FEMI FANI -KAYODE RESPONDS TO US SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY

In a statement on Saturday by Fani-Kayode made available to newsmen, he said that on the issue to arms deal, he sees the whole thing as a double standard.

Read the full statement below;

    The United States government helped Boko Haram immensly by refusing to classify them as a terrorist organisation until 2014 and by refusing to sell us arms to fight them. Worst still, they imposed an international arms embargo on us so that we could not buy arms from anyone else in the international community. When asked why they are doing this to us they tell us that it is because of the Leahy Act which prohibits them from selling arms to governments that violate the human rights of their own citizens.

    They forget that we are in the middle of a bitter war and that our enemies are being sponsored and supported by both ISIL and Al Qaeda. They forget that over 50,000 innocent Nigerians have been slaughtered

THE LEAHY'S LAW AND WAR AGAINST BOKOHARAM BY TUNDE ADENUGA

The recent development that has engrossed the media as part of the outcome of the President trip to the United States was to an extent expected by me.

The President embarked on this trip majorly on our economy, recovery of our stolen funds by past leaders and the security situation which has claimed nothing less than 20,000 innocent lives in the space of 7 years.

The security situation of the country was so bad even Mr President had to respond to one of the questions of Amanpour on CNN that there won't be much focus on the economy until we get the security in place(para phrased). To a large extent, I agree with Mr President even though some quarters would have challenged him on the impact of multi-tasking skill in a nation management.
It was made clear to Mr President that America would not be of much support for us on this war especially in the area of weapons acquisition. In their words as I quote"
Leahy in a statement titled, “Buhari’s Mis-Directed Criticism of the Leahy Law on Human Rights released on Thursday alleged:

“It is well documented by the State Department and by respected human rights organizations that Nigerian army personnel have,

THE PHONES NO LONGER RING BY REUBEN ABATI

   The worst moments were those days when there was a Boko Haram attack virtually every Sunday.  Reuben AbatiReuben Abati

As spokesman to President Goodluck Jonathan, my phones rang endlessly and became more than personal navigators within the social space. They defined my entire life; dusk to dawn, all year-round. The phones buzzed non-stop, my email was permanently active; my twitter account received tons of messages per second.

The intrusion into my private life was total as my wife complained about her sleep being disrupted by phones that never seemed to stop ringing. Besides, whenever I was not checking or responding to the phones, I was busy online trying to find out if the APC had said something contrarian or some other fellow was up to any mischief. A media manager in the 21st century is a slave of the Breaking News, a slave particularly of the 24-hour news cycle, and a potential nervous breakdown

PMB TO BRING MINISTERS ON IN SEPTEMBER AND RISK INVOLVED BY ADENUGA TUNDE

According to the Washington Post, President Muhammadu Buhari as part of the activities on his trip to the United States, made it clear that he would be bringing his ministers on board by September. going by this statement, the earliest time we should expect ministers is 95 days if it is September 1^st  counting from Inauguration date and the latest we can find is 124 days should PMB decide to bring them on by 30th of September. 

In support of this, the President made it clear that he needed some certain rules and structures to be in place before forming his cabinet. Fantastic! If that would curb the menace of corruption in the system. But the worry is this. Do we actually need to wait this far before charting a course for a government who was given an uncontested victory since March 28th? Even though we had various excuses including the alleged delay in the

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hand over notes by the past administration.But from May 29th till date and not being able to say this is the direction the government is taking is worrisome. The fact that we will still have to wait till sometime in September to really get things rolling is nothing but a salt on injury.

The government may have more genuine reasons for this delay as it was said but the economic indices below are things to urgently look into so that things do not get too bad before having a revival. The stock market has lost over a trillion Naira in the last 6  weeks because no good speculator will jump into any investment without knowing the path government policy will take. Queuing is gathering again at the filling stations. Many aren't selling. Those who are selling are doing so between N100 & N120 per litre even though I bought mine for N110. Is there still subsidy or not, there is no communication from anywhere. For those who are celebrating the recent clamp down of the EFCC against looters, it is a good thing but I cannot roll out my drums yet until some of these suspects are nailed to prison. We have seen more than this in the past. The case against Timpreye Silva was struck out few weeks ago. Fani Kayode had to change his name because he won against EFCC. Lamido and sons were given heroic welcome in Jigawa last week as well. So far no single suspect has been nailed. All happened in this administration. So, I will advise we relax on the EFCC thing until these cases are concluded. So that don't take the risk of having activities without movement. As for the security, there may been some works in the pipeline, but until we have a relief, I will not join mediocre to celebrate any government for now. The animals are still carrying out havocs almost on a daily basis. Pls don't contend this unless you are living in Borno or Yobe. Inflation is still on the high side. A kilo of Turkey is between N1000 and N1200 depending on the market you decide to go and many cases like. You do not have to be married to confirm this. The recent bailout for the governors including those rogues who milked their people dry was a good gesture but because there is no coordinator at the moment in the ministry of Finance, this is most likely to end up as a free lunch for the governors. At the moment, Ondo state civil servants will be embarking on a strike starting from tmw and Governor Aregbesola's people were at the mercy of the Church for food aid on Sunday. It is that bad. This is what you see when there is a delay in putting up structures. Truly, it may require the government some times to clear any mess but I think September is on the high side.

