former Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on New Media, Reno Omokri on Tuesday made a case for Buhari over the president’s alleged lopsided appointments saying appointments should be made on merit and not sectional interests.
Reno Omokri
Omokiri made the statement in his article titled As Buhari blazes the trail for merit.
Read his full article
Recently there was a big uproar about the appointments made by President Buhari. I disagreed with those who complained that the President’s appointment were lopsided.
Appointments should not be made on the basis of ethnicity, region or religion.Appointments should be made strictly on merit!
As far as I am concerned, the President can appoint all his appointees from the same state as long as they are the best Nigeria has to offer.
In 2013, Nigeria won the Africa Cup of Nations. That victory was only possible because we selected our best players.
A large proportion of the squad were from the Southeast and Southsouth including Vincent Enyeama, Austin Ejide, Chigozie Agbim, Joseph Yobo, Elderson Echiejile, Kenneth Omuero, Efe Ambrose, Azubuike Egwuekwe, Godfrey Oboabona, Mikel Obi, Reuben Gabriel, Nosa Igiebor, Obiora Nwankwo, Brown Ideye, Ogenyi Onazi, while Ejike Uzoenyi, Victor Moses, Ikechukwu Uche, Sunday Mba and Emmanuel Emenike.
Nobody complained that this squad was lopsided because we knew these were our best and if we wanted to win we had to present our best. At the end of the day they brought home the cup and that was all that mattered.
In the same vein, nobody should complain about where Buhari’s appointees come from. What we should insist on is that they are appointed on the basis of merit and that at the end of 2019 they must bring home the cup by giving Nigerians good governance that will yield tangible democracy dividends.
Nigerians are always quick to say the problem with Nigeria is corruption, but I am not so sure it is.
Corruption is a symptom of the problem but it in itself is not the problem.
Corruption is the catarrh coming out of Nigeria’s nose. If you experience catarrh you do not treat it by merely cleaning your nose. The discharge will just keep coming because you are treating the symptom not the cause.
The way to treat catarrh is by treating its root cause which is the common cold.
What is the common cold that is causing the discharge of mucous from Nigerians nose?
In my humble opinion, it is quota system and the principle of federal character.
Federal character and quota system are the root cause of corruption in Nigeria.
As long as ethnicity is the yardstick for admitting children into schools or recruiting adults into the civil service, we will never have a merit driven system and where we do not have a merit driven system, the end result will be corruption.
President Muhammadu Buhari means well in his anti corruption battle, but if a civil servant has to report to someone who is less qualified than him and who only got his position because of quota system or federal character, his morale would be low and he will not be committed and when opportunity presents itself to be corrupt, that civil servant will seize it and he will not feel sorry or guilty.
As long as there is no level playing field in Nigeria, none of our anti corruption efforts will work. We will merely be cleaning rye discharge of mucous from our nose. There cannot be a successful anti corruption war in the midst of social injustice.
Nigerians are not by nature correct. It is the Nigerian system that is by nature corrupt.
The other day the Federal Ministry of Education released cut off marks for unity schools and the cut off Mark for one state is 138 out of 200 while the cut off mark for another state is 4 out of 200.
This is not a joke! This is a reality in modern day Nigeria in the year 2015 and I kid you not!
Right there and then Nigeria has planted the seed of corruption in the heart of the child from the 138/200 state and the seed of entitlement in the heart of the child from the 4/200 state.
Any system that is not built on merit cannot but be corrupt. It is a fact of life and those who do not like this inconvenient truth can get as angry as they like with me and people like me, but that will not change the truth.
Whether we like to say it or not or whether we choose to pretend it does not exist, the truth remains that so many groups in Nigeria feel alienated by quota system and federal character.
We have grand plans as a nation of being amongst the top 20 biggest economies of the world by 2020, but which of the countries amongst the current top 20 economies has a system like ours?
The answer is none.
The G 7 nations of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States along with their partner nations of China and Russia are constantly competing with each other in the areas of early childhood to high school education.
If the educational pass rates of children in America is slipping when compared to that of other nations in the G-7, it will become a major electoral issue.
