NFT of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR of Nigeria minted on the Algorand blockchain.
Price: 100ETH
Digital animation version price: US$20, 000.
The Algorand Foundation held an event in Abuja last week for Nigerian developers.
The digital artworks by Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, who has been featured in local and International art exhibitions in Nigeria and Japan since 1983.
He was the curator of the first Art Against AIDS Exhibitions in Nigeria in 1993 held at the National Museum and National Arts Theatre in Lagos where all his artworks were sold.
He is the author of "The Victory of Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian Dream: My Eyewitness Account of the 2015 Presidential Election" and other books distributed by Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers.
His new books include, "Barack Obama and the American Dream" and "The Political Phenomenon of President Muhammadu Buhari".
He is currently producing the "Lagos in Motion" documentary film since 2016.
He met President Bola Ahmed Tinubu when he was invited to his birthday in 2001 as the Governor of Lagos State at the Lagos State House on the Marina, Lagos.
FOR THE RECORD: FAREWELL SPEECH BY MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
My fellow Nigerian brothers, sisters and friends of Nigeria.
2. I address you today, in my last assignment as a democratically elected President of our great and well-endowed nation, with a deep sense of gratitude to God, a great deal of appreciation to the Nigerian people and a modest sense of fulfilment.
3. Today we mark and celebrate another peaceful transition of power from one elected government to another in our steady march to improve and sustain Nigeria’s democracy.
4. This year we witnessed the most keenly contested Presidential Elections since the first Republic and this demonstrates that our democracy is getting better and more entrenched with each election.
5. We must as a nation improve and sustain gains we make in the electoral process, on an incremental basis for Nigeria to take its rightful place among Nations.
6. Our democracy provides for, allows and encourages seeking redress for perceived injustices, enabling some candidates and political parties that did not agree with the results to go to court.
7. Irrespective of the outcome of the various cases, I urge all parties involved to accept the decision of our courts and join hands to build a better Nigeria.
8. I salute the doggedness and resilience of all the Presidential Candidates and their political parties for believing in our judicial system by taking their grievances with the election results to court.
9. In the course of the campaigns, we had argued and disagreed on how to make Nigeria better but we never disagreed or had any doubts that Nigeria has to be better.
10. As your President, I call on all of us to bring to bear the strength of our individualism, the power of our unity, the convictions of our beliefs to make Nigeria work better and together with one spirit and one purpose.
11. To my brother, friend and fellow worker in the political terrain for the past ten years - Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu -, I congratulate you on the realisation of your dream, which was propelled by a burning passion to put Nigeria amongst the leading nations of the world.
12. You have indeed worked for this day and God has crowned your efforts. I have no doubt that your passion for excellence, reliance on competence, fairness in relationships, commitment to equity, loyalty to the country and desire for Nigeria to be globally relevant would come through for you, under God’s guidance, as you lead our country to levels higher that I am leaving.
13. You are the best candidate among all the contestants and Nigerians have chosen well.
14. The last eight years have been an exciting experience in my desire and commitment to see a Nigeria in which public goods and services are available, and accessible within a united, peaceful and secure nation.
15. Fellow Nigerians, on the strength of your overwhelming support for me and my political party, I started this journey with a great deal of promise and expectation from you. I never intended to be just politically correct but to do the correct things that will make meaningful impact on the lives of the common Nigerian.
16. This high expectation was not misplaced because, like the ordinary Nigerian, I had grown tired of watching the country progressively moving away from the path of correctness.
17. To ensure that our democracy remains resilient and our elected representatives remain accountable to the people, I am leaving behind an electoral process which guarantees that votes count, results are credible, elections are fair and transparent and the influence of money in politics reduced to the barest minimum. And Nigerians can elect leaders of their choice.
18. We are already seeing the outcome of this process as it provided an even playing field where persons without any political God-Father or access to money defeated other well-resourced candidates.
19. The Nigerian economy has become more resilient due to the various strategies put in place to ensure that our economy remained afloat during cases of global economic downturns.
20. You would all recall the supply chain disruptions and economic downturn that the world witnessed between 2020 and 2022 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The deftness of our response to the pandemic still remains a global best practice.
21. Furthermore, we increased the ability of the poor and rural Nigerians to earn a living, provided more food for millions in our villages and gave our women opportunities to earn a living.
22. Young men and women in urban centres were also supported to put their skills into productive use. Our administration also provided an enabling environment for the private sector to engage in businesses for which their return on investments is guaranteed.
23. The private sector proved a strong partner in our drive to build a resilient and sustainable economy as evidenced by the growing number of turn-key projects in various sectors of the economy.
24. In the course of revamping the economy, we made some difficult choices, most of which yielded the desired results. Some of the measures led to temporary pain and suffering for which I sincerely apologised to my fellow countrymen, but the measures were taken for the over-all good of the country.
