Interview

Buhari: One Hell Of An Interview!

President Muhammadu Buhari has finally broken his long silence. He broke his silence last Thursday through an exclusive interview on the Abuja-based Arise TV network. He spoke on a number of important national issues. He talked about IPOB, agitation for Oduduwa and Biafra Republics, Fulani herdsmen and their clashes with native farmers and land-owners, #EndSARS protest, insecurity, poverty, unemployment and lopsided national appointments among others. The interview lasted less than an hour and the hard questions and follow-ups appeared to be a taboo.

However, that the interview happened at all was a pleasant surprise package ostensibly packaged smartly by the President’s media and publicity handlers. Since coming to power democratically six odd years ago President Buhari had remained aloof, mute, stone-faced and stone-silent in the face of the myriad of challenges confronting the nation.

In the interview he sounded unpresidential, undiplomatic and incoherent. Yet it afforded us a rare opportunity of taking another hard look at the man presiding over the woes of millions of Nigerians with little or no democratic responsibility.

Buhari is hardly an orator or a good communicator. He barely speaks to Nigerians because he is aware of his intellectual shortcomings. He loves to delegate duties because he knows that his presidential profile is one marked by mediocrity and irresponsibility. This leadership deficiency could be at the root of our national decline.

If the alleged dementia he is suffering from could permit him to come to grips with the Nigerian condition of today he would have sounded more conciliatory towards the opposition — especially the unconventional armed and dangerous hue. Those with genuine complaints against Nigeria ought to be encouraged to come to the table for dialogue rathan than using menacing language.

On the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) violently campaigning for a Biafran nationhood the President was playing ostrich by describing them as “a dot on a circle with nowhere to go”. Waxing dismissive and disconnected from the reality on the ground Buhari demonstrated his poor understanding of the issue of Biafra and the agitators desperately seeking secession.

Reaching for a military solution to the problem the Head of State made it clear he had instructed his military and police attack dogs to go on the offensive. The consequencies were obviously lost in his hawkish calculations and conclusions. The President must be an executive fool if he ever thought that Nnamdi Kanu and his boys would be impressed by his threat.

On the issue of marginalisation of the south-east region in the scheme of things Nigeriana he sought to play down the problem by asking Nduka Obaigbena, Olusegun Adeniyi, Reuben Abati and Ms Tundun Abiola to refer themselves to the federal civil service and how the Igbos were justly represented. Rathan than answering the crucial question of marginalisation and injustice being meted out to the Igbos systematically he begged the question disingenuously.

He spoke about the massacres (orchestrated by Fulani herdsmen) in Benue State and how he felt the Governor, Samuel Ortom, had been calling him out unfairly. The Benue Governor happens to be the only courageous Governor among his 35 peers who had stood up to Buhari taking issues and exceptions with his poor leadership and his favouritism of his Fulani ethnic group. Of course Buhari is only good at nepotism and tribalism! Governor Ortom would be remembered, long after his gubernatorial exit from Makurdi, for his hard pro-people positions and intrepidity.

On poverty and unemployment the embattled underwhelming President acknowledged that his regime had failed to empower Nigerians blaming the accentuated insecurity and terrorism on the growing army of the poor and the needy amongst us. Yet he forgot to recognize his failure in creating jobs (despite promising a million jobs or out-of-poverty schemes during the presidential electioneering campaign) and provinding avenues for the growth of want and despair.

About the 2023 presidential poll as it concerned the ruling APC party Buhari hit the Tinubu gang in Lagos below the belt! He minced no words in saying loudly and clearly that no one in Lagos would be allowed to impose a candidate or dictate the pace for the next general elections. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his Lagos mob must have been demobilized and demoralised by the presidential declaration.

Concerning the controversial appointment of yet another northerner, Maj-Gen. Farouk Yahaya, as the new Chief of Army Staff (despite the fact that he was neither the most competent nor the next-in-line) he had said that he went for ‘competence’ in flagrant disregard of hierarchy. The President was being clever by half and telling half-truth hiding the obvious clannishness and regionalism behind the appointment. How could Gen. Yahaya be more competent than those senior to him in rank beats our imagination!

Speaking on the #EndSARS massive nationwide protest of last year October Buhari told his interviewers that the popular mass revolt was meant to remove him from power! Sadly he is still in the saddle muddling up everything. If the #EndSARS demonstrations had succeeded in removing him from power Nigeria would have since become a better place to live in.

And on Niger Republic and the railway he was building from Kano to Maradi he confessed his attachment to the French-speaking neighbouring country saying that his relations were there. He said that as Hausas and Fulanis were found in Niger so you could find Yorubas in the Benin Republic. He declared that the white men in general and the French in particular tinkered with natural boundaries for their colonial conveniences and interests! Besides, since oil had been discovered in Niger Republic building the rail-line would facilitate oil and gas trade between the countries at the expense of Benin Republic.

About the contentious question of banning of open grazing the retired General referred to the old practise dating back decades when Nigeria was still a normal country and Nigerians respecters of the law. When you recall that the southern Governors had, in the so-called Asaba Declaration, decided to ban any form of open grazing in their respective states and the silly reaction from the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, then you can afford to conclude that cows and their herders are indeed special breeds in Nigeria!

