On Malam Garba Shehu’s Reply to Jonathan, Don’t Play Politics with Nigerians – Ebikapade Amasuomo


The coordinator of a community organization, Africa Future Matters, Ebikapade Amasuomo, has expressed disappointment at Malam Garba Shehu’s recent reply to former president Goodluck Jonathan on the state of the nation. Ebikapade Amasuomo stated that, it is important to set the record straight and stand on the part of truth so that history can remember us for the right reasons.

Continuing, he said, from 1999 to May, 2015 when former President Jonathan handed over power to Buhari, the PDP made several mistakes; they missed the opportunity to transform Nigeria to an economic power house and a voice to reckon with in the committee of nations. Corruption was rife and politicians were more interested in themselves, their political associates, family and friends. We have to admit that Goodluck Jonathan’s administration should have addressed some of these salient issues but for some reasons the political will was not there.

Nevertheless, the vast majority of Nigerians today were well-off under President Obasanjo, Yar’adua and Jonathan compared with the present administration. Between 1999 and 2015, Nigerians enjoyed firm leadership and less of propaganda. President Obasanjo showed firm leadership during his time in office, he transformed the agricultural sector via several innovative policies; education which had previously been battered under the military with recurrent ASUU strike was revived under Obasanjo. Obasanjo’s economic and foreign policies saved Nigeria from billions of dollars in foreign debts, of which about $18 billion was written off by the Paris Club of creditor countries. Internally, Nigeria enjoyed relative peace due to the non-tribalistic stand of Obasanjo politically; at least there was an even distribution of power between the three major tribes in terms of leadership in Senate, House of Representatives and appointments of service chiefs.

Yar’adua will always be remembered as a man who promoted peaceful coexistence among Nigerians. He was the man who created policies to ensure that Nigeria prospered economically. Sensing hostility and agitation in the Niger Delta, rather than deploy battalions of soldiers, he declared amnesty and created a Niger Delta Ministry to douse tension, something Buhari will never do for a non-Hausa-Fulani tribe. This singular gesture from Yar’adua ensured that Nigeria earned billions of dollars in oil and gas revenue.

With all his faults, one thing that we cannot take away from former president Jonathan is that he was a detribalized Nigerian who was genuinely interested in Northern Nigeria much more than the Niger Delta region where he came from. Under Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria became the largest economy in Africa. The nation was at its peak as far as manufacturing was concern with the Nigerian Navy unveiling its first locally built war ship. Aviation policies under the administration of Jonathan saw the entrance of more commercial aviation companies which allowed for open competition and a price crash for air travelers. Ordinary Nigerians could afford to travel by air from one city to another due to low fare flight tickets. Several railway projects were commissioned by the administration.

Ebikapade Amasuomo said, I don’t like talking about Jonathan’s administration so that people will not interpret my analysis as that of a tribalist who is only being sympathetic to his kinsman. Ebikapade said, I have never met Jonathan, neither did I benefit directly from his government but we must tell the truth. He said, we must not forget the National Automotive Industry Development Plan, a policy put together to discourage importation of vehicles whilst encouraging local manufacturing of automobiles. That policy resulted in redundant assembly plants being upgraded so as to kick-start local production, several new companies also arrive Nigeria to start automobile production in the country. Shortly after the policy implementation started, Nigeria began to assemble 300,000 units of vehicles per year as at 2014, some of the popular brands included, Nissan, IVM, Peugeot, Hyundai, Honda, Kia, VW, Ford, Changan, GAC. Under Jonathan, Nigerians embraced farming and government encouraged farmers with billions of Naira given out as loans, grants or fertilizers to boost food production and ensure food security. All of a sudden, every Nigerian became a fish farmer under Jonathan. In order to ensure that Nigeria compete favourably against Hollywood and Bollywood, Nigerian entertainers were encouraged with grants as is the practice all over the world, even young people were not left out as Youwin Programme encouraged development of entrepreneurship skills.