25. Mindful of the need to ensure adequate infrastructure to drive economic growth, we completed age-long projects and processes notably amongst which are the Petroleum Industry Act, completion of some power projects, completion of the second Niger bridge and various important roads linking cities and states.
26. Our battle to ensure that all Nigerians live in a safe and secure environment has achieved considerable results. As I complete my term in office, we have been able to reduce the incidences of banditry, terrorism, armed robbery and other criminal activities considerably.
27. To sustain the gains made so far, I call on all Nigerians to be more vigilant and support the security agencies by ensuring that our values defined by being your brothers’ keeper govern our actions.
28. Up-till now, I still grieve for our children still in captivity, mourn with parents, friends and relatives of all those that lost loved ones in the days of the senseless brigandage and carnage. For all those under unlawful captivity our Security Agencies are working round the clock to secure their release unharmed.
29. Fellow Nigerians, you know how dear the desire in my heart is, to rid the country of corrupt practices that had consistently diminished our efforts to be a great country.
30. I did pursue this commitment relentlessly, in spite of the expected push back. I am happy that considerable progress had been made in repatriating huge sums of money back to the country and also taken over properties illegally acquired from our common wealth.
31. To improve service delivery, we began the implementation of a number of reforms aimed at producing an Efficient, Productive, Incorruptible and Citizen-oriented (EPIC) Federal Civil Service and the results are beginning to show.
32. On the international scene, Nigeria’s influence continues to grow as exemplified by notable Nigerians occupying headship and leadership positions in renowned global bodies.
33. Our democracy is built on and continues to thrive on the principles of separation of powers. The leadership and members of the National Assembly deserve my appreciation for their patriotism which did not detract from their roles as a check to the executive arm.
34. I also want to use this opportunity to express my appreciation to a good number of Nigerians who provided their support and encouragement to help me navigate the exciting journey in moving Nigeria forward.
35. I cannot and will not forget the millions who prayed for me during my illness in my first term of office. I am constantly praying for you and for Nigeria to thrive in peace.
36. As I retire home to Daura, Katsina State, I feel fulfilled that we have started the Nigeria Re-Birth by taking the initial critical steps and I am convinced the in-coming administration will quicken the pace of this walk to see a Nigeria that fulfils its destiny to be a great nation.
37. I am confident that I am leaving office with Nigeria better in 2023 than in 2015.
38. I thank you all. And may God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
My Testimony on the 2015 Presidential Election, published by Lulu and Amazon.
President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR commissioned the Dangote Refinery at Ibeju Lekki, Lagos on Monday, May 22, 2023.
It is Africa’s biggest oil refinery and the world's largest simple-train refinery.
1. It is located in Ibeju, Lagos, Covering a land area of approximately 2,635 hectares.
2. World’s Largest Single-Train 650,000 barrels per day Petroleum Refinery with 900 KTPA Polypropylene Plant.
3. The Refinery is powered by a 435 MW Power Plant.
4. At full capacity, it can meet 100% of the Nigerian requirement of all refined products and also have surplus for export.
5. Designed for 100% Nigerian Crude with flexibility to process other crudes.
6. Self-sufficient marine facility with ability for freight optimisation. Largest single order of 5 SPMs anywhere in the world.
7. Diesel & gasoline from the refinery will conform to Euro V specifications.
8. The refinery design complies with World Bank, US EPA, European emission norms and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) emission/effluent norms.
9. It incorporates state-of-the-art technology.
10. It is designed to process large variety of crudes including many of the African Crudes, some of the Middle Eastern Crudes and the US Light Tight Oil.
11. About 65 million cubic metres of sand dredged, costing approximately €300 million, using the world’s largest dredgers.
12. Over 1,200 units of various equipment were bought to enhance the local capacity for site works.
13. Dangote Group bought 332 cranes to build up equipment installation capacity.
14. Also built is the world’s largest granite quarry to supply coarse aggregate, stone column material, stone base, stone dust & material for break water (10 million tonnes per year production capacity).
15. In a bid to bring over dimensional cargoes close to the site directly, Dangote Group had to developed a port and constructed two quays with a load bearing capacity of 25 tonnes/sq metre.
16. Constructed two more quays in the port with a capacity to handle up to Panamax vessels to export, two quays to handle liquid cargoes.
17. The port will have 6 quays, including a roll-on/roll-off quay.
18. In the course of the civil works, 700 piles were drilled on some days, with total number of piles up to 250,000.
19. It has 177 tanks of 4.742 billion litres capacity
20. Dangote is one of the few companies in the world executing a Petroleum Refinery and a Petrochemical complex directly as an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) Contractor.
21. Training of 900 young engineers in refinery operations abroad. Mechanical Engineers trained in the GE University in Italy. Process engineers trained by Honeywell/UOP for six months.