The influential Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) releases a regular triennial study of global education systems and these nations keenly compete to outdo each other in these rankings.
Now, how can Nigeria expect to join their ranks and compete internationally when we do not even allow fair competition domestically?
Are we going to write a letter to the G-7 or the OECD telling them that is not fair to expect us to compete with them and ask them to lower the standards for us?
I don’t think so!
Merit is the way. No, I take that back. Merit is the ONLY way. And I thank God that we have a President with the foresight to base his appointments solely on merit.
That is a beginning, now we must ensure that merit is also applied to admission into government schools and recruitments into the public service.
On July 17, 2012, a recently re-elected Governor Adams Oshiomhole visited the Aso Rock Presidential Villa and on his way out he had a chat with State House Correspondents and said as follows “what the Edo election has confirmed is that when the President and Commander-in-Chief puts the country first and conducts himself as a statesman, not just as a party leader, credible elections are possible, because people were apprehensive that the Nigerian Army could be misused. But of course, I told them I didn’t think they were right, but the President’s clear directive was that the votes must count.
Reno Omokri
The former labour leader continued in his praise of then President Jonathan saying “We need to appreciate the President and encourage him to sustain this principle of truly reminding all of us, who hold political office, that we are at the mercy of the electorate, not of the Presidency. I think the President has done that. The President has demonstrated statesmanship. I think there is hope for Nigeria”.
Going by the statement he made above, many Nigerians were shocked to read his recent statement on August 23rd, 2015 where he said inter alia “if the Igbos were marginalized, it was President Jonathan and the PDP. If Nigerians know what these people did, they will stone them to death – jungle justice.”
How is it possible that three years ago, Governor Oshiomhole saw President Jonathan as a well behaved statesman who rose above partisanship to put the nation first and then make a 180 degree turn to attack the same person and suggest that he be stoned by the public?
Anyone who knows Former President Goodluck Jonathan knows that the first description of him by Governor Oshiomhole is correct.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan is a man who does not lust for power and refused to reach out to grasp power even when it was within his reach in 2010 during the saga occasioned by the tragic illness of his boss, President Umaru Musa Yar’adua.
Jonathan demonstrated loyalty, patience and complete submission to the will of God and God elevated him.
When Dr. Jonathan lost the March 2015 Presidential election, he did not wait for the Independent National Electoral Commission to finish declaring results before calling then candidate Muhamnadu Buhari to concede.
As a result, for the first time in her history, Nigeria does not have any judicial challenge against the winner of a Presidential election.
President Jonathan is a man of honour who does not deserve the treatment being meted out to him by Governor Adams Oshiomhole.
The Comrade Governor should come to an awareness that his party, the All Progressive Congress, is now in power. They are no more in opposition.
The Jonathan administration remains the only administration in Nigeria’s history that promoted freedom of Speech by signing the Freedom of Information Bill into law so Nigerians could have access to any information they so desire.
Versions of the Freedom of Information Law are also in force in Western nations including the US.
Only on August 21st, 2015, an investigation by Leadership Newspapers (whose publisher is an APC chieftain and former Presidential Aspirant on the platform of the party) revealed that no US official ever told Governor Adams Oshiomhole or any other person that one minister stole $6 Billion under President Jonathan’s watch and challenged the Comrade Governor to name the US official that said so and the minister involved.
Governor Oshiomhole may want to take advantage of the FOI law by ensuring that his aides use it to verify any allegation he may have before he going public with it.
For example, he could have accessed freely available information from the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, as to the total cost of the 2nd Niger Bridge and he would have established that the entire cost of the bridge was ₦108 billion. How is it then possible to pay a consultancy fee of ₦140 billion for a project of ₦108 billion as the comrade Governor alleged?
When the comrade Governor said that the Agricultural Transformation of the Jonathan administration was a hoax, did he know that the International Food Policy Research Institute, IFPRI, revealed in their annual Global Hunger Index that hunger in Nigeria reduced while Jonathan was President?
