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Yar’adua Gave Up Governancewithin First 100 Days —el-rufai by Tolexander: 4:19am On Feb 09, 2013 |
FORMER Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai has said that one of the reasons the late President Umaru Yar’Adua failed in office was owing to lack of self confidence. In his 628-page memoir entitled, The Accidental Public Servant, el- Rufai said that Yar’Adua always fretted and felt insecure among brilliant minds; hence he avoided surrounding himself with enough competent hands who could disagree with him based on superior arguments. According to the former minister, it was in the character of the deceased to find a way to end a relationship, once he discovered one to be outspoken, intelligent and independent-minded. He said it was because of his deep understanding of the personality of the late president that he (el-Rufai) chose not to work with him while in office so as not to damage their cordial relationship. el-Rufai said: “Knowing Umaru better overtime and longer than most people that worked with him as president, I was convinced that working with him would damage our cordial relationship. One of Umaru’s basic problems was that he was insecure and could therefore be irrational about many things. “Part of the reasons I think he failed as president was that this deep insecurity prevented him from surrounding himself with enough numbers of competent, independent-minded people who could disagree with him. This is because good people often have strong opinions and necessarily disagree with others, including their leaders. They are naturally confident, outspoken and will not always agree with the leader’s views and will say so. “Umaru had no tolerance at all for people who argued or disagreed with him. “Once a person disagreed with Umaru once or twice, that person would never have access to him, ever again, he would just block him out.” The former minister also revealed that governance began to suffer barely 100 days after Yar’Adua assumed office because he felt intimidated by the volume of work and challenges of the office of president. El-Rufai claimed the late governor of Katsina State kept in touch with him, saying that he “perpetually needed to see me, to request help,” which he obliged the late the president by way of meetings. “But then when we would sit down again, it was as though the previous conversation had never happened and we would start all over. ‘I need you around here, he uttered this phrase to me more than thrice that summer and then periods of radio silence followed, despite the intermittent requests for some involvement. “What was happening behind the scenes, and I say this only after hearing it from multiple sources who were on the inside, was that after those first 100 days or so, Yar’Adua had given up on being able to run the Federal Government. His first week, the amount of paperwork that came to his desk was so overwhelming. He could not believe that the president was required to read all those memos and approve or comment on each one,” el-Rufai stated. Recalling that the late president was nicknamed Bad Man by students of Barewa College, Zaria, where the former minister said he first met Yar’Adua in 1972, he said Yar’Aadua “drank all the time, smoked a lot, was not a strict disciplinarian at all. “He was quite bright though, and despite reportedly sleeping away his two years of A-Levels and mostly missing classes, he still made good enough grades to be admitted into university at a time when most people failed all four A-Level papers.” Buhari, Uwais, Sanusi, govs grace book launch Meanwhile, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), on Thursday rejected the notion that what the country needs to excel are strong institutions, saying that rather, what Nigeria needs is actually a strong leader. President Goodluck Jonathan has always harped on the need to develop strong institutions as a way to place Nigeria on the appropriate pedestal for development. But speaking in Abuja as a co- presenter of the book written by el-Rufai, the former head of state agreed that while there was the need for strong institutions, those of Nigeria have been destroyed and now required strong hands to rebuild them. He observed that institutions were strong in other countries because “the technocrats there allow the politicians to mess up themselves but make sure the right thing is done, but in Nigeria here, those who think they are strong destroy the institutions.” He added: “Paradoxically, we need strong people back to rebuild the institutions.” In a thinly veiled reference to the present administration, the former presidential candidate regretted that so much money was being appropriated to security to the detriment of other vital sectors of the nation’s economy without the desired result. He noted that while the late Premier of Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello allocated 43 per cent of the budget to education and his colleague in the Western Region devoted more than 55 per cent, the present government was allocating 2 per cent or 5 per cent of its budget to education and the rest on security.” Buhari said that the country did not need leaders “who talk glibly about this nation and they don’t know how to develop the nation.” Speaking on the book, he praised the courage of the author but remarked: “How I wish I knew he would write this book, I would not have spoken to him the way I did.” The chief presenter of the book and governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, said in his remarks that the book would connect the people to the “compelling necessity to ensure that only first eleven are entrusted with the nation’s destiny.” Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State was of the view that el-Rufai “is indeed a controversial person,” adding that the general perception of the former minister “is that he is arrogant, disrespectful, but despite this, he is simply a man you cannot ignore, a man who is frank to a fault.” Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State observed that the recent merger of four opposition political parties was welcome as it would ensure that “riff-raffs” do not find their way to positions of authority in the country. In his remark, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lamido Sanusi Lamido, stated that the problem with the country “is our total disregard for merit and competence.” He added: “We should stop asking where one is from or what religion he belongs but what do you have to offer. We should begin to judge people by their character and not by their affiliation.” He also said that people should be honest enough to tell their bosses the truth rather than be sycophants. In a message he sent in, former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu, observed that the book has opened a door that “leads us into seeing up, close and personal what Nigeria is and how those that wield power behave and misbehave.” According to him, “Thanks to Nasir, we now know that most of our leaders are soon overcome and consumed by their unbridled lust for power and that the public or Nigerians are mere irritants. |
Re: Yar’adua Gave Up Governancewithin First 100 Days —el-rufai by CyberG: 5:33am On Feb 09, 2013 |
Most of the contributions directly thump retardeen on the head as guilty for he indeed is the weakest and most clueless leader since Nigeria was ever known. The lapdogs and Okupe are soon coming to lick their oga's shyte in defending the useless retardeen. |
Re: Yar’adua Gave Up Governancewithin First 100 Days —el-rufai by Ngwakwe: 8:20am On Feb 09, 2013 |
Why are some Nairalanders programmed to either hate or love. No independent minded analysis on a given thread. Moderation is a great virtue Anyhow, is your life, do as you like but don't enter into trouble before you can retrace your step. |
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