Several scholarship schemes were running simultaneously under President Jonathan. The then president inaugurated a special scholarship scheme, the Presidential Special Scholarship Scheme for Innovations and Development, for first class graduates from Nigerian Universities. Jonathan had argued that 60% of university lecturers do not have PhDs, as such he flagged off the scholarship scheme to train young Nigerians and develop capacity. I stand to be corrected, most of the beneficiaries of the scheme were non Niger Deltans. Personally I met, several Yoruba and Igbo youths in Edinburgh who benefited from the benevolent of Jonathan Scholarship schemes, Yoruba, Middle Belts and Igbos excelled academically and easily meet the first class requirement of the scholarship scheme, hence, they benefitted massively. Hausa people on the other hand dominated PTDF scholarship whilst the Niger Deltans where mostly sponsored under Presidential Amnesty Scholarship.

Today, we all sit in the comfort of our homes to make huge bank transfers via mobile banking Apps and internet banking. Nigeria was seriously moving towards a cashless economy under Jonathan due to brilliant policies spearheaded by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Ebikapade Amasuomo pointed out that in a bid to reduce financial crimes; the administration implemented the BVN policy. On human right and freedom of speech, president Jonathan stands out amongst past leaders as it is on record that the man was the most insulted president ever, Jonathan was severely criticised by Nigerians as a president, yet, people were not imprisoned for their utterances or publications. DSS and EFCC were not going after critics and bloggers unlike what we have now, even Emir Sanusi can attest to this. He criticised Jonathan openly without intimidation, however, his recent attempt to do the same with president Buhari was met with stiff resistance. The emir has since learnt that this is a different era, hence, his long absence from public debates.

As it is now 18 months to the end of president Buhari’s administration with no significant achievement. Ebikapade Amasuomo said, rather than Garba Shehu spending his time replying to people’s comments, he should be bold enough to encourage president Buhari to use the remaining 18 months to better the lives of Nigerians as the fight against corruption has yielded no fruit whatsoever.

Continuing, Ebikapade said, president Buhari is my president and I wish him nothing but success, nonetheless, we must criticize and tell people where they have gone wrong so that they can make amends. The coordinator of Africa Future Matters said, since inception of the current administration, Nigerians have faced increased hardship as a result of incoherent policies. Children of the poor should not go to school abroad because there is no forex, yet, we can fund pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Mecca. Farmers are dying all across the middle belt from killer herdsmen with no proper response from the president. However, when militants kidnap people in Lagos, the same president will quickly order military jet to bombard their locations and invade villages in Delta and Ondo States, causing havoc and human right abuses in the process. The current administration have succeeded in polarizing the country along ethnic lines as even the middle belt now want a nation of their own, not to mention Biafra, Oduduwa and the Niger Delta republic. The window of opportunity to address issues is still open to us all. We must collectively as a nation eschew ethnic and religious sentiment. Apart from politicians, every single Nigerian is suffering under the current administration. The economy is not working, people are hungry, salaries are not paid, companies are laying off workers, young people are unemployed and insecurity is on the increase. Those serving in the presidential team have a duty to Nigerians, they must tell their principal the real situation on ground, and they should remember that politicians around Goodluck Jonathan also refused to tell him the truth in 2015. The then president was made to believe that he was the best and most qualified Nigerian, sycophant politicians led the then president to believe that people were yearning for his return. Malam Garba Shehu and other presidential aides must be sincere in their dealings knowing fully well that history will judge them.

Ebikapade Amasuomo said, “Personally, I wish president Buhari a quick recovery and a safe trip back home to Nigeria. I hope that on his return, he will do things differently and address the broken economy to ensure a prosperous Nigeria.”

http://www.whistletimes.com/2017/08/malam-garba-shehus-reply-jonathan-dont-play-politics-nigerians-ebikapade-amasuomo/

Ok oh

Mallam

No thank to gullible Nigerians who elected a super-clueless President who equally appoints dumbass fellas as ministers and aides

The four years of APC is a lesson to Nigerians. Don't fall for propaganda next time! Shine your eyes.

True talk my brother

Paperwhite:
No thank to gullible Nigerians who elected a super-clueless President who equally appoints dumbass fellas as ministers and aides

paper whyte calm down

aolawale025:
The four years of APC is a lesson to Nigerians. Don't fall for propaganda next time! Shine your eyes.

U guys n dis proganda talk sef

agbangam:



U guys n dis proganda talk sef

So you believe Buhari is the man to take us to the promise land?

?

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