Tag Archives: conspiracy

Not All That Ask Are Enemies By Akin Rotimi #Opinion

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Our President has faced a barrage of criticisms and accusations in his first few days in office. Ranging from the outrageous to the mundane, he has been accused of discourteously leaving his guests to attend Friday Jumaat prayers on inauguration day; influencing the court to drop corruption charges against his political associate; failing to publicly declare his assets as he promised during campaigns; encouraging wastage of resources by duplicating functions for his first set of appointees; etc. Even our first lady has not been spared as she has been accused of wearing an expensive wristwatch to his inauguration – allegedly a sign of opulence considered inconsistent with his austere reputation. It would even seem that PMB is receiving more “bashing” from some of his most ardent supporters.

What I find interesting is not the accusations but the reactions of some of “my people” in a bid to defend our beloved president. From my humble standpoint, I have seen more emotional and irrational outbursts than helpful engagements of the issues by followers attempting to put up a defense. Some cannot just stomach the fact that our highly revered president is being denigrated by commoners on social media. While I agree that some of these issues are needless distractions coming from familiar quarters, they can’t be ignored else they become bigger distractions further into the administration’s lifespan. I have come to learn that rumours cannot be wished away, they have to be decisively addressed – on time! For example, there is a claim out there that a suicide bomber chanted “Sai Buhari”!, before detonating a bomb in the Northeast on Tuesday, killing several Nigerians. It has been several hours since this was reported on some online news platforms, and subsequently bandied around by some antagonists on social media, yet we have no refutation from “us”. It doesn’t have to be reported in traditional media before we reiterate PMB’s condemnation of the reprehensible actions of the extremists.  

My token advice to the president’s media team as they settle down in office is that they have no time to settle down. As someone said on Facebook, the Buhari team has auditioned for this job for twelve years and issued the notice of employment for two clear months before resumption, we have no reason not to perform. They have to proactively make available accurate information and allow no vacuum for rumours and half-truths to fester. They should consider every accusation raised against their principal as an opportunity to present facts, clarifications and superior arguments that will reinforce his goodwill with the majority. PMB is not infallible and should not be projected so. When mistakes are made by him or those under his watch, they should speedily admit the errors, decisively separate the principal from the mess and ensure the erring parties are resolutely dealt with in keeping with the law. Making this point reminds me that amongst many of former president Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s public engagement gaffes was patting former Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro on the back inspite of the NIS recruitment scandal that occasioned the death of many young people. Indeed many of the former president’s appointees caused more deficits to his public image than good.

Those of us that believe in and determinedly support our president to succeed need the right ammunition to fight the battle for the hearts and minds of Nigerians. We need to be armed with facts and contexts within which we can help frame the narrative about every single action this president and his administration is going to take – many of which may be unpopular, or cause short term inconvenience in order to achieve long term benefits. It is too early to be responding by abusing people. I just read an outburst on the page of a dedicated supporter of PMB in which she was more or less warning a blogger that his misleading post about the president could lead to his being arrested for falsehood. Haba! The prison cells we will need to keep all Nigerians who abused former president Jonathan would take up half of Nigeria’s landmass. That is not the way to go.

I reiterate, let us provide timely and accurate updates on the activities of government, and when rumours are spun to distract his focus, let us similarly respond on time, with facts and clarifications, and in a tone that reminds that we are in charge. Let us make use of the most valuable communication resource PMB and his administration has – the love and goodwill of the majority who are willing (at no cost) to disseminate communication messages within their circles of influence. Not everyone that asks questions or challenges actions taken by PMB are his enemies, some simply want to be re-assured that in the corridors and chambers of power, where sycophants abound and truthful counsel is rare, the bearer of their mandate is staying true to the ideals that made them vote for him.???

Akin Rotimi, a strategic communications, diplomacy and public policy professional writes from Lagos.

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

Fayose, Labour Conspiracy Won’t Stop Impeachment- APC

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The All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State has said the conspiracy between labour union leaders and Governor Ayodele Fayose won’t stop the impeachment proceedings, if the lawmakers wanted to carry out their constitutional duties.

The party said it was vindicated over the alarm it raised that the state labour leaders had conspired with Fayose to stall his impeachment by the House of Assembly.

APC Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, said in a statement on Friday that the governor’s latest directive that workers should fill verification forms that would last for one month before he could pay workers’ salary was a confirmation of its allegation.

He alleged that the provocative action was in the full knowledge and cooperation of labour leaders who had been deceiving the state workers in a scheme clearly against their interests while the labour leaders smiled to their banks.

Olatubosun said the labour leaders were in the picture of the governor’s new initiative to fill verification forms. “The exercise is billed to end on May 19 after which there will be a report to be submitted at the end of May.

“This will make workers angry and the labour leaders will pretend that they are unhappy. They will then mobilise workers for an indefinite strike to stall the governor’s impeachment,” he explained.

Olatubosun advised workers to be masters of their own fate as no amount of strike could stop the impeachment if the lawmakers wanted to carry out their constitutional duties. “The lawmakers are not civil servants. The constitution does not say lawmakers cannot sit when workers are on strike. It is a pity that workers are facing their current challenges because they have a lawless, deceitful and uncaring governor.”

