A keynote address delivered by H.E Atiku Abubakar, GCON, Former Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria,at the evening of SilverbirdManoftheYearAward at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

A keynote address delivered by H.E Atiku Abubakar, GCON, Former Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria,at the evening of  SilverbirdManoftheYearAward at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

A minute of silence for Nigerians who lost their lives in Adamawa, Benue, Taraba, Zamfara.

Our nation is going through a lot of challenges. There are challenges to our unity, economy. Most worrisome  are the security challenges we are currently facing.

These challenges are actually symptoms. They are not the ailment.

Nigeria is caught in a modern-day Malthusian Trap. For years, our population has been growing faster than our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Our increasing population drives competition for resources that are not keeping pace with population growth.

After contracting for five consecutive quarters, Nigeria came out of recession in the second quarter of 2017 with a GDP growth rate of 0.55%. In the third quarter, we fared better with 1.40%

This month, according to the World Poverty Clock, Nigeria has just overtaken India as the world's capital of extreme poverty. There are more extremely poor people in Nigeria than there are in India, a country that has six times Nigeria's population.

When people do not have jobs and the means to start a business are beyond their reach, they are incrementally much more likely to engage in criminal behaviours like terrorism, kidnapping, militancy and armed robbery.

Nigeria has a median age of 18.3 years. Our population is young. So when we have successful and laudable initiatives like YouWIN, we must continue them even when there has been a change in administration.

We talk of fighting corruption, but let us move beyond sentiments and media trials and look at the facts.

We must try to identify why, though we have been ostensibly fighting corruption for the past few years, Transparency International is scoring Nigeria even lower than in 2014

We have to kill the snake of corruption that swallows the commonwealth that should lift our people up from poverty.

Whether that snake is in a JAMB Office or any other government office, we must kill it or it will kill us.

Nigeria needs to be restructured. We must embrace restructuring as something that must be done to fix Nigeria’s broken systems and not just a campaign gimmick that we fish out of our magic hats and deny after we have gotten what we want.

When I was in government, we reduced recurrent expenditure by introducing the monetization Policy and by privatizing many government enterprises.

Today, those policies have been abandoned and recurrent expenditures have ballooned.

We cannot spend 70% of our budget on recurrent expenditure at a time Nigeria has more unemployed or underemployed people than the entire population of the Republic of Cameroon.

We have to enact laws to prevent leaders from diverting public funds from the public health sector to the treatment of the elite in the best hospitals abroad.

If you can afford it from your own private resources, then pay for it. But do not make the tax payer pay for it.

Our elite are treated in Europe. #BBNaija is being broadcast from South Africa and @Nike is unveiling our FIFA World Cup Jersey in London. Is this the extent to which we have outsourced Nigeria?

We must accept that the difference between Nigerians is not North and South, Christian and Muslim or PDP and APC.

The difference is between good and bad people and we must demonstrate that the good are much more than the bad.

A few days ago, a group of girls were taken from Government Girls Secondary School, Dapchi, in Yobe State. Can we say a silent prayer for a minute for the safe return of the #DapchiGirls?

Thank you ladies and gentlemen and may God bless Nigeria!

ANY CORRUPTION WORSE THAN THIS?

Any corruption worse than this?

Read!

Buhari’s return in 2019 will end in tragedy, says Junaid Mohammed

guardian.ng

Feb 17, 2018 1:00 PM



Junaid Mohammed

Reward For Failure, Nepotism Bane Of This Government
Kano-based politician, Dr. Junaid Mohammed again exposes the ills in the government of Muhammadu Buhari, and why he must not be returned in 2019. ADAMU ABUH reports.

What do you think of the clamour for a second term for President Buhari in 2019? 
Personally, I am not surprised that there is clamour for President Muhammadu Buhari to continue and contest in the 2019 poll. Anyone involved in this country’s politics knows that there is absolutely nothing new there.