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the dysfunctional Labour Party (LP) and his "Obidients" are currently the most popular Nigerians on the internet and many of the "Obidients" have become cyber bullies on Twitter, Facebook and Nairaland attacking and insulting the presidential candidates of the other political parties in some of the worst derogatory terms of vitriol, including libellous defamation of the character of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, presidential candidate of the national ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC).
Majority of the "Obidients" are ignorant of the nuances of intellectual discourse and ignorant of the intricacies of ethnicity in the demographics of Nigerian politics since the Independence of Nigeria on October 1, 1960 from the colonial rule of the British Empire and the consequences which caused the first Nigerian civil war between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the secessionists Republic of Biafra in the south eastern region of the Igbo tribe from 1967-1970. Majority of the "Obidients" were born after the gruesome war.
The majority of the Igbo youths have become passionate about the restoration of Biafra as an independent sovereignty and joined the vanguard of the secessionist groups of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and IndigenousPeople of Biafra (IPOB), because they believe the Igbo tribe will be better and greater as an independent nation. Since the civil war, nobody of the Igbo tribe has become the Head of State of Nigeria either in the military regimes or civilian administrations. They have accused the political leadership of the country by the Hausas, Fulanis and Yorubas of deliberately disallowing the Igbos from the leadership of the executive arm of the government of Nigeria. Both the past national ruling party, People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the present national ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) have only chosen Yoruba and Hausa Fulani presidential candidates who became elected Presidents of Nigeria, except only Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who succeeded the late President Umaru Yar'Adua as acting President from February 9, 2010 – May 5, 2010 and duly elected President in the 2011 presidential election, the first person from the south-south region to become the President and Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria until he was defeated in the 2015 presidential election by retired Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the APC.
Majority of the Igbo voters voted for Jonathan, because of their ethnic relationship with his own ethnic group of the Ijaw tribe.
To majority of the Igbos, Peter Obi can become attractive to majority of the voters of Ijaw tribe and the rest of the ethnic groups in the south-south region. But they have Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyichukwu Arthur Okowa who is Ika Igbo as the running mate of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the PDP who they will prefer to see as the Vice President of Nigeria if they win the 2023 presidential election.
The fact is majority of non-Igbos will not vote for Peter Obi to be elected as the President of Nigeria, because due to ingrained ethnic malice and prejudice, they don't like the Igbos who actually maltreated them during the civil war and are their political rivals in the leadership of Nigeria.
There are over 370 ethnic groups and over 500 languages in the country. The major ethnic groups are:
Hausa (25%)
Yoruba (21%)
Ijaw (1.8%)
Igbo (18%)
Ibibio (3.5%)
Tiv (2.4%)
Fulani (6%)
Kanuri (3%)
Others (19.3%).
Without the support of the majority of the non-Igbo tribes and ethnic groups, Peter Obi cannot win the presidential election in 2023.
Independence Day Speech by President Buhari on the Occasion of Nigeria 61st Independence Anniversary Citizens of Nigeria. It is with full gratitude to God that today, we celebrate Nigeria’s sixty first Independence Anniversary.
2. For 1st of October 1960 to happen, all hands were on deck. East, West, North all came together to celebrate freedom. Today should not only serve as a reminder of the day the British handed over the reins of power to Nigerians, but also unified Nigerians from all ethnic groups, religions and regions.
3. Today, despite the challenges we face, most Nigerians still maintain the spirit of 1st October. That positive outlook and determination to make Nigeria a peaceful and prosperous nation. It is due to this collective attitude that Nigeria doggedly continues to remain a united and indivisible nation.
4. Fellow Nigerians, the past eighteen months have been some of the most difficult periods in the history of Nigeria. Since the civil war, I doubt whether we have seen a period of more heightened challenges than what we have witnessed in this period.
5. Our original priorities for 2020 were to continue stabilising our economy following the deep recession while restoring peace in areas confronted with security challenges. But the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on all nations meant we needed to shift gears and re-strategise.
6. Nigerians came together as one to fight against COVID-19. It is this attitude and by the special grace of God, we continue to survive the pandemic as a nation and indeed, provide leadership and example at regional and international levels.
7. The doomsday scenario predicted for our country never came. Even as the Delta variant continues to spread, we have built the capacity we need to respond now and into the future.
8. I will therefore appeal to Nigerians not to take COVID lightly, adhere to public health and social measures, put your mask on and get vaccinated. We can control this pandemic, but it requires effort on everybody’s part. The investments we made in response to COVID-19 will also serve our country to tackle any future disease outbreaks or pandemics.
9. Despite the global inequity in access to vaccines, the Government of Nigeria has continued to explore all available options to ensure Nigerians have free access to safe and effective vaccines.
10. Some five million vaccine doses have been administered to Nigerians through efforts led by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and we will continue to explore options for purchase or acquisition of vaccines such as through COVAX and the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust.
