this interview with Dr. Reuben Abati, Special
Adviser to the President on media and publicity, he
explains the type of persona President Goodluck
Jonathan his and the success of his re-election
declaration penultimate week.
He speaks about the uncommon virtue of calmness
and good sense of President Jonathan.
On last week’s drama at the National Assembly,
Abati categorically denied any involvement of the
presidency in the episode.
Excerpts:
The President has indicated his readiness to
contest in the next election. What will he do
differently that he has not done?
President Jonathan stated that in his speech. If
you look at that speech, he indeed spoke like a
statesman. He focused on issues unlike some
other persons who have indicated interest in the
office of the President. He did not use his speech
to insult anybody and a lot of people have praised
the maturity and the statesmanship that the
President demonstrated. He thanked Nigerians for
the opportunity that they have given him. He went
on to outline what his administration has done in
various sectors of the economy, how this
administration has been able to turn Nigeria into a
favourite investment destination and the largest
economy in Africa and how, under his watch, the
scope for human expression and freedom have
been very well expanded.
In the later part of his speech, he went ahead to
say that his administration is committed to
continuing to expand the opportunities that have
been created for Nigerians to realise themselves to
the fullest especially in the area of job creation.
The determination of his administration, if re-
elected, is to continue to take Nigeria forward. In
four years, he has been able to transform the
economy and our lives in many ways. He wants to
take that achievement further.
That is why in the later part of his speech you will
find key words about his vision for the future: it is
a vision of continual progress, it is a vision of
expanded opportunities, it is a vision that will
further empower Nigerian youths, it is a vision of a
country that will remain a leading country and a
top nation in various aspects including sports,
science, communications and technology. It is
about looking forward. The whole of that speech is
a continuation of his conversation with Nigerians.
One of the leading Muslim clerics in the country,
Sheikh Gumi in an unsolicited advice to the
president and the chieftain of the APC, General
Buhari said the duo should not present
themselves for election because doing so will
further divide the country. What do you think of
that advice?
Sheikh Gumi is completely wrong in terms of his
advice to President Jonathan. I read the interview
too but he did not say categorically that the
President has not done well in terms of
performance. He alleged that the President is
divisive but anyone in this country will know that
that allegation is completely incorrect. The bulk of
his comment is based on the challenge of Boko
Haram, that is the insecurity in the country. He
did not deny the fact that this administration has
been able to transform the country in many ways,
but he was alleging that this administration is
aiding and abetting Boko Haram and that the
administration is divisive. Anybody who is
objective will see that President Jonathan cannot
be blamed for the challenges of insecurity in the
North Eastern part of the country. It is an inherited
problem.
But there was a turning of the tide in April with the
abduction of the Chibok girls. I think when people
talk about this insecurity challenge, they should be
more constructive and objective in terms of how
complex the challenge of terrorism is. The other
thing to realise is that the terrorism we are dealing
with has become part of the Global Jihad and this
is well demonstrated in terms of the proven
connection between terrorists in the North East and
international groups like Al Qaeda and Al Shabab.
We expect Nigerians to continue to encourage the
armed forces and to appreciate the efforts of this
administration in checking terrorism and
insurgency. What is happening in the North East is
a threat to all of us, whether we are from the
South, East, North or West. Opinion leaders like
Sheikh Gumi ought to be better informed. In any
case, his opinion is a minority opinion. What is
very clear is that the majority of Nigerians at all
levels are solidly behind President Jonathan. Look
at the day President Jonathan made his declaration
for 2015, no other person has been able to attract
such a show of affection, solidarity and support
across the country and also among Nigerians in
the Diaspora. If the declaration was a test of
popularity, that was a very good outing. We are
happy with the fact that the President is the
President of all persons. Nay-sayers like Sheik
Gumi are in the minority.
One of the arguments raised is the fact that
making a declaration just a day after school
children were killed in Potiskum was rather
insensitive of the president?
Majority of the people making the allegation are
members of the APC. Given the success of the
event, given the overwhelming demonstration of
support for President Jonathan by all categories of
Nigerians, you should expect that naturally the
opposition who say they are also interested in the
office would be jealous and will try to find ways to
discredit the event. That is what they have been
trying to do but they have not succeeded because
Nigerians know the truth. They know that the
declaration was a prescheduled event and it was
an event that attracted a lot of local and
international attention. Members of the opposition
are also just being hypocritical.
A day after the President’s declaration, there was
an event in Benin City, a celebration by the Edo
State Government, which was attended by APC
chieftains. If they wanted to stand on a moral high
ground, why didn’t they postpone their own event?
But nobody is talking about that. Our position is
that governance cannot stop. President Jonathan
cannot stop running the country; he has to
continue to provide leadership. All of us, not just
the President, must refuse to be intimidated by
terrorists.
That is why the President says again and again
