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Ologbondiyan: Buhari's Eight Years Is A Passing Phase; Nigerians Should Endure By Nairavsdollars( F ): 6:49amKola Ologbondiyan, Na
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Ologbondiyan: Buhari's Eight Years Is A Passing Phase; Nigerians Should Endure by nairavsdollars

( f ): 6:49am

Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in this interview with TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI, speaks on the just concluded Edo governorship election, Nigeria at 60, restructuring and other issues. Excerpts:

Your party, the PDP just secured victory in the just concluded governorship election in Edo state. How do you feel?

I feel so elated for a hard battle won. It is a collective victory for all of us. Like I said on my social media page, this victory is historic, the aroma is sweet and its lesson for political godfathers will last a lifetime. The peopleâ€™s power will always prevail. Once again, congratulations to Governor Obaseki, his deputy, Phillip Shaibu and the good people of Edo state.

Nigeria will be celebrating 60 years of independence as a sovereign nation on October 1st, how far do you think we have come as a nation?

I think we might not have been able to reach the expectations of our founding fathers. However, prior to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, I think we were progressing as a people. Painfully however, the last five years has expanded the divisive tendencies in our nationhood. It is shocking that under a watch of our President that served the Nigerian Army and rose to the position of Major-General, our nation can become so divided to an extent that ethnic demands have overridden the bands of unity.

I donâ€™t know how the Buhari administration will want to manage this and take us back to a united country. But like eminent Nigerians have said in the last few weeks, we have become much more divided than we have ever been in the last 60 years of our nation.

The Presidency, through Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media said the division in the country did not start under this government and that Nigeria has always been divided. What is your take on that?

I think Femi Adesinaâ€™s argument is far misplaced or maybe he did not understand the context of the question he was responding to. What Nigerians are saying is that there can be conflicts and divisions, but we have not had a President whose policy direction and approach to national cohesion has been this divisive. We have never had a President whose policies have demonstrated a huge division in our nation like President Buhari. We are not saying there have never been grounds for people disagreeing or have challenges; after all, we have had a civil war. But what we are saying is that we have never had a leader, a President whose actions and policy direction has demonstrated a huge division in our nation like President Buhari. That is the question Femi Adesina ought to have responded to. It is disgusting and painful that a government that came into office on a mantra of change, saying that things were not going well under the previous administration and that if elected, they will come and repair the crisis area in our nation, to have allowed itself by the manner of the leadership it is providing for the nation. It is worthy of note that this division is affecting their policies.

How do you mean?

For instance, President Buhari said agriculture is the main focus of his policies. He also said that the youths should go back to the farm. But today, if you go and plant, Fulani herdsmen will come in and destroy your farmland. No matter what you do, you cannot get justice. We even have a situation where the Presidency said we should go and live with our neighbours. So, these are the tendencies that have become worrisome in the lives of our nation. We have never had a President whose policies is driven on the basis of where he comes from; a president whose policies of his administration can be manifestly seen that he taking side with a particular region of the country. Will that encourage unity in our country? Will that foster the spirit of togetherness? All these actions have failed to enable us more than ever before to see ourselves as one Nigerian. Part of the legacy President Buhari must work towards leaving behind is that of a united Nigeria because no matter how Femi Adesina wants Nigerians to believe that the country has always been divided, it has never been this divided in the history of our nation.

Do you agree with former President Olusegun Obasanjoâ€™s position on the state of affairs of the nation under President Buhari?

There is no Nigerian that has the love of this country that will not speak in the manner Baba (Olusegun) Obasanjo, Prof. Wole Soyinka and other eminent Nigerians have spoken. In whatever way you look at it or in whichever manner you want to ascribe the blame of our crisis, what Nigerians are saying is that we have never had it this worse under this administration. When the presidency was attacking Obasanjo, our party counseled President Buhari to listen to the voice of wisdom. His approach to governance is to say the least, very disappointing. Those who packaged Buhari in 2015 gave Nigerians the impression that he was coming to make the difference and be the Messiah that Nigerians have been waiting for. Can any of them now in their clear conscience say they have been justified given what has happened in the last five years? They cannot, because the performance of the administration has been a disappointing one.