11. I will take this opportunity to remind the global community that the current state of access to COVID-19 vaccines is unacceptable. We cannot afford a situation where a handful of countries keep the global vaccine supply to themselves at the expense of other nations.
12. We must act now to accelerate equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. This is the message I conveyed to the international community in New York last week.
13. As we push to source vaccines for our immediate needs, we shall invest more to support our pharmaceutical and research agencies to come up with ideas for locally developed vaccines. Should another pandemic arise in the future, Our question is simple; will Nigeria be ready?
14. Accordingly, I have directed the Ministries of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Health, Education and Science and Technology to work with Nigerian and International pharmaceutical companies and research organisations to enhance Nigeria’s domestic pharmaceutical capacity.
15. Already, the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority is raising a $200 million fund for this initiative that will complement the Central Bank of Nigeria’s ongoing N85 billion Healthcare Sector Research and Development Intervention Scheme to support local researchers in the development of vaccines and drugs to combat communicable and non-communicable diseases, including COVID-19.
Fellow Nigerians, this is just the beginning. 16. Similarly, on our approach to food security, I am proud to announce Nigeria has commenced its journey to pharmaceutical independence. 17. This journey, which will take years to achieve but will ultimately result in Nigerian based companies developing the Active Pharmaceutical substances and competence needed for us to make our own drugs and vaccines.
Fellow Nigerians,
18. As our economy continues to open after the COVID-19 related lockdowns, we have also seen the resurgence of insecurity in certain parts of the country.
19. In the last four months, the gallant men and women of the Military and Security Agencies have made tremendous progress in addressing these new security challenges. We are taking the fight to our enemies from all angles and we are winning.
20. Earlier this year, I launched the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, the Deep Blue Project, which is designed to secure Nigerian waters up to the Gulf of Guinea. I am happy to inform Nigerians that we have taken delivery of key assets for this project and very soon, its impact will be felt.
21. In the North East region alone, over eight thousand Boko Haram terrorists have surrendered.
22. To support our surge approach to fighting banditry, the Nigerian Armed Forces have recruited over 17,000 personnel across all ranks. Furthermore, I have also approved for the Nigerian Police Force to recruit 10,000 police officers annually over the next six years.
23. I am also pleased to note that most of the Air Force platforms we acquired over the past three years have started to arrive in Nigeria. These will positively impact our security operations in all parts of the country.
24. In line with section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the security and welfare of Nigerians continue to be the prime focus on which programmes and projects of our government revolves.
25. Therefore, as a Government, we are ready to arrest and prosecute all persons inciting violence through words or action. Our resolve for a peaceful, united and one Nigeria remains resolute and unwavering.
26. That said, our hope is not to fight for peace. We can always settle our grievances peacefully without spilling any blood.
27. I will therefore take this opportunity, on this special day that symbolises the unity and oneness of our great nation, to ask all Nigerians to embrace peace and dialogue, whatever your grievances.
28. The seeds of violence are planted in people’s heads through words. Reckless utterances of a few have led to losses of many innocent lives and destruction of properties.
29. Such unfiltered and unsubstantiated lies and hate speeches by a few evil persons must be stopped. Our media houses and commentators must move away from just reporting irresponsible remarks to investigating the truth behind all statements and presenting the facts to readers.
30. We must all come out and speak against the lies being peddled. At this point, I would want to sincerely appreciate the large number of our Traditional, Religious and Community leaders as well as other well-meaning Nigerians who, in their various fora are openly spreading the message of peaceful co-existence and conflict settlement through dialogue in their respective communities.
31. Nigeria is for all of us. Its unity is not negotiable. And its ultimate success can only be achieved if we all come together with a common goal of having peace and prosperity for our nation.
32. We shall continue to work on dialogue based solutions to address legitimate grievances. But we remain ready to take decisive actions against secessionist agitators and their sponsors who threaten our national security.
33. The recent arrests of Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Adeyemo, and the ongoing investigations being conducted have revealed certain high-profile financiers behind these individuals. We are vigorously pursuing these financiers including one identified as a serving member of the national assembly.
Fellow Nigerians, 34. This is a clear example of how people abandon their national leadership positions for their selfish gains. Instead of preaching unity, they are funding and misleading our youth to conduct criminal acts that sometimes lead to unfortunate and unnecessary loss of lives and property.
35. As the so-called leaders run abroad to hide, our innocent youths are misled and left in the streets to fight for their senseless and destructive causes.
36. Government will continue, with greater level of peoples’ participation and in collaboration with our international partners, to improve the security architecture, reduce enabling environment for criminality to thrive and eliminate opportunities for terrorism financing.
37. Fellow Nigerians, our unrelenting effort at resolving an almost two-decade stalling on the management of our Petroleum resources and ensuring equitable consideration to our host communities has resulted in the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.
