There are two options for those in contention for the presidency in 2019: run, or run away. Now that President Muhammadu Buhari has indicated his intention to run, dwarfs trying to wear a giant’s shoes should simply run away. The cat has returned from a journey, let the rats scamper for safety.
Show clean pairs of heels? But this is a democracy! Everybody is free to run in the direction he or she fancies. True. So, what I’ve said is mere advice, which they can take, or choose not to take. Nigerians will decide early next year. The greater the challenge, the sweeter the victory.
I have always said it privately and in public. If President Muhammadu Buhari decides to run for a second term in 2019, I would support him. It doesn’t matter whether I am in government or not. For some of us, the man Buhari is a conviction, a resolution, a man to admire and adore since 1984, when he became military head of state.
Is he perfect? Show me the man who is. Is he running a perfect government? Show me the government which is. Is he sincere? Very. Does he love the country? Dearly. Will he take Nigeria to the Promised Land? As the good Lord helps. And he is on the way there. Does he need more time? Sure, he does. The rot was too much, benumbing.
Nigeria is doing a lot more with a lot less today. There was a time we were awash with money. Oil sold for as high as $120 dollars per barrel, and we produced up to two million barrels per day. For many years. But we had no roads, no electricity, no health care, no security, nothing. The money was simply looted. They sat round the table, as if gathered for lunch, and hundreds of billions of dollars were shared.
Now, after oil prices crashed to as low as 30 dollars per barrel in 2015, and currently oscillates between 50 and 60 dollars, Nigeria is doing great things. Electricity has been taken to over 7,000 megawatts, from the inherited 3,000. The economy is now being truly diversified, after five decades of lip service. Agriculture is now the second biggest thing after oil, and is poised to become number one in the not too distant future. Farmers, in their millions, now smile to the banks. The farmer is now king. He sends himself on pilgrimage to Mecca or Jerusalem, paying his own way. Those who want more wives among them have even taken. And not on credit. Lol.
With income standing at about 60% less than what we used to earn, N1.3 trillion was spent on capital in 2016. The 2017 budget will close with about the same amount being expended on capital projects. Simply because you have a honest man in leadership. Not that corruption has been wiped out, no, but it has been drastically curbed. And anyone serving with the man knows that stealing is now corruption. When fish rots, it starts from the head. But we now have a head that shows the way. Mai Gaskiya. The Honest Man. Shine the light, and people will find the way.
How about our foreign reserves? They say we should stop talking about the past, and simply face the future. So that Nigerians would not be reminded of how they ran the country into a hole? With oil at its highest prices for many years, what they left in foreign reserves was a miserly $29.6 billion. It dropped to as low as $24 billion about a year ago, because of collapsed oil prices. But then, by divine mercies, prices began to inch up in the international market. It reached $60 per barrel, just about half of what they earned for many years. We cut unbridled importation of what can be produced locally. Prudence became the watchword. And foreign reserves now stand at over $46 billion. Why? Simply because the money is not being pocketed by those in power, as it once happened.
And then, some voodoo priests came: don’t run for a second term. Give way to younger people. Take a well deserved rest. Blah blah blah. As if they were the beginning and end of democracy. The motive was simple: we must dissuade this man from running, so that he wouldn’t become the greatest ever Nigerian leader. He must not become the authentic national hero. All types of cards were being flashed, yellow, green, red, purple, as if they had become emergency referees. But President Buhari kept his peace. No abuse for abuse, no railing for railing. When you are in the marketplace, you concentrate on the person you are transacting a deal with, and ignore the noise of the market. Now, the Tower of Babel has been resoundingly ignored, and democracy will be the victor.
Early next year, Nigerians will decide what they want. Go ahead on the journey to Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, or go back to Egypt, a land of eternal bondage, and excruciating pains? Nigerians will do it again. They will freely elect the leader they want, without pandering to ethnic, religious, and other primordial sentiments being currently whipped up. There will be no doomsday, as the election will be free and fair. No wuru-wuru or mago-mago under Buhari’s watch, no matter what. A man that swears to his own hurt.
Nigerians, President Buhari is on the march again. For the sake of our tomorrow and the ages to come, for the sake of our children and generations yet unborn, let’s do it again.
*Adesina is Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity
Wike Raises Alarm Over FG’s Alleged Plot To Frame Him
Emmanuel Ereyi
Updated April 9, 2018
File photo
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has raised an alarm over an alleged plot by the Federal Government to frame him.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor said the Federal Government is planning to plant illegal items on him in any of his trips outside the shores of Nigeria, and have him quizzed and embarrassed by foreign security agencies.
In a statement signed by his special assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu he said this was revealed after investigations by the Rivers State government.
“My investigation reveals that the Federal government using her security agencies is planning to set me up anytime I am travelling outside the country. They plan to organise security to storm the hotel I am staying and say they found xyz cash in my possession; after which they would say I was arrested for currency trafficking or whatever offences outside the country.
READ ALSO: Offa Bank Robbers Won’t Go Unpunished – Lai Mohammed
“They will plan demonstrations to demonise me and claim I have gone outside to embarrass the country. The public odium is meant to smear me before my people and other Nigerians. It is unfortunate, wicked and unfair,” he said.