Every president we’ve had in this country, every heads of government, as well as heads of state have been told they were special persons, that nobody else can govern the country, and as such they should continue, as such without them, the country couldn’t move on. I am not surprised it is happening to Buhari and I am not surprised he is putting his personal ambition over and above the country’s interest. It is so unfortunate that Buhari and the cabals have found themselves in the same shoes as their predecessors and it will end in tragedy.

I say so because those urging them to remain perpetually in power are not doing so because they like them. And even though Buhari has surrounded himself in a very nepotic way by ensuring that all the major appointments were given to his in-laws, nephews and cousins, but I can assure you that when the chips are down, he would be left to cry all by himself.

Ex-presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida have advised Buhari not to re-contest in 2019…
First and foremost, the question I ask myself when something of this nature emerges is: Is it the truth? And I have no doubt in my mind that what both Obasanjo and Babangida said was the truth. In addition, I also believe Nigerians should be more mature, because though you may not like somebody, but as long as what he/she said is the truth, then you should stand by the truth.

If others are imputing motives to Obasanjo and Babangida by saying it was a continuation of an old quarrel and that they never liked Buhari; that is neither here nor there. The fact of the matter is that Buhari has done nothing for Nigerians to like him. So, whatever was the motivation, what they said was the truth and I believe they did this country a great service. I am prepared to stand by them, even though I have my own issues with them.

I was sent to jail without any trial during Babangida’s regime and up till today nobody has told me what I did. They took me to Owo in Ondo State during the month of Ramadan, while I was fasting for nearly three months. I have also had problems with Obasanjo, even before I resigned from public service to join politics over his attempt to jail my colleague, Hamidu Ali, the man who had a gun in the House of Representatives, but that is neither here nor there. What they said was the truth. The nepotism they mentioned, I also talked about over two years ago.

What is your take on the alleged lopsided appointment of security chiefs and the controversy surrounding appointment of the NIA DG?
There is no law that says those who are heading security positions must not come from a particular zone. But what happened was that this gentleman, Mr. Ahmed Abubakar, who was not even an NIA employee, joined the service by accident, because there was supposed to be a meeting of what they called Nigeria /Niger commission and unfortunately the then DG of NIA did not make arrangement for interpreters from Lagos, when the summit held in Kaduna. So, they found somebody that could speak French, who was in Katsina State’s kitchen cabinet. And so, he was picked and then he became the interpreter for that occasion. After it was over, the then NIA DG, who was a Katsina man decided to induct and recruit him into the NIA. And that was how the man came into the service.

But because he came from a very low background, when he sat for exams from Assistant Director to Deputy Director, he failed twice or thrice. And the NIA system, just like that of most Civil Service, stipulates that if you fail an exam once or twice, you’ll be asked to go. So, this man was asked to go. And he left quietly, but they later discovered that the way he was recruited was improper. First, there was the question about where he was born. It was discovered that he was born in Chad Republic. Then they also found that he was married to a Moroccan.

Now in the service, they don’t allow you to marry a foreigner, though you can be a diplomat and marry a foreigner. But somehow, this was allowed to pass because the man has powerful backers. However, he had to go eventually because he could not pass his exams. But some of the people that sat with him and passed their exams are still in service. But they have now appointed him DG NIA over and above those who are with him, and who passed their exams while he failed his own. They sacked the other people who passed their own exams. This means the Buhari government is determined to reward failure, provided it is his kinsmen. You know the directors have taken the matter to court.

The issue at stake over the appointment of the DG NIA and DG SSS is not wrong because they are from the same state, but because they did not meet the laid down guideline and they were also deficient in terms of their qualifications and the cognate experience in their places of work.

There is also the issue of never appointing somebody to supersede people who are better, unless you want to destroy an organisation. You don’t allow it in any system. In the case of the DG SSS, who had already retired from service years ago, he was brought back and made the DG SSS. That was improper, unusual and is very devastating to morale. I like him. He used to be a director in Kano and is a personal friend because we used to get on well, and I still like him, but unfortunately, his problem is that he believes he is a politician and he is not. He is a security technocrat. So, if he behaves like he knows too much of politics, he will end up in disaster.