38. This Act not only overhauls the Institutional, regulatory and fiscal framework of the Petroleum Industry but also reduces the previous opacity associated with this sector.
39. This is the first step to the reforms as the process is a continuous one. Already, to further improve the governance framework, I have sought for an amendment of sections 11(2)(b) and 34(2)(b). We will also continue to review and amend as appropriate.
40. At this juncture, it is very appropriate that I salute the leadership and members of the Ninth Assembly for their patriotism, dedication to duty, candour and most importantly the dispatch with which they have enacted legacy legislations for this nation. I do not take such level of cooperation for granted and hope it continues for the overall efficiency of the Federal machinery.
41. Nigeria’s Roadmap on Local Refining is on track with the Commissioning of a Modular refinery in Imo State.
42. A second is scheduled for commissioning by the end of this year in Edo State and the third one in Bayelsa State by 2022.
43. In addition to the modular projects, we also have the two mega refinery projects coming up in Lagos and Akwa Ibom States.
44. As these refineries are commissioned, more employment opportunities are created and there would be increased petroleum products available for local consumption which will significantly reduce our reliance on importation.
45. In further demonstrating our plan to reduce our dependence on oil and tapping from our enormous gas resources, this administration remains committed to the “Decade of Gas” Initiative, which is aimed at bringing to focus the utilization of our huge gas resources.
46. Already, we are supporting and promoting various gas-based projects including NLNG Train 7 and the mega urea and ammonia projects in the South-South region.
47. As we continue to optimise and enhance our oil and gas sector, I am also proud and delighted to state that our economic diversification strategy remains on course with the persistent increase in Non-Oil Sector contribution to GDP.
48. We recovered from economic recession in quarter four of 2020 with a GDP growth rate of 0.11%, and grew by 0.51% and 5.01% in real terms in the first and second quarters of 2021.
49. The Agricultural sector remains key to our economic diversification efforts as the sector has been a consistent driver of the non-oil sector contributing 22.35% and 23.78% to the overall GDP in the first and second quarter of 2021.
50. We have seen significant private sector investments in almost all areas of the agricultural value chain. And these have continued even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
51. Unfortunately, as our food production capacity has increased, food prices have been going up due to artificial shortages created by middlemen who have been buying and hoarding these essential commodities for profiteering.
52. To address this, I am hereby directing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to rehabilitate the National Food Reserve Agency and also work with security agencies, the Nigerian Commodity Exchange, and the National Assembly to find a lasting solution to these disruptive and unpatriotic hoarding activities.
53. To further enhance food production, we have completed several new dams and are in the process of rehabilitating several River Basin Development Authorities to enhance ground water supply for rainfed agriculture as well as surface water for irrigation agriculture.
54. The water projects we completed between 2015 to 2020 have improved Nigerian’s access to potable water to 71% between 2015 and 2020. This means 12.5 million additional Nigerians now have direct access to potable water.
Fellow Nigerians, 55. This Government remains concerned by the significant transportation infrastructure deficit we have. Addressing the challenges our commuters and lorry drivers face on the motorways is still a high priority to us.
56. To complement our budgetary allocations, the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund and the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme, we recently established a N15trillion Infrastructural Corporation of Nigeria Limited (INFRACO), which is expected to begin operation by the fourth quarter of this year.
57. INFRACO will also focus on leveraging resources on a public-private sector basis for infrastructural development in Nigeria.
58. We hope through these innovative programs, the additional cost burden on individuals and businesses because of inefficient logistics operations will be reduced and ultimately, eliminated.
59. We currently have over 13,000 kilometres of roads and bridges under construction all over the country of which a fair percentage have been completed.
60. As we fix our roads, we also continue to extend and upgrade Nigeria’s railway network with the notable opening of the Warri- Itakpe standard gauge rail line.
61. To increase capacity, we have introduced more locomotives, coaches and wagons including the establishment of a Wagon Assembly in Kajola, Ogun State.
62. The sea ports however still remain problematic. The effect of our various interventions to reduce the gridlocks and inefficiencies have been slower than expected.
63. However, the implementation of the Electronic Call-Up System as well as the conversion of the Lillypond Container Terminal to a Vehicle Transit Area will further enhance the ease of cargo evacuation.
64. Our prioritisation of developing Nigeria’s Digital Economy has positively impacted the contribution of the ICT sector to our GDP.
65. We hope our present efforts to ensure all Nigerians use a National Identification Number as well as our planned roll-out of the fifth generation (5G) network technology will ensure we stay in line with the global innovation curve as a Nation.
66. As we embrace the digital economy in Nigeria, we are fully aware of the prospects and the perils. Our policies have been developed to enable Nigerians to take advantage of the prospects and avoid the perils of digital technologies.