This fact was carried by no less a medium than Premium Times and most Nigerians would know that Premium Times would not publish anything good about the Jonathan administration if it was not true.
Governor Oshiomhole should note that four years is not such a long time. Every time spent in distracting President Buhari from the task of governance by attacking ex-President Jonathan is borrowed from time that should have been spent in helping the new administration succeed.
You do not try to please a man who may be kind to you by demonizing a man who has been kind to you. When you do that, you are sending two messages.
First, you are telling the man who has already been kind to you that he was foolish for being kind to you. Secondly you are communicating to the man who may be kind to you that he will be foolish if he goes on to extend kindness to you.
I pray that my Christian advise does not meet with the bombastic response that previous attempts at engaging the Comrade Governor have received. I mean no harm as I only want to draw the attention of Governor Oshiomhole to the fact that no condition is permanent on earth.
Reno Omokri is the founder of the Mind of Christ Christian Center in California, author of Shunpiking: No Shortcuts to God and Why Jesus Wept and the host of Transformation with Reno Omokri (Thursday at 10pm on the Impact Network, Chanel 268 DISH and Monday at 12am on San Francisco’s KTLN, Chanel 25 on Comcast).
The Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) has increased its attack on the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, as the party promised to reveal all his atrocities during its campaign ahead of the 2015.
Reno Omokri
The Special Assistant to the Nigerian President on New Media, Reno Omokri has taken on the former Nigerian dictator, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari on his activities when he was the Head of State.
In a series of tweets on Friday, Omokri questioned Buhari to explain to Nigeria why he jailed Fela, cancel Jakande Metroline among others.
“I have questions for Gen Buhari and his party and I hope rather than insults we will get answers to these factual questions. #GEJtazarce
Has Buhari apologized to Ben Ogedengbe’s family for killing him for a crime that didnt carry death penalty when he committed it. #GEJtazarce
Has Buhari apologized to the people of Lagos for canceling Jakande’s Metroline & forfeiting the $50 million Lagos paid for it? #GEJtazarce
Why did Buhari regime use violence to stop the September 1985 National Conference of the National Assn of Nigerian Students? #GEJtazarce
Has Buhari apologized for heading the ONLY military admin that did not have a transition plan to hold elections? #GEJtazarce
Has Buhari apologized for jailing Tai Solarin & denying him his asthma drugs simply because he campaigned against military rule? #GEJtazarce
Has Buhari apologized for jailing Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson for writing a truthful report which embarrassed his govt? #GEJtazarce
Has Buhari apologized for raiding Papa Awolowo’s house and seizing his passport so he couldn’t travel out of the country? #GEJtazarce
Has Buhari apologized for throwing VP Alex Ekwueme in jail even though it was proven that Ekwueme DID NOT steal? #GEJtazarce
What reason did Buhari have for jailing Ojukwu in 1984? Ojukwu was not in Shagari’s govt and he did not steal! #GEJtazarce
What reason did Buhari have for jailing honest Pa Michael Adekunle Ajasin, who did not steal as Ondo State Gov? #GEJtazarce
Why did Buhari jail Fela Kuti in 1984? What was Fela’s crime? Singing against military govt? #GEJtazarce
Can Buhari explain to young Nigerians why he banned the Nigerian Medical Association? Does he hate doctors? #GEJtazarce
Can Buhari explain to young Nigerians why he banned the National Association of Nigerian Students? Does he hate students? #GEJtazarce
Why did the Buhari regime break up a press conference of ASUU in 1984 and detain four of their executives? #GEJtazarce
What reason did Buhari have for jailing the activist Beko Ransome Kuti who campaigned for his brother, Fela’s release? #GEJtazarce
Has Buhari apologized to Ooni of Ife for stopping him from travelling abroad without permit because he visited Israel in 1984 #GEJtazarce
They say Buhari is now a democrat. Really? Then why did he treat the Oputa Panel with such disdain and refused to appear? #GEJtazarce
If Buhari really believes that power is from God as he says, then why did he take it by force in 1983? #GEJtazarce”
The Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on New Media, Reno Omokri has faulted the popularity of former dictator and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari on the social media.