In the case of the newly-appointed DG NIA Ahmed Abubakar, who is also from Katsina, the man clearly did not measure up when he was in service. He failed his exams. There is nothing he can do about it. He had to go because they have a hierarchical system, just like in the Army. If you don’t pass the Captain to Major exams, they ask you to go. To make matters worse, they now picked him and made him boss over those that sat with him for the same exams and passed. The most senior director, who should have been appointed, is from Plateau State. He was the one that acted. He is Mr. Mohammed Dauda. He is fit and qualified to take the seat as the substantive head of NIA and you now brought a failure to take the seat.

This is gross injustice and a great disservice to the country. At any rate, if he wanted a northerner, what is wrong in picking the man who is the most senior and from Plateau State?
The most senior director after Ayodele Oke was asked to leave was from Plateau State. He was allowed to act and they had nothing against him, other than that there is some mago mago in the NIA concerning money found in a flat in the DGS office vault. It is only in Nigeria you have somebody keeping $43 million in some kind of flat in Lagos and then about $44 million in his office. He must be crazy or there must have been some high handed moves by the cabal to steal the money and then the man came out to say he was not confirmed, because he was not prepared to cooperate with the cabal to steal the money. And the other directors who had been shortchanged have now taken the matter to the High Court. It is not a matter of heads of security outfits coming from a particular zone.

As I’m speaking, there are 28 directors from the Southwest in the NIA. And this is just within the two terms of Oladimeji and Oke. How do you justify having 28 directors mainly from Oyo State, when there are states that don’t have a single director in NIA? They should know that some of us know so much about the agency.

What is your take on the existence of the so-called cabal in Buhari’s government?
When I started talking about the cabal over two years ago, many Nigerians, some of them with the best but naive intentions, thought there was no such thing as cabals. But there is a cabal. Because Buhari has been out of government for many years, he has not been able to update his knowledge in terms of development and events in and outside the country. And because of this and in my own estimation, we now have the least competent, the most isolated, most divisive and arrogant leader in the history of Nigeria. And in a country that is so complex and not so cohesive, this is clearly a disaster, which is where we are heading.

Right now, nobody doubts that there is a cabal. The de facto president of the country from May 29, 2015 has been one joker called Mamman Daura, who was a one-time Managing Director of the defunct New Nigerian newspapers. He is the head of the cabal and the de-facto president, because there have been instances when the president would give an instruction, he would undermine the instruction and nothing would happen. There have been times policy decisions or appointments would be made and his lackeys – Abba Kyari, the president’s chief of staff, the former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF) Babachir Lawal, who was appointed against all odds, but who remained there because he was in the cabal’s good books, will tamper with it. We all knew how he diverted donor monies belonging to international donor agencies, until they told Buhari in no uncertain terms that he had to be punished. But the others like Mamman Daura and Abba Kyari are sitting tight and taking decisions for you and me, as well as all Nigerians.

None of them was elected and though Kyari has a letter of appointment as chief of staff, Mamman Daura does not have a single letter indicating that he is whatever he is, but how he came about exercising such enormous powers is what nobody knows.

There are ministers who have been appointed not because they have any qualifications but because they are related to Buhari. The Aviation minister, Hadi Seriki is his elder sister’s son. Amina Zakari, who works in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) representing the seven states of the northwest zone was appointed even before Buhari came into power through mago mago. It is left to the former president Goodluck Jonathan to tell us how she became national commissioner in INEC. Then there is the minister of Interior, Gen Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd.) who was born and bred in Zaria. Somehow, and in a typical arrogant and abuse of power, he was turned into a Kano man and given a ministerial appointment, which constitutionally should have been given to a person who grew up in Kano State. Yet, Kano is the only political base Buhari has.

There are several others. The State House chief of protocol is a son-in-law to Mamman Daura, who is President Buhari’s nephew. Ordinarily, the position should have been given to a senior ambassador. The president’s chief personal security officer is Mamman Daura’s younger brother. Another State personal security officer is another relation of theirs. The ADC to the president is a son-in-law to them. Do you know that the S.A to Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the S.A to the junior minister of petroleum resources are Mamman Daura and Buhari’s daughters respectively?