Malami even went on to compare the murderous herders and their business to the southerners (mostly Igbos) doing legitimate business selling auto spare parts in the north! Utter balderdash, arrant nonsense from the chief law officer of a dynamic great country. AGF Malami could work under President Buhari because they are both square pegs in round holes!

For us, therefore, the Buhari interview on Arise Television was nothing but a pathetic media sortie of a reclusive taciturn dictator in civilian clothes. We were disappointed by his declarations and decisions. It was one hell of an interview, all things considered.

Interview

Peru’s ex President Alberto Fujimori dies after battle with cancer

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, 86, died on Wednesday, September 11, after battling cancer.

His daughter announced the news in a post on X.

“After a long battle with cancer, our father, Alberto Fujimori, has just passed away to meet the Lord. We ask those who loved him to accompany us with a prayer for the eternal rest of his soul. Thank you so much, Dad!” Keiko Fujimori wrote, adding her name and those of her three siblings: Hiro, Sachie and Kenji.

Fujimori died in the Peruvian capital Lima nine months after having regained his freedom.

The former agronomist, who governed Peru between 1990 and 2000, suffered a number of medical complications since he entered prison in 2007.

In 2009, he was convicted of kidnap and murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison for corruption and human rights violations including being the indirect author of the massacres in the Barrios Altos and La Cantuta, where 25 were killed.

His time in office was marked by widespread human rights abuses.

Interview

Abiodun’s Policies Impacting Lives, Says Pastor Bakare

The Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare.

The Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Lagos Pastor Tunde Bakare, has described Governor Dapo Abiodun as a visionary leader whose policies and programmes are impacting positively on the lives of the people.
Bakare, who stated this in an interview with newsmen after a private meeting with the governor at his Oke-Mosan office in Abeokuta, said Prince Abiodun has executed many projects that could be verified by all and sundry.
He said: “To be honest with you, this is my first time in five years of coming here. When I entered today, I felt like a transformation had taken place here because I am familiar with this environment.
“As I was looking at the environment, I called the governor and asked him what happened. It is not magic or rocket science, but there is a lot of transformation that has taken place compared to what it used to be in the past.
“Perhaps the governor just decided that this state must be a centre of excellence, and he has made it so,” he noted.
The Cleric stressed that what he has seen and heard about the government is an indication that the state is making progress under Governor Abiodun.
“When one government goes, another one comes in. We can see what the governor is doing and the fingerprint of a visionary leader. The governor has raised the standard, and his successor would have no choice but to build on it to continually move the state forward.
“Some of the things I have heard is that salaries are paid on time, meritocracy is being put in place. If you do what is right, who is wrong and what is right will leave you alone. When the people themselves see a leader who is selfless, they definitely will support,” Bakare added.
Pastor Bakare, who hinted of his desire to relocate back to the state as a result of the impressive performance of the governor and peaceful atmosphere, emphasized that “nobody would want to be in an environment that is hostile.”

Interview

Sudan Fighting: Over 300 Persons Killed, Says WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says no fewer than 330 people have been killed due to fighting in the capital Khartoum and several other states, including Darfur States.

The UN health agency on Thursday also said no fewer than 3,200 have been injured in Sudan since a military power struggle between the Sudanese armed forces and a paramilitary group sparked violent clashes six days ago.

“The situation in Sudan is increasingly concerning and heart breaking,” WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wrote in a statement posted on his official Twitter account.

Ghebreyesus condemned all loss of life, especially attacks on civilians and healthcare.

He expressed deep concern over reports of forces occupying health facilities, underlining that attacks on healthcare are a flagrant violation of international law.

“The lack of safe access, of electricity, food, water, personnel and the diminishing medical supplies are making it nearly impossible for many health facilities to function at the exact time when there are thousands injured in need of urgent care,” he said.

Ghebreyesus urged the sides to respect the truce so that people can seek refuge or healthcare, or access food, water and medicine.

Similarly, the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also called on the parties to respect their international obligations to protect boys and girls from harm and to ensure humanitarians can quickly reach children in need.

“Five days of intense hostilities in Sudan, and four failed ceasefires, have already taken a devastating toll on the country’s children,” UNICEF Director, Catherine Russell, said in a statement.

“If the violence does not stop, this toll will only increase.”

She said at least nine children have reportedly been killed, and more than 50 reportedly injured as hostilities continued in Khartoum, the Darfur states and North Kordofan, though insecurity makes it difficult to collect and verify information.

“We have received reports of children sheltering in schools and care centres while fighting rages around them, of children’s hospitals forced to evacuate as shelling moves closer, and hospitals, health centres and other critical infrastructure damaged or destroyed, limiting access to essential and lifesaving care and medicine,” she added.

Russell said the crisis has disrupted critical-life saving care for an estimated 50,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition, who need ongoing round-the-clock care.

“The fighting also puts at risk the cold chain in Sudan, including over $40 million worth of vaccines and insulin, due to the breaks in the power supply and the inability to restock generators with fuel,” she added.