He argued that the popularity of Buhari on social media was bought through sponsored posts, stressing that it is a cheap way of getting followership. He also shared a post on his twitter handle to corroborate his argument.
“It shows the level of hypocrisy and deceit. Anybody can grow followership with adverts but a true proof of popularity on social media should be organic. The almost two million followers of President Goodluck Jonathan are organic, a show of the love of Nigerians for him and his administration,” he said.
Omokri noted that it is wrong to compare the popularity of President Jonathan on social media with that of Buhari. “There is no basis to compare the two because they are miles apart. President Jonathan enjoys the support of Nigerians as evident by the millions of Nigerians that follow his official Facebook account, Goodluck Jonathan. The number of likes, comments and shares of his posts is commendable. I am not sure that Buhari has up to 60,000 likes on Facebook with the money spent so far by his camp to boost his popularity on social media.”
President Jonathan is verified on Facebook where he has a following of 1,740,124 while Buhari is not verified and has 51,536 followers on Facebook.
– See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/12/reno-omokri-faults-buharis-popularity-social-media/#sthash.pLjOq5Cn.dpuf
Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on New Media, Reno Omokri has faulted the claim by the Vice-Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo that President Goodluck Jonathan is leading a visionless government.
Omokri pointed out that the administration of Jonathan has recorded laudable achievements which are alien to a visionless government, stressing that such feats have been acknowledged by International organisation such as the United Nations, International Food Policy Research Institute, KPMG among others.
The Special Assistant argued that Prof. Osinbajo’s report differs from the reality.
“Prof. Osinbajo’s report differs from that of KPMG, The UN and The Global Hunger Index. Whose report will you believe?” he said in a tweet.
Omokri was reacting to the earlier claim by the V.P candidate of the APC, who described the Jonathan-led Federal Government as “inadequate and visionless.”
Osinbajo argued via his Twitter page that “Nigeria is great and her citizens give so much, yet get nothing in return from today’s inadequate and visionless leadership.
Omokri also used the opportunity to take a swipe at the Presidential candidate of the APC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari who he alleged threatened that 2015 will be bloody if what happened in 2011 repeat itself, pointing out that President Jonathan has repeatedly maintained that his ambition is not worth any Nigerian’s blood. He urged Pastor Osinbajo to prayerfully consider the vision of Jonathan and Buhari for Nigeria.
“If Pastor Osinbajo wants to talk about ‘vision’, he should prayerfully consider these two visions of the future,” he added in his tweet.
He urges Nigerians to make use of the infrastructure provided by Goodluck Jonathan during the festive period.
“This Christmas, travel on our revived railways, reconstructed Benin-Ore Road or upgraded Enugu Airport. Powered by GEJ!”
The KPMG has rated Nigeria’s high speed rail as world-class, the Global Hunger index also stated that hunger level has fall in Nigeria.
Bemigho Reno Omokri is the Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on New Media. In this interview with ABIODUN ALADE, he pooh-poohs what he terms the propaganda and lies of the opposition about his principal.
On President Jonathan and his achievements
President Goodluck Jonathan is the best president Nigeria has ever had and I am backing this with facts. I am not moved by opinion, I am moved by facts. Let me corroborate my stand with five facts. Number one, according to the United Nations record, Nigeria life expectancy was 47.5 years in 2009, a year before President Jonathan took over. As at today, according to the same United Nations Human Development Index, which is released annually, Nigeria average life expectancy is now 52 years. Since record has been kept, this is the largest life expectancy in Nigeria.
Jonathan, ex-leaders, govs resolve to end terrorism before DecPre
When President Jonathan took over power, the World Bank listed Nigeria as a low income country, but, today, Nigeria is a middle income nation.
In 2010, Nigeria was the second largest economy in Africa but it is the largest economy in Africa today.
Also, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute which undertakes research on global hunger index annually, Nigeria is improving. Prior to President Jonathan assuming office, the country has been sliding on the global hunger index but since he took over Nigeria has been improving. In 2005, our index was 16.1 but in 2013 it reduced to 15 and this year it is 14.1.