This is an update of what I started saying two years ago. They now have their sons, daughters, sons-in-laws and nephews as beneficiaries of the appointments made so far. Now, among the people in the cabal, but very powerful and not known is someone called Tunde, originally called Sabiu Yusuf. He is the son of Mamman Daura’s immediate younger sister. He is, today, P.A to the President, even though he has never worked for one day in his life. But a P.A job is normally the work of a full-blown director or a permanent secretary. That boy only got married last year and as I speak to you now, he is one of the billionaires in Nigeria today. Nobody of his age has the kind of money that boy has. So, can that be justified?

If they are going to treat this country as if it was conquered by them and or by their families, you can imagine what the picture would look like, if Buhari were to be given a second term and how they are going to use our resources and how they are going to abuse power.

Mamman Daura’s daughter, who is married to one of the Dantatas, is the S.A to the CBN governor. Then Buhari’s sister’s son is also an S.A to Kachikwu, the junior minister of petroleum resources. The chief personal security officer to the president, DCP Abdulkarim Dauda is Mamman Daura’s younger brother. The chief security officer (CSO) Col Bashir Abubakar is also married into the family. The State chief of protocol, Lawal Kazaure, who has not reached the rank of an ambassador, is also married to Mamman Daura’s eldest daughter. I mentioned earlier that the P.A to the President, Sabiu Yusuf Tunde, who is in his 20’s, is one of the wealthiest 20-year-olds in Nigeria. He is also the son of Mamman Daura’s immediate younger sister. She herself is a niece to Buhari. And that is how the country is being governed.

The national commissioner at INEC is Buhari’s niece. In addition, her husband, who used to be a manager in UBA, died. Now when an opportunity arose, they went and picked the late husband’s younger brother and made him Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). He is Brig Gen Zakari from Kazaure in Jigawa State.

Why Are Blacks Not Wealthy?

Excerpts from an interview with a Jewish leader about Blacks.

INTERVIEWER:
Why are blacks so behind Economically?

JEWISH LEADER:
The only thing blacks understand is Consumption.

Blacks don't understand the importance of creating and building wealth.

The fundamental rule is to keep your money within your racial group.

We the Jews
- build Jewish business,
- hire Jewish,
-  buy Jewish and
- spend Jewish. There is nothing wrong with that but it is a basic rule blacks cannot comprehend and follow;

"He kills his fellow blacks daily instead of wanting to see his fellow black do succeed"

93% of blacks killed in America are by other blacks.

Their leaders steal from their people and send the money back to their colonial master from whom they borrow the same money from.

Every successful black wants to spend his money in the country of his colonial masters.

They
- go on holiday abroad,
- buy houses abroad,
-  school abroad,
- go for medical treatment abroad etc

instead of spending this money in their own country to benefit their people.

Statistics show that the Jew's money exchanges hands 18 times before leaving his community while for blacks it is probably a maximum of once or even zero.

Only 6% of black money goes back into their community. This is why Jews are at the top and blacks are at the bottom of every ladder of society.

Instead of buying
- Louis Vuitton,
- Hermes,
- expensive cars,
- shoes,
-houses,
-dresses etc,

Blacks could
- industralize Africa,
- build banks and get rid of colonial institutions by putting them out of business.

INTERVIEWER:
What is your thought on failure of blacks after 150yrs?

JEWISH LEADER:
Well, nothing is ever the blackman's fault. His
-compulsive habit of killing his own,
- compulsive material consumption.
-His inability to build businesses or
-preserve wealth are usually somebody else's fault.

INTERVIEWER:
So what can blacks do to liberate themselves

JEWISH LEADER: Blacks must take responsibility. Blacks must unite. And vehemently fight corrupt leaders who run down their country and run to IMF as though IMF is Father Christmas.

They need to look inwards otherwise they will continuously remain colonized and lose their place in history.

Pls forward this until it goes round the continent of Africa.