As comparing by PMB on the late forming of the cabinet by Barak Obama at inception should not be a factor here. PMB must note that the United States have strong institutions that work by default in the absence of any appointments. But Nigeria is not at that level yet. Appointments are very important for now. Things may go out of order by then. Even using America as an example is wrong. Obama administration formed the major parts of his cabinet just two week after his inauguration. The attached document confirms this. So, where did the President get this information from? Honestly speaking, and even though it is my opinion, I think September cabinet is too late especially for a government who promised to hit the ground running at campaigns.

This is not the time to play politics or exercising any sympathy for any government but a time to stand for nothing but the truth. Making crucial appointments if not all at this time is very important for this government . At the moment, i think we are on auto pilot.

God bless Nigeria

Follow on twitter @tunde_adenuga

GOING TO AMERICA

Confirmation has come that President Muhammmadu Buhari will be going to America this month. This going to America should not only be different from that of the African prince portrayed by Eddie Murphy, it should be different from that which marked both the beginning of the Yar’Adua and Jonathan presidencies. This going to America for an ailing nation of great potential must be a concrete effort at forging partnerships in pursuit of the great goal of the Great Escape from misery for the biggest concentration of the people of Africa descent.

Going to America has always been a matter laced with Irony. As a young youth corps member reporting for the Newbreed newsmagazine some 38 years ago, I wrote a story that pointed to Army Intellectual, Olusegun Obasanjo, criticising African leaders journeying to America. As head of state then, Obasanjo had evidently forgotten his old

OMOJUWA TO BUHARI: Change Nigeria or Nigeria changes you

•JJ Omojuwa says APC set unrealistic standards during campaigns but must keep the tempo

By KEMI YESUFU

For any of his 237,000 followers on Twitter, the millions that visit his blog, Japhet “J.J” Omojuwa speaks his mind no matter who is involved. To many of those that worked for or supported President Goodluck Jonathan, the young man who travels the world on various speaking engagements was a pain in the neck.

For his legion of supporters, the syndicated columnist is deserving of nothing but commendation for highlighting the many troubles with Nigeria. In this interview, the blogger talks about President Muhammdu Buhari, his Baba Go-Slow tag, the Jonathan administration

Bailout: Is Buhari Rewarding Profligacy?

One hopes that as this money is released, the story we would hear from all the states is that these hapless Nigerians have been paid ALL the arrears of salary owed them to enable them see the extent they would go to sort out their horribly battered existence – lives that have been heartlessly messed up by the gross irresponsibility and unspeakable callousness that now constitute the enduring character of governance in this part of the world. 

The recent N400 billion bailout approved for the states by President Muhammadu Buhari to offset the backlog of salary owed to civil servants would certainly bring immense relief to the affected workers and their families. It is difficult to imagine how these Nigerians were able to survive the trauma and pain of existing for several months without salaries, especially how, when one considers that even when these salaries were

THE SIX CAMPAIGN PROMISES BUHARI WILL NEVER FULFILL

Politicians often try to outdo each other by making promises they can’t keep and do not intend to keep, in order to win votes before an election. That is just how politics works around the world.
That is what happened this year too when we had the presidential election. Both former president, Goodluck Jonathan and incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari, made outrageous promises as they campaigned round the country.

A lot of those promises were unrealistic and some even egregious, like when the All Peoples’ Congress (APC) promised to create three million jobs in a year. But at the time people really wanted a change and so they voted for them anyway.
The president might make things better before his tenure ends in four years, but he’ll probably never fulfil most of the promises he and his party made to the people in the campaigns. Look at these six promises for instance.

1. Create 720,000 jobs in one year. Muhammadu Buhari promised to create 20,000 jobs per state in a year for people with basic education. It is obvious now that the government does not have a clear plan as to how they are going to accomplish this ambitious goal.
It is almost two months already since they

CAMPAIGN IS OVER. IT IS HIGH TIME MR PRESIDENT MOVED

March 28,2015 happened to be one of the dates that will forever remain in the hearts of the people of Nigeria. It was a date of liberation to many from the shackles of PDP. Many quarters were not comfortable because they thought it would remain business as usual. Only few could think of its possibility but in the end, the power of the thumbs proved many wrong including the international community. The choice of an elder of over 70 years old to rule over a nation of over 170 Million showed the level of desperation for change by the people. This caught the PDP unaware. And it is still a shock up till now.

In one of the statements credited to the former PDP chairman Bama Tukur in response to the Merger of the four political parties, CPC, ACN, ANPP and APGA, he said and I quote “If you go for a contest, you have the striker. You know Lionel Messi?,” he asked. “PDP is Messi in that contest.We will dribble them like Messi. Tell them chairman said PDP is the

CAMPAIGN IS OVER. IT IS HIGH TIME MR PRESIDENT MOVED

March 28,2015 is one of the dates that will forever remain in the hearts of the people of Nigeria. It was a date of liberation to many from the shackles of PDP. Many quarters were not comfortable because they thought it would remain business as usual. Only few could think of its possibility but in the end, the power of the thumbs proved many wrong including the international community. The choice of an elder of over 70 years old to rule over a nation of over 170 Million showed the level of desperation for change by the people. This caught the PDP unaware. And it is still a shock up till now.

In one of the statements credited to the former PDP chairman Bama Tukur in response to the Merger of the four political parties, CPC, CAN, ANPP and APGA, he said and I quote “If you go for a contest, you have the striker. You know Lionel Messi?,” he asked. “PDP is