One major issue that has continued to dominate the political space is the restructuring of the country. The APC-led federal government has refused to implement the reports of the 2014 national conference but rather set up the El-Rufai committee on True Federalism which has already submitted the report. Why do you think the party has not done anything in that regard?

For us in the PDP, we did not for one day took the El-Rufai committee on restructuring serious. Part of the campaign that was made by the APC in 2015 was restructuring. They have not by any effort come close to their own promise. In whatever way you look at the administration, it has manifestly failed. If you make a promises, even if you canâ€™t fulfill all, you can still walk around part of the promises and provide hope that even after you have left office, any office that is coming after you will be able to do part of what you have left behind. The reality is that this APC government is not prepared for restructuring. They cannot deal with it and they cannot fulfill any promise. In a tenure of eight years, we have had this government for five years. By next year, politics will begin in full swing while governance will take the backseat. So, what is left for them to do.

The APC recently said Nigerians should calm down that restructuring has already begun. Are you saying the party is not sincere?

When you talk about restructuring, it appears to different people from different angle. There are those who believe in devolution of power as restructuring. To these ones, to restructure Nigeria, power must be taken from the centre and given to the states and local governments. There are others who believe that the 36 states and FCT is not working and as such, we must go back to regionalism; that is also restructuring. There are those who believed that a bicameral legislature is too expensive and that we should go back to a unicameral legislature; that is also restructuring. There are those who believe that the states should be allowed to have their own police while there are others who believe that even the local councils should have their own police; it is still restructuring. There are those who believe that the traditional rulers should be given roles in the constitution in such a manner that they can look over their domains; it is also restructuring.

There are those who also believe that each state should be allowed to manage its resources and return a percentage of those resources to the centre, in order to enable the centre run its affairs. That is also restructuring. So, there are various ways of restructuring that Nigerians have expectations. In all these angles of restructuring that I have explained, which one can you point to that the Buhari administration has attempted to implement? None! So, as far as we are concerned in the PDP, we have seen the eight years of President Buhari as a passer-by years. We do not know in concrete terms what Nigerians will be able to point to after the eight years of his administration.

https://www.independent.ng/buharis-eight-years-is-just-a-passing-phase-ologbondiyan/

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You Are Nigeriaâ€™s â€˜Divider-In-Chiefâ€™, Presidency Replies Obasanjo - Politics - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / You Are Nigeriaâ€™s â€˜Divider-In-Chiefâ€™, Presidency Replies Obasanjo (336 Views)

APC Replies Obasanjo At Press Conference: 'We Will Disgrace You' / â€˜iâ€™ll Teach You A Lesson You Will Never Forgetâ€™ â€” Buhari Replies Obasanjo / Buhariâ€™s Achievements Will Speak For Him - APC Replies Obasanjo (2) (3) (4)

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You Are Nigeriaâ€™s â€˜Divider-In-Chiefâ€™, Presidency Replies Obasanjo by Ecstasy154(m): 4:42pm On Sep 13

Presidency has replied former President Olusegun Obasanjo, over his recent comment against President Muhammadu Buhariâ€™s administration.

Obasanjo had at an interactive session with some socio-cultural groups in Abuja on Friday, said that Nigeria is fast drifting to a failed and badly divided state, noting that the country is economically becoming a basket case and poverty capital of the world.

According to him: â€œToday, Nigeria is fast drifting to a failed and badly divided state, economically our country is becoming a basket case and poverty capital of the world, and socially, we are firming up as an unwholesome and insecure country.

â€œAnd these manifestations are the products of recent mismanagement of diversity and socio-economic development of our country.

â€œOld fault lines that were disappearing have opened up in greater fissures and with drums of hatred, disintegration and separation and accompanying choruses being heard loud and clear almost everywhereâ€

Reacting on Sunday, Presidency through the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said: â€œIn his most recent statement former President Olusegun Obasanjo attempts to divide the nation while President Muhammadu Buhari continues to promote nation building and the unity of Nigeria.