We all need to learn our lessons quick and build our Nation.

Tribalism Is Not Our Problem. Tribalism And Religion Are Artificial Problems

The former Central Bank Governor, and Emir of Kano His Royal Highness Muhammadu Sanusi the second , surprised guests present at the Muson Centre for the launching of the book of Sir Olaniwun Ajayi.

Below is his unedited speech.

Let me start by saying that I am Fulani (laughter). My grandfather was an Emir also fulani my uncle and guardian was also the immediate late Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero and therefore I represent all that has been talked about this afternoon. Sir Ajayi has written a book. And like all Nigerians of his generation, he has written in the language of his generation.

My grandfather was a Northerner, I am a Nigerian. The problem with this country is that in 2009, we speak in the language of 1953. Sir Olaniwun can be forgiven for the way he spoke, but I cannot forgive people of my generation speaking in that language.

Let us go into this issue because there are so many myths that are being bandied around. Before colonialism, there was nothing like Northern Nigeria, Before the Sokoto Jihad, there was nothing like the Sokoto caliphate. The man from Kano regard himself as bakane. The man from Zaria was bazazzage. The man from Katsina was bakatsine. The kingdoms were at war with each other. They were Hausas, they were Muslims, they were killing each other.

The Yoruba were Ijebu, Owo, Ijesha, Akoko, Egba. When did they become one? When did the North become one? You have the Sokoto Caliphate that brought every person from Adamawa to Sokoto and said it is one kingdom. They now said it was a Muslim North.

The Colonialists came, put that together and said it is now called the Northern Nigeria. Do you know what happened? Our grand fathers were able to transform to being Northerners. We have not been able to transform to being Nigerians. The fault is ours.

Tell me, how many governors has South West produced after Awolowo that are role models of leadership? How many governors has the East produced like Nnamdi Azikiwe that can be role models of leadership? How Many governors in the Niger Delta are role models of leadership? Tell me. There is no evidence statistically that any part of this country has produced good leaders.

You talk about Babangida and the problems of our economy. Who were the people in charge of the economy during Babangida era? Olu Falae, Kalu Idika Kalu. What state are they from in the North?

We started the banking reform; the first thing I heard was that in Urobo land,  there will be a curse of the ancestors. I said they (ancestors) would not answer. They said why? I said how many factories did Ibru build in Urobo land? So, why will the ancestors of the Urobo people support her?

We talk ethnicity when it pleases us. It is hypocrisy. You said elections were rigged in 1959, Obasanjo and Maurice Iwu rigged election in 2007. Was it a Southern thing? It was not. “The problem is: everywhere in this country, there is one Hausa, Ibo, Yoruba and Itshekiri man whose concern is how to get his hands on the pile and how much he can steal.

Whether it is in the military or in the civilian government, they sit down, they eat together. In fact, the constitution says there must be a minister from every state.

So, anybody that is still preaching that the problem of Nigeria is Yoruba or Hausa or Fulani, he does not love Nigeria . The problem with Nigeria is that a group of people from each and every ethnic tribe is very selfish. The poverty that is found in Maiduguri is even worse than any poverty that you find in any part of the South.

The British came for 60 years and Sir Ajayi talked about few numbers of graduates in the North (two as at independence). What he did not say was that there was a documented policy of the British when they came that the Northerner should not be educated. It was documented. It was British colonial policy. I have the document. I have published articles on it. That if you educate the Northerner you will produce progressive Muslim intellectuals of the type we have in Egypt and India. So, do not educate them. It was documented. And you say they love us (North) more than the south.

I have spent the better part of my life to fight and Dr. (Reuben) Abati knows it. Yes, my grandfather was an Emir. Why was I in the pro-democracy movement fighting for June 12? Is (Moshood) Abiola from Kano ? Why am I a founding director of the Kudirat Initiative for Nigerian Development (KIND)?

There are good Yoruba people, good Igbo people, good Fulani people, good Nigerians and there are bad people everywhere. That is the truth. “Stop talking about dividing Nigeria because we are not the most populous country in the world. We have all the resources that make it easy to make one united great Nigeria . It is better if we are united than to divide it.