67. Social media is a very useful platform that has enabled millions of Nigerians to connect with loved ones, promote their businesses, socialise, and access news and other information.
68. However, recent events have shown that the platform is not just an innocuous platform for information dissemination.
69. Rather some users have misused the platform to organise, coordinate, and execute criminal activities, propagate fake news, and promote ethnic and religious sentiments.
70. To address these negative trends, the Federal Government of Nigeria suspended the operations of Twitter in Nigeria on June 5, 2021 to allow the Government put measures in place to address these challenges.
71. Following the suspension of Twitter operations, Twitter Inc. reached out to the Federal Government of Nigeria to resolve the impasse. Subsequently, I constituted a Presidential Committee to engage Twitter to explore the possibility of resolving the issue.
72. The Committee, along with its Technical Team, has engaged with Twitter and have addressed a number of key issues. These are:
a. National Security and Cohesion; b. Registration, Physical presence and Representation; c. Fair Taxation; d. Dispute Resolution; and e. Local Content.
73. Following the extensive engagements, the issues are being addressed and I have directed that the suspension be lifted but only if the conditions are met to allow our citizens continue the use of the platform for business and positive engagements.
74. As a country, we are committed to ensuring that digital companies use their platform to enhance the lives of our citizens, respect Nigeria’s sovereignty, cultural values and promote online safety.
75. Nigeria’s progressive diplomacy continues to manifest through growing numbers of highly placed Nigerians in positions of regional and global influences. Very recently, Nigeria won election for the position of Commissioner for the expanded Political, Peace and Security Affairs of the African Union.
76. Our persistent calls for a reorganized and reformed ECOWAS, to make the organization citizens-sensitive, paid off with the acceptance by the Authority of Heads of State and Governments of ECOWAS to commence the agreed reforms in the organization ahead of the next elections of the organization’s principal officers in December this year.
77. At the African Development Bank, World Trade Organization and indeed, the United Nations, footprints of Nigeria’s Diplomacy are clearly evident.
78. We remain confident that our goal of lifting 100million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years is achievable.
79. Considering the positive impact of our Social Investment Programs, I recently approved an increase in the number of N-Power program beneficiaries from 500,000 to 1,000,000.
80. Out of this, 510,000 have started the programme while the competitive selection process for onboarding the outstanding 490,000 beneficiaries is in progress.
81. The National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme is currently being implemented in 35 States of the Federation and the FCT. Over 103,000 women have been engaged and empowered as cooks under the programme, while about 10 million pupils are being fed across public primary schools in the country.
82. To grant increased access to credit to the most poor and vulnerable, I have directed an increase in the disbursement of Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme loans to an additional one million beneficiaries laying more emphasis on the smallholding farmers through the farmers Moni program.
Fellow Nigerians, 83. For far too long we have neglected the centrality of the civil service as the engine of governance and this has manifested in ineffective service delivery.
84. There is widespread discontent and disillusion about the efficiency and probity of our civil service.
85. It is for this reason that we are refocusing the Nigerian Civil Service to provide World class service to run our country.
86. The youths of this great country remain propellants for our today and provide guarantees that we would have a secure tomorrow.
87. It is for this reason that I remain focused on expanding opportunities for their participation in politics and governance.
88. Recent appointments of young people into positions of authority and their track record so far, gives me confidence that we need to bring more of them into governance and this I promise to do. 89. More specifically, to encourage Girl-Child Education, female scholarship schemes, life skills and digital literacy skills to boost girl’s enrolment, retention and completion of schooling, are all initiatives put in place to ensure gender balance in appropriately positioning our youths for positions of leadership. 90. The commitment of this Administration to the well-being of people living with disabilities remains unwavering. 91. Government recognises their contributions to development and I have, in this regard, directed that all relevant Government Agencies pay special attention to the peculiarities of different abilities in the implementation of policies and programmes. 92. Rape and Gender Based Violence remains a sore point in our Nation as in many countries worldwide and this was worsened during and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. 93. We are currently engaging Heads of Courts to establish Specialised Courts for the speedy and seamless trial of Rape/Gender-Based offences especially to ensure that justice is done for child victims of sexual violence. 94. On the other hand, work has advanced in the reformation, reintegration and reunification of Minors involved in one crime or the other. 95. The reformation in our Correctional Services has manifested in an increase in modernised custodial centres and a transformation from strictly punitive to attitudinal changes so that criminals do not relapse into their previous lifestyle. 96. As we begin to celebrate our sixty one years as a Nation, we need to be conscious that Nigeria does not start and end with the Federal Government. This country is a great collective where Government at all arms and levels as well as the private sector, and more importantly individuals, have a role to play. 97. In particular, security is a bottom to top undertaking. Joining hands and hearts together would enable us to secure ourselves and our country. 98. I fully understand the anxiety of many Nigerians on the inability of this country to go beyond a never-ending potential for becoming a great nation to an actually great one. 99. A lot has been achieved in the last six years on many fronts: in infrastructure, social care, governance, Nigeria’s image and influence in Africa and the international community. 100. But critics misdiagnose incremental progress as stagnation. Since coming to power, this Administration has tackled our problems head-on in spite of the meagre resources. No government since 1999 has done what we have done in six years to put Nigeria back on track. 101. We shall continue to serve the country: listen to all and protect our democracy and country. Thank you all and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
OPEN LETTER TO THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION
September 7, 2021
The Hon. Attorney-General and Min. of Justice
Mr. Abubakar Malami
Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja.
