Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has attacked President Muhammadu Buhari for dwelling too much on the past and failing to turn around the fortunes of the country.
Premium Times reports that while delivering the keynote address at the First Akintola Williams Annual Lecture in Lagos on Wednesday, November 23, Obasanjo lashed at the Buhari administration for accusing all previous administrations of mis-governance He advised that since Buhari was elected to change the country, he should concentrate on clearing the mess he inherited.
“Now that we have had change because the actors and the situation needed to be changed, let us move forward to have progress through a comprehensive economic policy and programme that is intellectually, strategically and philosophically based,” Mr. Obasanjo said.
“It is easier to win an election than to right the wrongs of a badly fouled situation. When you are outside, what you see and know are nothing compared with the reality.
“And yet once you are on seat, you have to clear the mess and put the nation on the path of rectitude, development and progress leaving no group or section out of your plan, programme and policy and efforts. The longer it takes, the more intractable the problem may become.”
Obasanjo also wondered why President Buhari needed about $30billion loan to fix the economy.
“I am sure that such a comprehensive policy and programme (that will move Nigeria forward) will not support borrowing US$30 billion in less than three years. It will give us the short-, medium- and long-term picture.
“Adhocry is not the answer but cold, hard headed planning that evinces confidence and trust is the answer. Economy neither obeys orders nor does it work according to wishes. It must be worked upon with all factors considered and most stakeholders involved.
“The investors, domestic and foreign, are no fools and they know what is going on with the management of the economy including the foreign exchange and they are not amused. The Central Bank must be restored to its independence and integrity. We must be careful and watchful of the danger of shortermism.
“Short-term may be the enemy of medium- and long-term. We must also make allowance for the lessons that most of us in democratic dispensation have learned and which the present administration seems to be just learning.”
The former president used to be a staunch supporter of President Buhari but all that seems to have changed.
Obasanjo also did not forget to mention that the national assembly is a cesspool of corruption that stinks to the high heavens.
This is not the first time he has come after the federal lawmakers of the 8th assembly who also do not have any love lost for him.
Thursday 24 November 2016
Nigerian Army denies killing MASSOB, IPOB protesters
The Nigerian army has denied killed members of the Movement for the Actualisation of a Sovereign State Of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) and accused them of committing heinous crimes.
In a statement by Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman who is the spokesperson of the army, he reacted to a planned release of Amnesty International that reportedly accused the army of carry out extra-judicial killing of member of the separatist groups.Usman however accused the international group of peddling lies and said it was an attempt to tarnish the image of the army.
He said the group actually selected people living in their region who were from other pats of the country and killed them.
Read the statement below:
The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to a planned release of a report by Amnesty International on an unfounded storyline of mass killings of MASSOB/IPOB protesters by the military between August 2015 and August 2016. We wish to debunk the insinuation that our troops perpetrated the killing of defenceless agitators. This is an outright attempt to tarnish the reputation of the security forces in general and the Nigerian Army in particular, for whatever inexplicable parochial reasons. For umpteenth times, the Nigerian Army has informed the public about the heinous intent of this Non-Governmental Organisation which is never relenting in dabbling into our national security in manners that obliterate objectivity, fairness and simple logic.
The evidence of MASSOB/IPOB violent secessionist agitations is widely known across the national and international domains. Their modus operandi has continued to relish violence that threatens national security. Indeed between August 2015 and August 2016, the groups’ violent protests have manifested unimaginable atrocities to unhinge the reign of peace, security and stability in several parts of the South East Nigeria. A number of persons from the settler communities that hailed from other parts of the Country were selected for attack, killed and burnt. Such reign of hate, terror and ethno-religious controversies that portend grave consequences for national security have been averted severally through the responsiveness of the Nigerian Army and members of the security agencies.
These security agencies are always targeted for attack by the MASSOB/IPOB instruments of barbarism and cruelty. For instance, in the protests of 30 – 31 May 2016, more than 5 personnel of the Nigeria Police were killed, while several soldiers were wounded, Nigeria Police vehicles were burnt down same as several others of the Nigerian Army that were vandalized. The strategic Niger Bridge at Onitsha came under threat thus leading to disruption of socio-economic activities. In the aftermath of the encounter that ensued between security agencies and MASSOB/IPOB militants many of own troops sustained varying degrees of injury. In addition, the MASSOB/IPOB recurrent use of firearms, crude weapons as well as other cocktails such as acid and dynamites to cause mayhem remain a huge security threat across the Region.
In these circumstances, the Nigerian Army under its constitutional mandates for Military Aid to Civil Authority (MACA) and Military Aid to Civil Powers (MACP) has continued to act responsively in synergy with other security agencies to de-escalate the series of MASSOB/IPOB violent protests. Instructively, the military and other security agencies exercised maximum restraints despite the flurry of provocative and unjustifiable violence, which MASSOB/IPOB perpetrated.