The governor alleged that the plan is similar to the fate of late Chief Diepriye Alamieseigha. He termed the alleged plot as ‘Alams treatment’.
He said he felt the need to alert the nation and the world about the plot although he is not intimidated.
“I am a law-abiding citizen of this country and countries I visit in the course of my work or holidays. I have never dabbled into anything illegal. So, any attempt to frame me up is bound to fail. They want to intimidate the opposition into silence as they are already doing with their so-called ‘looters’ list’. It won’t work. We can’t all be intimidated,’’ he said.
Governor Wike also called for support in the 2019 elections, adding that he has served the people diligently and efficiently.
“My works will speak for me. My projects will speak for. The People of Rivers State will speak for me by voting me back, ” the governor said.
Nigerian Govt Upgrades Transmission Capacities In Umuahia, Aba To Boost Power Supply
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Pic.3. Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (R) and Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Power, Rep. Daniel Asuquo, during the Committee’s oversight visit to the Ministry in Abuja on Wednesday (2/11/16).
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Mr Babatunde Fashola , Minister for Power, Works and Housing, said the transmission capacities of Umuahia and Aba transmission sub-stations have been upgraded to boost power supply in Abia and environs.
Speaking at the inauguration of the 40MVA 132/33KVA mobile power transformer at Umuahia transmission sub-station on Monday, Fashola said the move was part of the Federal Government’s commitment to boosting the socio-economic growth of the country.
He said the growing population and consequent demand for more power supply made it pertinent to increase the volume of power supplied through the sub-stations in Abia.
Fashola noted that increasing the capacity of Umuahia sub-station would improve electricity supply to Umuahia metropolis and its environs as well as some parts of Imo.
“It is no longer news that our power generation has risen to 7000 MW but the distribution capacity still lags 2000 MW behind. That means we need to expand distribution and transmission support system,” he said.
The minister said the new mobile power transformer installed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) would increase the capacity of the Umuahia transmission sub-station from 80MVA to 120MVA.
According to him, the commissioning of the 60MVA 132/33KVA power transformer in Aba transmission sub-station would also increase the sub-station’s capacity from 147.5MVA to 227.5MVA.
Fashiola said he was in Abia to discover, first hand, the local problems encountered in power supply and to develop solutions.
“Our purpose is to hold the annual monthly meeting with stakeholders to deepen our service to Nigerians with respect to accessing adequate power supply.
“It is also to familiarise ourselves with the power installations and assets that generate, transmit and distribute power in the state,” he said.
In his remarks, Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia commended the Federal Government for boosting power supply in Abia.
Ikpeazu said that the actualisation of the socioeconomic development of the state and nation at large required a well structured power distribution system.
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Born in Adamawa State on February 17, 1971 the wife of Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who assumed office on May 29, 2015 after defeating the then-incumbent President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, is a cosmetologist and author. Incidentally, the man who today is husband of this granddaughter of Muhammadu Ribadu, Nigeria’s First Republic Minister of Defence, daughter of Halilu, a civil engineer who is maternally descendant of the Ankali family known for being renowned farmers, Muhammadu Buhari was one time Military Governor of Northeastern State from which Aisha’s Adamawa was carved out.
On December 2, 1989, she got married to the man who is today democratically elected President of Nigeria and both have been blessed with five children.
Aisha Buhari holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Administration from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), and a Master’s degree in International Affairs and Strategic Studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna. She obtained a diploma in beauty therapy from the Carlton Institute of Beauty Therapy, Windsor, United Kingdom. She holds a post-graduate diploma in cosmetology and beauty from Academy Esthetique Beauty Institute of France. She is a member of the United Kingdom Vocational Training and Charitable Trust and the International Health and Beauty Council.
For years, Mrs Buhari has run a successful business as the Founder/Managing Director of Hanzy Spa and Principal of Hanzy Beauty Institute, a beauty salon in Kaduna and Abuja. She is a resource person to the National Basic Technical Education (NBTE) on beauty therapy and cosmetology and has participated in the curriculum development of small medium enterprises for NBTE. Aisha closed her beauty salon following the emergence of her husband as president of Nigeria.
She published a book titled Essentials of Beauty Therapy: A Complete Guide for Beauty Specialists, which has been recommended as a text for the NBTE curriculum.
On political advocacy she in July 2014 advised then President Goodluck Jonathan to resign from office as President of Nigeria, following a suicide bombing and an alleged assassination attempt on her husband. She is a women’s right activist and child right Advocate, and she has criticized child marriage and homosexuality.
Aisha Buhari is a vocal advocate of women’s rights and children rights, and this was a focal point during her campaign for her husband’s election in 2015. She has, on several occasions, emphasised the need for young girls to get primary and secondary school education before getting married, saying that she believes no girl should get married before the age of 17.
In May 2015, on the sidelines of the Global Women Conference held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she stressed the need for Nigerian laws that will protect the women from forced early marriages, sex trafficking and other issues Nigerian girls and women contend with. She raised concerns on child sexual abuse in Nigeria, sex trafficking and the need for legislation against early marriage.
On 12 June 2015, Aisha Buhari met with some mothers of the abducted Chibok Girls. On 14 April 2016, she donated proceeds from her book to parents of the Chibok girls, the Buni Yadi boys murdered in 2014, and children suffering from malnutrition.