Sir,
RE: NDDC FORENSIC AUDIT REPORT: MATTERS ARISING.
We write with reference to the mendacious and dissembling report submitted to you and disingenuously labelled ‘’forensic audit report on NDDC 2001-2019’’ by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.
We decided to write this open letter to you because apart from being the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, you are a man with an incisive, deeply analytical legal mind and the so called report was submitted to you.
A cursory look at recent national news headlines betrays the malevolent intention of those who orchestrated the audit report. The mechanics employed by the planners was awful, the tactics deployed by the executors was dreadful and the metrics and barometer of the work of the forensic auditors were abysmal. They deliberately mismanaged the entire process and concocted a scheme to mislead you in order to achieve a predetermined outcome.
The exact amount of funding received by NDDC from 2001 to 2019 is a matter of public information and available in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and that of NEITI. If this basic but fundamental element of the forensic audit report can be intentionally misrepresented to create a baseless sensation, then the report leaves much to be desired.
For the avoidance of doubt, NDDC has received the following sums of money from 2001 to 2019:
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTIONS: N760,165,606,560.32
Sir, the puzzling question that should agitate your mind is what mathematical abracadabra did the Minister and auditors employ to arrive at the N6 trillion figure which they presented to you when it is clear from the above table that NDDC received only N2.4 trillion between 2001 -2019 (a period of eighteen years)? Does it mean that the auditors don’t know the difference between income and approved budget or were they instructed to engage in deliberate misrepresentation? This misinformation is not only misleading, wicked and unconscionable but also inimical to future growth of the Niger Delta region. It is capable of inciting other regions against the Niger Delta now already being perceived as having frittered away a whopping sum of N6 trillion. To this end, we implore you, sir, to verify these figures and urgently correct this callous falsehood.
A forensic audit as a matter of practice must scale certain matrixes including planning, collecting evidence, writing a report with additional step of a potential court appearance to concur or disprove the fraud committed. Are the independent and dependent variable concepts/framework adopted by the auditors in the report submitted to you testable? Were the records they used appropriate to the problems or gaps they tried to fill? What type of data collection methods were used? Was there any rationale for the non-usage of technical tools and non-analysis of bills of engineering measurements to evaluate the extent of work done on projects? Was their observational guide sufficient to justify their reports? Were the contractors interviewed, who were the interviewers and how were they trained to minimize bias?
With due respect sir, the truth is that there was no forensic audit in the true sense of it. The report you have is the end product of a shambolic and scrappy exercise cleverly devised to deflate and buy time to continue to maintain absolute control over the finances of NDDC. It was pre-arranged to indict pre-determined targets.
The President ordered the forensic audit in October 2019 but the audit proper in the states started less than six months ago. It is noteworthy that about 40% of NDDC projects are located in riverine areas which the auditors could not access with gunboats because of low tide especially in Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta States. You may wish to independently verify this assertion. Some of the auditors complained aloud of censorship and lack of access to vital documents. The field auditors would spend less than 10 minutes at a 2 klms. shoreline protection project, 2 sq klm dredging site or a canalization project and use their observational guide to make a determination without the aid of technical tools such as total station, theodolite, fathometer or any form of sounding equipment. They would go to a 20klm road project completed more than 10 years ago in a challenging terrain, drive on less than 1klm distance of the road and without extracting the core for testing write a report as instructed by the orchestra conductor.
The auditors did not bother with funding issues, design issues, community and terrain challenges, legal disputes etc. They never interviewed a single contractor neither did they bother to relate with the engineers and consultants who supervised the projects. It is common knowledge that the auditors didn’t visit up to 30% of the advertised 13,777 abandoned projects they wrote reports on because of the constraint of time and terrain difficulties. How then can this report withstand the slightest legal scrutiny?
NDDC has had its audited report submitted to the Auditor-General of the Federation, the National Assembly, NEITI, The NDDC Presidential Reports and other regulatory agencies. It is unprofessional for the auditors not to have liaised with any of these agencies for independent confirmation of information.