that to defeat terror we need solidarity, collective
action and all Nigerians must place the interest of
Nigeria first. What we get all the time from APC is
a case of particular individuals placing their own
ambitions first. I think in this case, they have no
point whatsoever but I sympathise with them, with
all their grand-standing, they are seeing very
clearly that President Jonathan is the favourite and
Nigerians are solidly behind him.
The argument has been that the President as the
commander in chief has not demonstrated enough
leadership and people point to the fact that more
territories are being lost to the terrorists.
It is not correct to say that the President is not
providing enough leadership. Do they expect the
President as the Commander-in-Chief to mobilise
and go to the war front himself and begin to drive
the tanks? Nobody can doubt that President
Jonathan has stood firm on the side of the security
forces and on the side of the victims. That is why
he launched the Presidential Initiative in the North
East. That is why he introduced the Victims
Support Fund. That is why his government has
also initiated the Safe Schools Initiative. He has
also been in the fore-front of internationalising the
challenge of terror to make everyone understand
that this is a battle for the whole world. To say that
he has not shown leadership is wrong.
Although there may seem to have been setbacks
in recent times, going forward you will see that the
tide will turn against the terrorists because the
soldiers have continued to receive training and
equipment and the government has shown very
clearly that it will spare no effort until this
incursion of global terrorism into our territory is
checked.
The economy seems to be facing some challenge
now because of the drop in the price of crude. The
coordinating minister of the economy made some
announcement about the possibility of austerity
measure. What is government doing so that we will
not have to depend on the politics of international
oil pricing?
It is true that crude oil is our principal export and
major revenue earner but before President
Jonathan assumed office crude oil was about 90%
plus responsible for foreign exchange earnings in
this country. But under his watch, non-oil export
has gone up considerably by about 40% and he
referred to that in his speech.
This administration has succeeded in diversifying
the economy in many ways and that is one of the
major high points of the achievements of this
administration. Before President Jonathan
assumed office, agriculture was treated as a social
development programme. Today, Nigeria is a
major exporter of cassava to China and some other
parts of Asia and the revenue from cassava alone
is very high. Cement used to be a major import
for Nigerians but today Nigeria is a major exporter
of cement, with Dangote Cement and Lafarge in
particular, setting up factories in other parts of
Africa. Manufacturing has also increased in terms
of capacity utilisation. There is more activity within
the economy. Yes, crude oil still remains the
dominant export but what has happened is that
there has been a drop in the price of crude oil in
the international market.
In terms of internal revenue, since this government
took over, it has placed a lot of emphasis on
revenue collection, and tax reform. Last year, the
government set a specific target for the Federal
Internal Revenue Service. That target is going to
be increased in the coming year. There was about
$70 billion target for 2014 and government has
managed to collect as at this point over $60
billion. For 2015 that target has been raised to
about $120 billion.
But this is not about more tax for poor people; the
projection is to protect the poor. The tax is going
to be on luxury items, and specifically for the 2015
Budget Framework. The drop in crude oil price is
not going to be permanent but government is
prepared. We are doing a lot more in other areas
of the economy to increase non-oil revenue and
that is a step in the right direction.
What has been your experience being on this job?
It has been very exciting. I will encourage
everyone in civil society specifically journalists,
whenever they have the opportunity to serve in
government, they should come and have the
experience because they will learn a lot. For me it
has been a very good learning opportunity. I have
learnt a lot from working for President Jonathan. I
used to easily get angry and upset with people but
working with him, I have learnt that oftentimes you
need to be patient with people, to be a bit more
tolerant and yet remain firm and focused.
People who are close to the President have said
that he is very slow to anger but when it gets to
that level it is always very explosive.
No, he does not get angry in an explosive manner,
he is not that kind of person. He is a very calm
and contemplative person, and he is very tolerant.
I have never seen him getting really very angry but
the thing is if you do something that he objects to
and he calls you and he points out your faults to
you, you will feel very sorry for yourself. You will
see that he must have been observing that
particular mistake you are making for a long time.
He will not just get angry with you, he will call you
and confront you with the evidence, with detailed
illustration and you will on your own realise that
you should not do that next time. You cannot
afford to be lazy around him; if you are productive
he knows, and if you are just hanging around just
to be seen to be doing something, he knows, but
he will allow you go on fooling yourself until one
day, he will call you to order.
Before you came into government, you were very
critical about government policies and decisions.
Several years after, what is it that you know now
that you didn’t know then?
If you work in government, you will gain a better
understanding of how government works and what
goes on. A lot of people out there really do not
have much access to real information about what
goes on in government. People just make wrong
assumptions and on the basis of wrong
assumptions, they jump to conclusions. I also
found out that a lot of people out there easily form