â€œThe difference is clear. From the lofty heights of Commander-in-Chief, General Obasanjo has descended to the lowly level of Divider-in-Chief (to adapt the coinage of Time).

â€œBefore responding further to the unfair attacks on President Buhari and his administration by the former President, it is important that we categorically state that contrary to the assertions by a few analysts, the recent speech in which President Buhari advised West African Presidents against tenure elongation beyond constitutional limits has been consistent with his long held views on the need to adhere to the rule of law.

â€œEven though he tried it and failed, the recent uptick in the number of such leaders proposing to do, or actually carrying on in office beyond term limits is sufficient to cause concern among democrats in the sub-region given its prospects of destabilizing the states and the region.

â€œPresident Buhariâ€™s advocacy is consistent with his principles and in line with the current policies of his administration and indeed that of the ECOWAS Charter which is that term limits must be respected and that the change of government is only permissible through the ballot box.

â€œHaving cleared this misperception, we hope that Chief Obasanjo would once again sheath the sword and rest the pretentiousness about the Messiah that has (mis)led him to pronounce often wrongly, as he disastrously did in the 2019 elections, about the life and death of Nigerian governments.

â€œAs some commentators are already suggesting, Chief Obasanjo should, in accordance with his mantra as a statesman, get involved with problems solving, when and where they exist instead of helping the mushrooming of a poisonous atmosphere of ethnic and religious nationalism.

â€œSurely, he must have disappointed many of his local and foreign admirers by showering commendations on a few extremist groups who have vowed to shun the invitation to the National Assembly to participate in the process of constitutional amendment.

â€œNo doubt, he must have left those admirers confused in announcing the support for the boycott of a democratic process of changing the constitution, at the same time calling for dialogue and engagement.

â€œThe fact that the process he ushered in under his administration with the dubious intention of amendments that sought tenure elongation failed-as did two other attempts by the successor administrations of the same political party- does not in any way justify his dismissal of the exercise by the 9th Assembly as a another waste of time and resources.

â€œTo the credit of the All Progressives Congress-led 8th Assembly, the process of constitutional amendment was kickstarted and carried through, paving the way for, among other benefits, the financial independence of local government councils, States Houses of Assembly and the countryâ€™s Judiciary. These changes have already been signed into laws by the President as mandated by the constitution.

â€œThe recent decisions by the administration as they relate to subsidy withdrawal, helping to plug some of the most horrendous notorious holes and release of scarce resources for the more pressing needs of the people has also not escaped the ire of the former president.

â€œItâ€™s a known fact that the withdrawal of subsidies had been on the wish list of the Obasanjo-led Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. They failed in achieving these measures because, one there was a shared greed. They plundered the treasury as much as anyone could in the name of either subsidy or waiver with reckless impunity.

â€œTwo, is to say it takes courage and rare statesmanship on the part of a leader to do as President Buhari to shun populism and seek the best interest of the people and the state, providing the kind of reform and development that Nigeria urgently needs.

â€œThis President has run an administration focused on infrastructure and development. He has repaired our damaged relations with neighbours and our traditional allies such as the UK, US, China, Russia, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia and the others with lots of benefits to the country.

â€œIt is a pro-business administration that has used diplomacy to unlock bilateral trade and investment.

â€œHe leads a government that has liberalized the investment climate and market access by achieving reforms that have placed the country in the list of the worldâ€™s top reforming economies.

â€œNigeria, which other nations had mocked and ridiculed for so many things that were wrong is today progressing at a pace reflecting its size and potential.

â€œWith so much to show and many more coming, it is little surprise that President Buhari would be the object of envy and harsh unfair challenges by politicians who failed to deliver, but continue to nurse ambitions of delighting the audience long after their curtain has been drawn.â€
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/09/youre-nigerias-divider-in-chief-presidency-blasts-obasanjo/amp/