The audit report is littered with intentional acts of muddling to control, scare, scandalize or bring to public opprobrium certain persons who have been targeted for embarrassment. This clearly explains the pre-audit allegations of a certain person who was receiving N1bn monthly as consultancy fees to collect debts from IOCs and another one who was accused of abandoning a $70m project which up till today have not been substantiated despite several challenges to prove same.
The recommendation of the report that board membership of the commission should be on part time basis in order to reduce costs should be ignored because it demonstrates clearly that the auditors did not even bother to read the Act setting up the Commission and they conveniently refused to question the thousands of people that management has surreptitiously employed in the last two years without recourse to due process.
While we recognize the need to diligently audit the finances of NDDC especially in the last two years and tackle the malfeasance that has bedeviled it and establish a credible template for efficient service delivery, it is our contention that the purported ‘’forensic audit report’’ submitted to you is not worth the Ghana-must-go bags in which they were delivered as the report cannot stand any basic accounting or legal challenge. The report should either be referred to the Auditor-General of the Federation for a review or be sent back to the Minister for his continuous entertainment.
Sir, please do not lend the weight of your office to the antics of desperate plutocrats who want to keep on embarrassing the government.
Realistically Profiling President Muhammadu Buhari on National Security With Facts
Part 1
Political leaders all over the world prefer euphemisms to harsh criticisms and don't often like political incorrectness in public. But flattery is the worst form of praise.
Saying the truth, whether bitter or sweet is the best in overcoming the challenges of the existential realities of life in the world.
Freedom of speech is fundamental to the establishment of true democracy and good governance in the political administraton of every federal government. But freedom of speech can be abused and misused. Freedom of speech must be based on facts and not falsehood.
I have read some news reports on those who have been arrested and even convicted for the defamation of the personality of President Muhammadu Buhari. They insulted him and so they were arrested and jailed after being judged guilty. But I have seen that those who have been prosecuted and convicted for the defamation of the personality of President Buhari were powerless poor people who could not afford the services of good human rights lawyers. Whereas, I have seen celebrated political activists and state governors of the opposition party lambasting the President with fury and vitriol in public and the law enforcement agents did not query or arrest them. Why?
The state governors have immunity? What of the political activists who insulted him and are still walking about freely from Lagos to Abuja.
Many have called him a criminal and a terrorist and other derogatory names on Nairaland and escaped prosecution and indictment.
The horrifying incidents of kidnappings and killings in different states have provoked the worst criticisms of President Buhari and blamed for the failures of the state governors in internal security. And majority of the citizens have also blamed him in ignorance of the separation of powers of the government administraton of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Majority of Nigerians are the underprivileged masses of poorly educated low income workers who are ruled by gullibility and the herd mentality of their religious beliefs of Christianity and Islam. And majority of them are also suffering from political amnesia, because they quickly forget the political history of Nigeria and the different political administrations and because they don't read, they often rely on hearsays, gossip and rumours for their assumptions and then jumping into ambiguous and erroneous conclusions on both the past and present current affairs in the country since the Independence of Nigeria on October 1, 1960 to date.
Whatever remarkable progress reports on the achievements and milestones in the administraton of President Buhari have been overlooked in the raging storms of insecurity ravaging the country. But the amnesia and ignorance of the majority of Nigerians would have been addressed by the Ministry of Information and Culture and not abandoned for Mr. Femi Adesina, the Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity and his colleague, Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant Adviser on Media and Publicity of President Buhari.
I have read a lot about the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) that recommended community policing to assist in complementing the efforts of the federal government in combating home grown terrorism which actually is the best recommendation, because community policing will be more effective in the identification of the causes of the grievances for communal clashes between herders and farmers, inter-tribal conflicts and banditry.
Community policing will end communal clashes, kidnappings and killings in different states. And the state governors should be responsible for that and not always crying wolf and calling for the head of President Buhari for their failures to secure lives and properties in the various communities in their states.
Cases studies in the peaceful community relations and conflict resolutions among herders and farmers in other countries in Africa will help to end the recurrent horrifying incidents of communal clashes, kidnappings and killings in Nigeria.
The novel tells the story of a pact and an alliance formed between four friends, to make an impactful change in their nation. Now in the late stages of adulthood, against an evolving political landscape and a change of government, they drift apart, reunite, navigate complex familial relationships, and increasingly gain recognition in their professions — all the while, their paths interweave with those of prominent religious, community and government leaders, and the tide begins to turn against them, with dire consequences.
It is a dramatic and engaging read, laced with humour and extraordinary characters. The read also provides a realistic perspective on the state of affairs in Nigeria, with a depth of commentary. In Soyinka’s expert hands, the apparently disparate strands are woven together with a master story-teller’s aplomb.
CHRONICLES OF THE HAPPIEST PEOPLE ON EARTH, is a great and unputdownable read from start to finish.
Book Size: 6.1 inches x 9.2 inches (15.5 x 23.5cm)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