Every time you talk about division, when you restructure, do you know what will happen? In Delta Area, the people in Warri will say Agbor, you don’t have oil. When was the Niger Delta constructed as a political entity? Ten years ago, the Itshekiris were fighting the Urobos. Isn’t that what was happening? Now they have become Niger Delta because they have found oil. After, it will be, if you do not have oil in your village then you cannot share our resources.

There is no country in the world where resources are found in everybody’s hamlet. But people have leaders and they said if you have this geography and if we are one state, then we have a responsibility for making sure that the people who belong to this country have a good nature.

So, why don’t you talk about; we don’t have infrastructure, we don’t have education, we don’t have health. We are still talking about Fulani. Is it the Fulani cattle rearer or is anybody saying there is no poverty among the Fulani?”, he said.
LESSONS FROM THIS MESSAGE

Tribalism is not our problem. Tribalism and religion are artificial problems created by selfish leaders for their own personal interest.

There are only two major tribes in Nigeria. The Elites and the Masses. Once you make lots of money, you belong to the elite tribe. When you are a commoner or suffering, you belong to the tribe of the masses. If you are an elite, and you need more power, or elective position, you sow seeds of tribalism and religion among the masses, so as to sway their emotion for your personal victory. This happens at both the national and state level. Unfortunately, after the election when they have won and joined their “sworn enemies” to drink and party, the gullible masses continue to fight each other.

Even smart people who belong to the masses, sometimes will sow seeds of tribalism and religion among the masses, and then the masses will carry them up until they belong to the elite class.  It is a classic strategy used over 3000 years ago in the art of war. A commoner who aspires to sit with the elites, could stir up powerful tribal or religious sentiments, such wave if properly utilized either by shedding blood or destabilizing the elites, carries the commoner to the elite class. But once there, he immediately mingles and makes peace with the elite tribe, and turn his back on the same masses that helped him get there.

Youths are the worst victim of this powerplay, they kill each other, call other tribes unprintable names, do terrible things and sometimes, even lose their life, thinking they are fighting for their right, not knowing that they are fighting for the personal welfare of someone, whose own children are probably safe in America or London.

So youths, don’t hope on the government. If you don’t have a job, create one. There is abject poverty in the south as well as the north, whether Ogoni or Maidugri. At the same time, there is massive wealth in Lagos, Onitsha, Nnewi, Aba, Kano, Abuja, irrespective of zone. 

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it well and never remain idle. No job is too low for an idle hand, or else the devil will find work for you. As you become independent, and grow your capacity, do not lose hope in Nigeria. We are the largest economy in Africa and soon the world will fear us. Western powers, don’t like big economies that threaten them, America will do anything to break China, but China is wise to resist that. China has 1.6 billion people, we have only 170 million, and we are talking of breaking.

China has 5 major religions which are Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam and Christianity. Nigeria has only 2 major religions, Christianity and Islam. Yet we claim that religion is our problem.

America, the strongest economy is comprised of every tribe in the world, since they accept anybody from any part of the world. Yet they are united and extremely patriotic. Nigeria has only 3 major tribes, and we claim tribalism.

Think clearly and deeply, and you will realize that empowering yourself is the best course of action, not fighting each other. And once the youths are empowered, they can begin to take back their future from the hands of the old and corrupt generation that has been blinding Nigerians with hatred, while looting all her resources. Sani Abacha’s loot is still stashed away in Switzerland, did he use it to develop the north? Those that stole billions under GEJ stashed it away in foreign banks, bought expensive toys, jets and foreign homes, are they using it to develop the south? Now the ones stealing currently, including the “grasscutters”, are looking for Ikoyi apartments, abandoned houses, and pit toilets to hide it, are they using it for the youths in their tribe? NO!

Youths shine your eyes ! Don’t always fall for this tribal, religious sentiments over and over again.  Nigeria is bigger than these corrupt elites. They are the problem, not the poor masses.- copied