The adherence to Rules of Engagement by the military has been sacrosanct in all of these incidents. Therefore, it is rather unfortunate for the Amnesty International to allow itself to be lured into this cheap and unpopular venture that aims to discredit the undeniable professionalism as well as responsiveness of the Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles.
...But we all know there is always a way the government agencies paint pictures of actual events to protect the image of the present government. It will be good if the Army could speak of the menace and mayhem caused by the so called fulani herdsmen .
In a statement by Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman who is the spokesperson of the army, he reacted to a planned release of Amnesty International that reportedly accused the army of carry out extra-judicial killing of member of the separatist groups.Usman however accused the international group of peddling lies and said it was an attempt to tarnish the image of the army.
He said the group actually selected people living in their region who were from other pats of the country and killed them.
Read the statement below:
The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to a planned release of a report by Amnesty International on an unfounded storyline of mass killings of MASSOB/IPOB protesters by the military between August 2015 and August 2016. We wish to debunk the insinuation that our troops perpetrated the killing of defenceless agitators. This is an outright attempt to tarnish the reputation of the security forces in general and the Nigerian Army in particular, for whatever inexplicable parochial reasons. For umpteenth times, the Nigerian Army has informed the public about the heinous intent of this Non-Governmental Organisation which is never relenting in dabbling into our national security in manners that obliterate objectivity, fairness and simple logic.
The evidence of MASSOB/IPOB violent secessionist agitations is widely known across the national and international domains. Their modus operandi has continued to relish violence that threatens national security. Indeed between August 2015 and August 2016, the groups’ violent protests have manifested unimaginable atrocities to unhinge the reign of peace, security and stability in several parts of the South East Nigeria. A number of persons from the settler communities that hailed from other parts of the Country were selected for attack, killed and burnt. Such reign of hate, terror and ethno-religious controversies that portend grave consequences for national security have been averted severally through the responsiveness of the Nigerian Army and members of the security agencies.
These security agencies are always targeted for attack by the MASSOB/IPOB instruments of barbarism and cruelty. For instance, in the protests of 30 – 31 May 2016, more than 5 personnel of the Nigeria Police were killed, while several soldiers were wounded, Nigeria Police vehicles were burnt down same as several others of the Nigerian Army that were vandalized. The strategic Niger Bridge at Onitsha came under threat thus leading to disruption of socio-economic activities. In the aftermath of the encounter that ensued between security agencies and MASSOB/IPOB militants many of own troops sustained varying degrees of injury. In addition, the MASSOB/IPOB recurrent use of firearms, crude weapons as well as other cocktails such as acid and dynamites to cause mayhem remain a huge security threat across the Region.
In these circumstances, the Nigerian Army under its constitutional mandates for Military Aid to Civil Authority (MACA) and Military Aid to Civil Powers (MACP) has continued to act responsively in synergy with other security agencies to de-escalate the series of MASSOB/IPOB violent protests. Instructively, the military and other security agencies exercised maximum restraints despite the flurry of provocative and unjustifiable violence, which MASSOB/IPOB perpetrated.
The adherence to Rules of Engagement by the military has been sacrosanct in all of these incidents. Therefore, it is rather unfortunate for the Amnesty International to allow itself to be lured into this cheap and unpopular venture that aims to discredit the undeniable professionalism as well as responsiveness of the Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles.
...But we all know there is always a way the government agencies paint pictures of actual events to protect the image of the present government. It will be good if the Army could speak of the menace and mayhem caused by the so called fulani herdsmen .
Presidential aircraft handed over to Air Force crashes
One of the Presidential jet which was recently handed over to the Nigerian Air Force, Agusta AW 101, a medium-lift helicopter specially designed for military operations, has crashed at the Nigerian Air Force base, Makurdi. The crash is coming two months after President Muhammadu Buhari handed over two over the two ballistics defence capable aircraft from the Presidential fleet to the Nigerian Air Force. According to a report, the jet crashed due to poor training of crew members saddled to man the operations of the aircraft. After the handover, the aircraft was repainted from the initial white and green to camouflage. A source told the news website that damages to the jet were significant but no life was lost to the crash. “No fatality but significant damage to aircraft considering the fact that they hardly do insurance in the military. The flight engineer was injured.The crashed presidential aircraft handed over to the Air Force The crashed presidential aircraft handed over to the Air Force The aircraft, Agusta AW101, which is a large armoured helicopter cost about $21million each (N10.5billion) making it 130% more expensive than the average aircraft of its class. But the Nigerian Air Force, PRO, Group Captain Dele Famuyiwa, has denied the report that one of the aircraft crashed. “It was not a crash. I wouldn’t call it a crash because it just fell on the ground in Makurdi.I can say maybe it was an incident. You know accident is a higher degree of incidence. It was just an occurrence that did not take any life or equipment. Cars can malfunction and the same thing with any machine.” He said the crash was not as a result of low training and skill of crew member noting that the same crew had managed the aircraft at the presidency.
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