On the final score, President Jonathan, during his declaration speech, said he is proud there is no political prisoner in Nigeria; as a matter of fact, Nigeria has become so free under President Jonathan that those in exile were able to return home. Some chose to attack him, others chose to support him but the obvious thing is that there is no consequence because we have a God- fearing and philosopher king as president.
Insecurity
The issue with insecurity can best be answered by the military. But I will say that never in the world has a conventional army been used to destroy terrorists. Nigeria has had high success in peace-keeping all over the world because we have been meeting with conventional war. Terrorism is a new threat and we have to develop special forces to deal with this threat and, to the best of my knowledge, that is going on at a very advanced stage and, very soon, we will see the effect of that. I am very confident that in no distant time, Nigeria will overcome the Boko Haram insurgency. Our soldiers are already being trained in special operations so we will, in the near future, bid farewell to insecurity occasioned by Boko Haram in the country.
Impact of largest economy on the citizens
It is an opinion to say that the transformation of the economy is not impacting on the lives of Nigerians. There are seven billion opinions on earth and if you are going to live by that, you will be an unstable person. Facts support the notion that the economic progression Nigeria has made under President Jonathan is trickling down to the citizens. For the first time in the history of this country, we have 14 million farmers registered with the ministry of agriculture. They received fertilizers and seeds directly from the ministry. Of the 14 million, two million are women. It has never been done anywhere in the world; other nations like South Africa and India are coming to learn how we did it. Now we are talking of 14 million farmers which is clear evidence that Nigerians are benefiting from the economic progress made under President Goodluck Jonathan.
The per capital income of Nigeria, which was 1090 dollars in 2009, is 1800 dollars today. Today, you can take a train from Ido terminus in Lagos and be in Kano at the cost of N2,250. You can charge your laptop on that train. You can move within Lagos with air-conditioned fast trains. These are facts but obviously, the opposition will not want to paint the president in his true colour because they are desperate for power.
President Jonathan has ensured that every state that did not have a university now has one, he has ensured that almajiris who did not have school before now have 150 schools of which he planned to build 400. This is a man who has impacted on the lives of the everyday average Nigerians.
In the rural areas, there is a conditional grant given to women that attend post-natal care in health centres. Over 80, 000 graduates have been able to find internship through the Graduate Internship Scheme. 4, 000 Nigerian youths have been given grant of between two million and ten million naira to start up businesses which have empowered and employed tens of thousands of people through the YOUWIN (Youth with Innovation Nigeria) scheme. These are brilliant initiatives that have never be done before to impact the lives of Nigerians.
Sadly, some people with no record to show will speak negative of the president. For 34 years, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has been left dormant but today, it is witnessing one of the fastest constructions on earth- Julius Berger starting from the Lagos side and RCC starting from the Ibadan side which will ensure they meet at a point to complete the work on time. Where has that been done before in Nigeria?
It used to take nine hours to travel from Lagos to Benin but President Jonathan ensured that the Benin- Ore Road was reconstructed not repaired. Today, that same journey takes three hours and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Prof. Okonjo Iweala, took that journey herself to verify it. So President Jonathan is impacting on the lives of everyday Nigerians.
Corruption and the president’s body language
Let us look at facts and not opinion. In this country, one of the greatest avenues of corruption is the procurement of fertilizer for farmers but today, the Jonathan administration has addressed that and ensured that farmers get fertilizer directly from the source. There is no middleman, thus the country is able to save over two billion dollars annually which was in the past frittered away.
Over 50, 000 ghost workers have been weeded out of the civil service, the FG is saving over three hundred and fifty billion naira annually by that singular act. These 50, 000 have been there over the years.
This administration is not interested in show trial where you arrest people, do a trial with the media having sensational stories but in fairness, how many people that went through this show trial are in jail? You fight corruption at the root and weed it out.
I can state categorically that there is no anti-corruption president like Jonathan but being a philosopher king, he will not dance to the gallery; he will fight corruption accordingly. The opposition has saturated the media with negative information.
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