opinions, people call it perception but even
perception should be informed. For instance, when
we went to Chad, a photograph was taken at the
airport and when it was put out we explained that
this was at the holding room at the airport, during
the reception for the President. Some people
argued ‘that cannot be the airport; you are trying
to deceive us’ whereas that was a fact that could
be easily verified.
Nobody will make any effort to verify and even
when you offer any explanation, people will say
you are reacting; you should be proactive. I have
seen a lot and I have reached a stage where when
I hear these comments, I ask the people if they
have ever held the office of Special Adviser on
Media. I ask: on what basis are they making those
comments? In addition, every Presidency has its
own objective conditions, which you must
understand. Anyhow, I think anybody who comes
into government will gain more information and
knowledge beyond those general comments on
how society should be.
How much has this job affected your social life?
It is a 365 days, 24/7 job. I am on call 24 hours;
there are a few of us like that who have to be
around all the time. That is why I am unable to
socialise as much as before. Again, this is a very
sensitive assignment. Before I took up this job, on
my way from the office, I could stop by at a pepper
soup joint. I went to the club and attended social
functions. I socialised a lot. I used to jump from
one event to the other. On this job, I really cannot
do that. I have to watch where I go, what I say and
who I associate with. I have to choose where I go
carefully and who I relate with otherwise you could
be easily misrepresented. This kind of job
exposes you to a lot of scrutiny. It is also a job
that gives certain privileges and special access. I
attend privileged meetings, and I took an oath of
office, which in sum says I must discharge my
duties with a sense of responsibility.
What is your greatest challenge relating with
journalists who cover the presidency?
I have a very large press corps who are here full
time covering the president. We quarrel, we make
up. When I came initially, most of them did not
understand my style, they were used to a
particular kind of old style. Some of them used to
boast that they have been here since the days of
IBB. I used to wonder how that is an achievement.
Over time, however, we have come to understand
each other and we have reached a stage where
both the press corps and this office work as a
family. Even when we quarrel, we all know that it is
all in the line of duty. I don’t fail to realise that
they are here not as staff of the President, they are
not here as political appointees, they are
employees of media houses, they are here to cover
the president and report, and they are answerable
to their employers, some of whom even ask them
to look for negative stories. My own job is to
facilitate their work, ensure good coverage of the
President, and to make sure that I prevent them
from reporting unnecessary news.
What do you think is the greatest
misunderstanding of Nigerians about the
president?
I think Nigerians appreciate the President. Ordinary
Nigerians understand the President. They know
that this is a President who is doing his very best
to serve the people and who has achieved a lot.
They are solidly behind him and I have no doubt
that in the 2015 elections, they are going to queue
up behind him and support him robustly and
ensure that he gets the second term that he is
asking for. The people who grumble are those in
the opposition, the ambitious persons who also
want power. They constitute a minority but a very
vocal minority that owns instruments of
propaganda. They own radio stations; they have
newspapers.
There are some newspapers, it does not matter
what the President does, they will not report it
well. It does not matter what the President says,
they will look for how they can twist it. You can
identify the papers and those are the papers that
are owned by politicians, these are media houses
that are owned by people with desperate political
ambitions and the public is not fooled.
When critics go out of their way to insult the first
lady and the office of the president, as a human
being, does he take it very personal?
He does not take it personal and he has responded
to this question on very many occasions. He
knows that his job will attract criticism because if
you are a leader, you will be criticized. On one
occasion, he even said he is the most criticized
leader in the world. What he asks for is objectivity
and fairness. He prefers to be criticised objectively
and constructively, not all this heckling and
hustling. That is our message to the opposition. It
is not that the idea of somebody or a group
constituting themselves into an opposition is bad,
but in other parts of the world when people call
themselves the opposition, they provide alternative
ideas, they engage the government at the level of
policy, not this perpetual abuse and name calling
that the APC engages in on a daily basis.
The Police last week locked up the national
assembly, tear gassed the Speaker of the House of
Representatives. People have accused the
president of being behind it. Did the president
order the closure of the national assembly?
The matter is being investigated; we should await
the outcome of the investigations and so I urge
that we should all refrain from saying anything that
may be prejudicial, partisan or uninformed as
some people are already doing, which may then
turn out to be incorrect. But I can tell you that
President Jonathan did not authorise any form of
assault on the National Assembly. He did not. He
has no hand in it. The police authorities
themselves have said that they acted on their own,
based on information that some thugs were
planning to cause mayhem and compromise the
safety of lawmakers. Let the police explain exactly
what happened. And they have said they will. This
is certainly not about President Jonathan. He has
a very excellent relationship with the National
Assembly.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/11/jonathan-order-police-invade-nassembly-abati/#sthash.NSOM3bXK.dpuf