The APC spokesperson stated that the governor would have short-changed beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer scheme of the Millennium Development Goals instrument by N70,000, if not for its outcry in the media. “This morning, the governor quickly instructed that the remaining N40, 000 to the beneficiaries who may start receiving their alerts any moment from now be paid.”

Olatubosun said if Fayose was not planning to pocket the balance of N70,000 per head totalling N155.7m, why didn’t he pay at once when the money had already been released by the MDGs office in Abuja more than five months ago”?

Meanwhile, the state government said it had commenced the payment of N100, 000 to each of the 2,250 beneficiaries of the CCT scheme, which will be released to their wallets accounts in four tranches on daily basis, starting from Wednesday.

Credit: Punch

Boko Haram Is A Fraud – Gen. Buhari

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A statement from Gen Buhari signed by his media aide, Shehu Garba.

“The fraud called Boko Haram can be defeated by denying it a recruitment base,” General Buhari told visiting leaders of Nassarawa State who came to congratulate him on his emergence as President-elect. No religion allows for the killing of children in school dormitory, in markets and places of worship. They have nothing to do with religion. They are terrorists and we are going to deal with them as they deal with terrorists anywhere,” he announced.

Buhari said he is greatly pained by the destruction of schools in the North-eastern part of the country, an action he said could deny thousands of youngsters access to education and a better future unless something was done urgently to avert this tragedy.

“The worst thing anybody can do is to deny children access to education. That will be destructive to their lives and we are not going to allow that to happen,” the President-elect assured.
He announce that his government will help the states to get more money to improve infrastructure by ensuring that all federally collectible revenues are paid directly into the federation account and each tier of government given its due share.

“As at now, the government does not even know how many revenue accounts it has. We will give all the tiers what is due to them but will hold them to be accountable as we would the federal government.”

Buhari while describing Nassarawa state as his own “political laboratory”, meaning the only CPC-controlled state of the 36 others adjudged the experiment as having been a success.
“From one state, I now have 22 political laboratories.”
He commended Governor Al-Makura for surviving his many impeachment plots, saying “without Nassarawa, there would not have been an APC.”

Signed:
Garba Shehu
Directorate of Media & Publicity
APC Presidential Campaign

Panic In Adamawa’s Second-Largest Town Mubi As B/HARAM Seizes Michika

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Boko Haram insurgents appeared to have taken Michika, one of the major towns in the northern part of Adamawa State, yesterday.

They entered the town in the morning and took over many places apparently when security personnel reportedly fled on seeing the Boko Haram convoys.

Residents who fled the violence said well-armed militants are now patrolling the streets of the town.
Some of them are reported to have set up base at the emir’s palace.

The attack on Michika came two days after Boko Haram militants captured neighbouring Gulak, headquarters of Madagali Local Government Area.

A resident of Michika, who fled to the state capital Yola, said the insurgents slaughtered many young people and shot the elderly at close range.

“They killed several of my friends. They rounded dozens of young people, lay them on the ground and slit their throats while elderly people were shot at close range,” he said.

Chairman of Michika Local Government Area, Vandi Pavanza, confirmed the attack, saying the town was under siege as at yesterday and residents were fleeing to escape from the assailants. He added that soldiers were still fighting to repel the attack.

“The situation is beyond our control; we need prayers to overcome this problem. Honestly I have never seen something like this but military are currently doing their best to subdue the attackers,” Pavanza told Daily Trust.

Another resident told the BBC Hausa: “We were chatting with friends in front of our houses when we suddenly heard gunshots. We heard more shots for the second time, and then for the third time. We then started running helter-skelter.

“We run with our women and children into the bush. We put them in front of us, and we followed them from behind. I am now in the middle of the bush which I have never been to before in my life.

“Me and my friends are running without clothes. The situation was very bad. Despite the large population of Michika, you hardly find people now, because people have dispersed. Only God knows what happens to us next.”

The resident added that the insurgents met no security personnel in the town.
“There was not a single security personnel in the town: no army, no vigilantes. It is God who saved us out from the town and into the bush,” he said.

Other residents of Michika reported seeing military jets hovering over the town soon after the insurgents struck.

“Boko Haram members are presently hiding around emir’s palace since the arrival of a war plane around 10.50am. But the plane has remained in Hausari quarters, not where they converged,” one man said.

The takeover of Michika sparked panic in Mubi, which is the second largest town in Adamawa State, as residents began fleeing for fear of Boko Haram.

Pandemonium has also been reported in Uba and Mararaba Mubi. Residents of these towns and villages, including thousands of displaced people from Gwoza, Izge, Damboa, Madagali and Gulak, have begun fleeing to safer areas.

A health worker in Mubi, Abubakar Usman, said many residents were moving out to remote villages and other settlements to the south, in the direction of the state capital of Yola. But Daily Trust learnt that soldiers have mounted road blocks around Mubi, to stave off any attack on the town.