Tag: President Buhari - Page 15 - African News Today

My $1.9 Billion in Minnesota Bank – Femi Adesina

26Feb

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Corruption, News, Nigeria

My $1.9 Billion in Minnesota Bank – Femi Adesina

Let’s have a comic diversion today from weightier matters of our national life. Because what I want to discuss can only be comic, if not also idiotic and otiose. Yes, you read the headline right. The money I allegedly stashed at a bank in Minnesota, United States of America. Not millions of dollars. But billions. $1.9 billion. Holy Moses! This misinformation, disinformation and hate speech first came out in 2016, about one year into my stint in government. Before then, I had been enjoying my work as a journalist and newspaper manager, in what I considered a comfort zone, never sparing a thought for service in government. And then, the offer to serve President Muhammadu Buhari came. Of course, I would follow him from Cape to Cairo, from Sambisa to anywhere. So I accepted. Goodbye anon...

Nigerians Have Shed Enough Blood – Buhari

22Feb

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

News, Nigeria, Safety, Security, Violence

Nigerians Have Shed Enough Blood – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has lamented that Nigerians had shed enough blood over concerns that could have been amicably resolved. This is contained in a statement by the Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu on Sunday titled, ‘Billiri chieftaincy tussle: President Buhari condemns violence, calls for maximum restraint to avoid escalation’. Shehu quoted Buhari to have spoken in reaction to the violence in Gombe State arising from the Billiri chieftaincy tussle. According to Shehu, the President expressed “great shock and deep concern” over the incident. The President said, “I’m seriously disturbed by the outbreak of violence in Gombe State and call on the parties involved to exercise maximum restraint to avoid escalation. “The easy resort to v...

President Buhari: The Unheralded Achievements – Femi Adesina

19Feb

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, News, Nigeria, Security

President Buhari: The Unheralded Achievements – Femi Adesina

Let me give due credit for the idea of this piece. President Muhammadu Buhari had said recently that elites in the country were not giving due accolades to his administration in terms of where it met the country, what it grapples with, and where it has been able to take the nation to, thus far. The position of Mr President was widely published by the traditional and digital media, and it became an object of debate. In the middle of it all, I received a phone call from Prince Nduka Obaigbena, Chairman of Arise Television and Publisher of Thisday Newspapers. “Mr President says the elite have not given due credit to the administration. That means there are achievements that are not reported, underreported, or not celebrated at all. Come to Arise Television, and talk about it.” It ...

Buhari Names Ogbonnaya Orji as NEITI Boss

18Feb

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

News, Nigeria

Buhari Names Ogbonnaya Orji as NEITI Boss

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Dr Ogbonnaya Orji as the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative for a single term of five years. This was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by the Director of Information in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Willie Bassey. According to the statement, the appointment was “in accordance with the provision of Section 12 (2) (a) and 6 (3) of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (Establishment) Act, 2007. Bassey said, “The appointment takes effect from February 19 2021. Until the appointment, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji was the agency’s Director of Communications and Advocacy. “He began his career at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria and al...

Buhari Appoints 40-Year-Old Bawa as New EFCC Boss

16Feb

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Law Enforcement, News, Nigeria

Buhari Appoints 40-Year-Old Bawa as New EFCC Boss

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa as the new Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. The President has asked the Senate to confirm the appointment of Bawa. This was contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina on Tuesday titled “President Buhari requests Senate to confirm Abdulrasheed Bawa as EFCC boss.” The statement partly read, “President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the Senate to confirm Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa as substantive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. “In a letter to President of the Senate, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, the President said he was acting in accordance with Paragraph 2(3) of Part1, CAP E1 of EFCC Act 2004. “Bawa, 40, is a tr...

Buhari Won’t Tolerate Ethnic, Religious Violence – Garba Shehu

15Feb

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

News, Nigeria, Safety, Security, Violence

Buhari Won’t Tolerate Ethnic, Religious Violence – Garba Shehu

Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed the President’s resolve not to allow any ethnic or religious group to malign or perpetrate violence against other groups. This was contained in a statement titled, “President Buhari condemns reported cases of ethnic violence in the country.” Shehu issued the statement in the wake of an alleged case of ethnic violence in Shasa, Ibadan, Oyo State. The statement partly read, “President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed that his government will protect all religious and ethnic groups, whether majority or minority in line with its responsibility under the constitution. “In a reaction to reports of the breakout of violence in some parts of the country by some ethnic and sectional groups, President Buhari w...

Femi Adesina: Ex-Service Chiefs as Ambassadors. Why Not?

13Feb

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

News, Nigeria, Security

Femi Adesina: Ex-Service Chiefs as Ambassadors. Why Not?

Almost everything in our country is accompanied by some sort of furore. You do, you are damned. You don’t do, you are damned. No wonder President Muhammadu Buhari often says in private conversations, when some tumults occur on certain issues: “Head or tail, you never win with some Nigerians.” And he then smiles, to show that he has learnt to live with it. That was what happened last week when the nomination of the immediate past Service Chiefs as non-career Ambassadors was announced. The ululation from certain quarters could almost pull down the sky. Some people said: Are they the only Nigerians who can do it? After serving for more than five years in plum positions? They failed, how can they then be rewarded for failure? And then, the most otiose, from a certain political party: ...

10Feb

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Agriculture, Legislature, News, Nigeria

Ban Open Grazing, Senator Tells Buhari

Tolulope Odebiyi, a member of the Nigerian Senate has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sign an executive order to ban open grazing by herdsmen in the country. The senator who represents the Ogun West Senatorial district on Wednesday while regretting the invasion of killer herdsmen into the country from neighbouring countries asked Buhari to take immediate action. Odebiyi said, “It is an indictment on our leadership that people are coming into Nigeria to rape, maim and kill our people. It is upsetting and we must rise up to this occasion. I rise that the President need to speak and calm the nation. “The President can sign an Executive Order banning open grazing. There are actions that he can take immediately but nothing is being done.” The South-West region has been in the ey...

Presidency Defends Nomination of Ex-service Chiefs as Ambassadors

7Feb

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Armed Forces, News, Nigeria, Security

Presidency Defends Nomination of Ex-service Chiefs as Ambassadors

Presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, has defended the decision to nominate ex-service chiefs as non-career ambassadors-designate. President Muhammadu Buhari had forwarded their names to the senate for confirmation urging expeditious consideration. In its reaction, the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, had criticised the move, accusing Buhari of trying “to shield the immediate past service chiefs from investigation over alleged killing of innocent Nigerians and crimes against humanity”. However, Shehu in his reaction said the ex-service chiefs were nominated as a reward for their hard work and sacrifice. He said the transition is “normal in decent democratic societies” and asked the PDP to stop defaming the former service chiefs. Shehu said, “The P...

5Feb

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

News, Nigeria

Priest and President – Femi Adesina

Let’s go back in time to May 2004, when the lands of Yelwa-Shendam, in Plateau State, had turned crimson. Primitive fury and hatred were unleashed, leading to internecine bloodbath. Hundreds and hundreds of people were killed along religious lines. It eventually led to Governor Joshua Dariye being removed, as a state of emergency was declared, and a retired Army General appointed sole administrator. While the place was turned into killing fields, the then President Olusegun MATTHEW Obasanjo (emphasis on that middle name) visited, and met with the different stakeholders. During the dialogue session, the then Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Plateau State asked a question the President found offensive. And the Owu man, a retired Army General, flew off the handle. H...