Residency in confusion. Doyin okupe in trying to vindicate the Nigeria police said they were carrying out their constitutional duty and Abati is here disowning the police.

? ?

Trash!
R. Abati, Who did then, if GEJ didn't?

Is d police waka come hear. OK continuous All those lies you are sharing in Abuja remember Daris God ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

where are those APC bigot?

Can't be Jonathan, same way Fayose didn't order the blockage of the ekiti assembly against the APC members., the IG and CP in both cases were just overzealous and want to celebrate GEJ's birthday and fayose's inauguration.

Who doesn't know whenever PDP want to carry out any nefarious and anti-democratic move, Ekiti is the testing ground for Impunity.

Impunity won't last forever, Ask Abacha he felt he was untouchable and invisible

1di0t okugbe! I believe you Jonathan didn't, my father did. Hope you believe me too!

Okay,we've heard, but one question; If GEJ did not,then who did

OK let's penalise the IGP

NapoIeon:
Tambuwal should be killed asap

And who told you that you are not going be the one that will fall victim of police accidental discharge

I hope those noise makers called APC are listening or reading this .

NapoIeon:
Tambuwal should be killed asap

why wish death on someone because of politics

Come to think of it you are an unknown entity to both APC and PDP so why the HBP na

I laugh in Kikuyu

GEJ didn't order it... Lord Lugard did.





This Abati go dey talk like say he no get sense at all.

Well... Mr Abati can say whatever he likes and i will believe whatever i choose to believe

Jonathan must have been having ogogoro bing with Abati that they could not remember where IG got his orders. Nigeria is truly on Auto-pilot, if the commander in chief have no clue where Command for the Armed Forces is coming from.

When I was a teenager I used to watch Patitos gang on TV with Pat utomi, Reuben Abati, Eugene Ohu and others. Reuben Abati was my favourite analyst on the show. He always had a logical and funny insight into every topic that was discussed. And then i also had the pleasure of reading his column in the guardian on sundays.
Its very sad to now watch this same man has let down an entire generation of young people that looked up to him held him in high esteem. He's now supporting and defending all those things he used to codemn on his show and in his column. So this is what money and selfish ambition can do to people? Its very frightening.

Story for the gods...

pacesetter939:
Trash!
R. Abati, Who did then, if GEJ didn't?

The police. Did u not read it in that epistle? Abi wetin dey do u?

SeverusSnape:
Okay,we've heard, but one question; If GEJ did not,then who did

The police. Na wah 4 Nairalanders.

Oh ma God, Abati de?

Like seriously? Lol!!! Don't know where to start from. If I may ask what is the IG is still doing in the office or the men that attacked NASA if Gej knows nothing about it? In my opinion age should be sacked! Same Gej was not aware when Mbu was doing his madness in rivers and same Gej was no aware for 2 weeks when 200 gals were kidnap. Then what is dis clueless man aware of? Back to the comments on dis blog, I now understand fully well why Ibb said that the present youths can't lead dis nation. I can read some comments of some elements that think thru their a$$ because they are too lazy to use their functionless brain. We are talking about No4 man of our nation and the No1 man is not aware? Then he is not fit to rule dis nation.

cosmatika:
Muhammadu Buhari On BBC HardTalk With
Stephen Sackur
SS: Good day Mr. Buhari, welcome to BBC
HardTalk.
MB: Thanks Stephen **smiles**
SS: Now you have declared to contest again, can
we know your agenda Sir?
MB: To grab power from PDP
SS: I mean, your manifesto Sir?
MB: I said to grab power from PDP
SS: Ok, how can you improve the economy?
MB: I will fight corruption
SS: What are your plans for healthcare and
education?
MB: I will stop corruption
SS: What's your plan for housing and urban
development?
MB: I will kill corruption
SS: How can you fix insecurity, especially Boko
Haram?
MB: I will murder corruption
SS: How can you build roads and upgrade
infrastructure?
MB: I will finish corruption
SS: What are your plans for youths empowerment
and agriculture?
MB: I will destroy corruption
SS: Excuse me Sir, why is your agenda centred on
corruption alone?
MB: It’s because the corruption under Goodluck
Jonathan is unprecedented and I'm the only
person that can end it.
SS: Really and you didn't end it during Abacha's
regime when Nigeria was the most corrupt country
in the world in 1997, second most corrupt country
in 1996 and third in 1998 according Transparency
International Report? You quietly served under that
most corrupt government and nobody heard your
voice about corruption.
MB: **his face changes** I beg your pardon
Stephen. Did you bring me here to insult me? Was
this what we discussed when you invited me?
SS: Mr. Buhari, this is BBC HardTalk - a no-hold
barrel interview session. Pls, can you kindly answer
my question?
MB: I ain't gonna answer you (he tries to speak
like an American but with Fulani accent)
SS: Why Mr. Buhari?
MB: Because I wasn't the president then
SS: Ok, that reminds me. During your illegitimate
regime (1983-85), you jailed the following persons
between 70-100 years jail terms even when some
of them did nothing: Alex Ekweume, Sam Mbakwe,
Ambrose Ali, Emeka Ojukwu, Lateef Jakande, Jim
Nwobodo and Fela etc.
MB: They were corrupt. That was why I jailed
them.
SS: What about Ibrahim Awwal - your personal
friend and the then governor of Niger state?
MB: He was not corrupt
SS: Excuse me Sir. Ibrahim Awwal was arrested at
Heathrow airport right here in London with £14m.
You simply placed him under house arrest for few
weeks; the same way you placed Shehu Shagari
(the then president) under house arrest, but locked
up Alex Ekweme (the VP) in Kirikiri. Why?
MB: Ain't gonna stay here and listen to this
f**king bullshit (still speaking like an American)
SS: Mr. Buhari, it seems you're a tribal bigot
because it's on record that you never jailed corrupt
politicians from your region even when they were
the most corrupt.
----------------------------------
At this point Buhari couldn't bear it anymore. He
got up and grabbed Stephen Sackur on his shirt
collar. Met Police invaded the studio and got him
arrested.
The Police said, do you think here is Nigeria where
you threaten "dogs and baboon" or where you
lament that the "fight against Boko Haram is war
against the north"? This is the United
Kingdom...you'll be jailed for assault!
Buhari stops speaking like an American and
switches to Hausa language: Don Allah kada ku
kurkuku ni. Kamar mayar da ni zuwa Nijeriya. Wani
ya kamata don Allah sa ni El-Rufai wayar o.
(Please do not jail me. Just send me back to
Nigeria. Someone should please get me El-Rufai
phone o) LMAO!

So, writing this crap is like the biggest achievement in your pathetic life huh? poor thing

Manazz:


So, writing this crap is like the biggest achievement in your pathetic life huh? poor thing

My middle finger gives u a Standing ovation

cosmatika:
My middle finger gives u a Standing ovation

How pathetic.

crown777:
Like seriously? Lol!!! Don't know where to start from. If I may ask what is the IG is still doing in the office or the men that attacked NASA if Gej knows nothing about it? In my opinion age should be sacked! Same Gej was not aware when Mbu was doing his madness in rivers and same Gej was no aware for 2 weeks when 200 gals were kidnap. Then what is dis clueless man aware of? Back to the comments on dis blog, I now understand fully well why Ibb said that the present youths can't lead dis nation. I can read some comments of some elements that think thru their a$$ because they are too lazy to use their functionless brain. We are talking about No4 man of our nation and the No1 man is not aware? Then he is not fit to rule dis nation.

He is not always aware, and this f.ool of a president still claims to be in control of the police? even if the police are committing theses gross illegality on their own, as the head of the executive (which the police is part of) what is the president's stand on these issues. What official statement(s) has he issued out? what sanctions has been meted out to the officers issuing these illegal orders? His silence could only mean he supports whatever the police is doing or he is afraid to check the entire police command or he has lost control of the police and the police has gone ROGUE or maybe he simply doesn't "give a damn". In any or a combination of these three scenarios, it shows the so called President is not fit to preside over the affairs of the nation. He should just resign.

Wonderfull job. Nice one from Abati. I bet the children of anger never took time to read the whole article like the ones above me, talking anger as usual.

The fear 200 signatures is the beginning of wisdom.