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Day Obasanjo Threw Slippers At Me - Okupe by Alphaoscar: 10:28am On Dec 20, 2014 |
DAY OBASANJO THREW SLIPPERS AT ME —Okupe Written by Saturday, 27 April 2013 00:00 Lagos Bureau Chief, LANRE ADEWOLE and reporter, MODINAT ADENEKAN, engaged President Goodluck Jonathan’s publicist, Dr. Doyin Okupe, in a no- holds-barred interview. Excerpts: Why is it that when you talk, it is Jonathan’s ‘attack dog’ at work? It’s an act of mischief from the opposition end. Before we came on board over three years ago, the opposition had a field day, especially Lai Mohammed, who bestrode the country in some form of majesty, and they developed this attitude of exchangeability. They feel they are not responsible for whatever they say. They know what I can do; that is why they put a label of ‘attack dog’ on me, to which I would say that if am going to be an ‘attack-anything’, by my age and status, I should have moved to an ‘attack lion’. It doesn’t bother me, because I don’t attack people. I pick up issues and try to dig out facts. People feel you are uncharitable to (Major-General Muhammadu) Buhari and (Senator Bola) Tinubu by calling them ‘political liabilities’ – being a former head of state and a two-time governor of Lagos State. You can be a former head of state or a three-time governor of anywhere, if circumstances or situations make you to be a burden bearer, there is nothing you can do about it. What I meant was that they carry a burden of a new political party they are not supposed to carry. By liabilities, were you insinuating that they had some ‘baggage’ to explain? Baggage is baggage, whether it’s corruption or religious bigotry. There is nothing with having your baggage and carrying your baggage. People who are already heavily burdened with political baggage will not do well for the alliance. It is quite clear that the alliance itself is not going to lead to anywhere. Buhari is perceived to be very clean and nobody has been able to hang anything on Tinubu, despite the fact that the Federal Government can prosecute. When talking about election, it has nothing to do with legality; it has to do with morality. There are three courts of justice that they can face: the court of justice which is the court in the country, the court of justice which is the court of the people, and the final court which is the court of God. But the relevant one here is the court of the people. If you are guilty in the people’s court, then you face it. The way you are defending Jonathan’s records suggests that it’s all about his re-election campaign in 2015 and not for posterity. Whether Jonathan is going to contest or not, it is important that we put down overbearing and disinformation from the opposition. Even if Jonathan will do one term, the record must be put straight. All this incompetence that is talked about is absolute nonsense. I’m telling you that there is nobody in the opposition party that has proved that he is better than Jonathan. And if anybody has, let them tell me. ACN is in control of six states. In which of those six states have you seen any outstanding performance, apart from Lagos? If I were to score them, I would score even Lagos average. There are places in Lagos from 1999 till date that you can’t see any sign of government. I don’t think it’s right that with the amount of money Lagos has, such places have not improved from Tinubu’s term till now. An example of such places is Shomolu. You cannot see any sign of government there for 12 years. Fashola is the star governor, but he is just one adoration. Who else do they have to show? Forget about the media hype and image, ACN has nothing to show, apart from Fashola. Go to Osun and Ekiti states; the people there are cursing the government. ACN has very limited success in Yoruba land, apart from Lagos. Where have they won at an open election? They lost in Imo and Ondo; and in Ekiti, Osun and Edo states, their so-called victories were from court judgments. ACN does not have a credible electoral success anywhere in the South-West, apart from Lagos. It’s a shame that Oshiomhole cannot conduct a free and fair election in Edo. Nigerians must open their eyes like the normal slogan ‘Shine your eyes’. ACN has only 40 per cent electoral advantage. The party has died by their convention which I call ‘political suicide’. It also has no national relevance whatsoever. The only relevance they have is as a Yoruba party, and they have abandoned that. What do those who see ACN as an average Yoruba party stand to gain as their benefits from the alliance? If Baba (Abraham) Adesanya were alive, would he have asked Yoruba to vote for Buhari? ACN is not an authentic party for the Yoruba people; they only represent Yoruba’s political interest. ACN is dead. I have never joined a tribal party in my life; I am not promoting tribal grouping. The All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) is also an Igbo party. If ACN has Fashola to showcase, who does PDP have? Fashola is a distant number four governor in this country. Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom is number one, according to the American report, which described him as the best governor in Nigeria. There is also the governor of Rivers State (Rotimi Amaechi) as the second. Katsina governor is the third, and then Fashola who is a distant fourth. What would you say is Jonathan’s legacy? A legacy is something that you leave when you go; you cannot talk about legacy when he is still in office. If you want me to talk about his achievements in three years, he has achieved the most significant and evidently positive development in the power sector. Also in the area of agriculture, there is no government that has surpassed the transformation in the agricultural sector. Talk about local production of rice, cotton plantation, and leadership role of cassava production. In the area of transportation, the railway line that had been abandoned for 20 years have been revitalised, to the extent that people sit on top of the train. The rail transportation from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri will soon be effective. We have about 24 local airports. The federal and inter-city roads have been repaired. These are giant strides. We may not be making noise; we may not have the media to make so much noise like the opposition that make empty noise. You still need to address the issue of legacy; because our daily acts are history of tomorrow. I can assure you that President Jonathan’s legacy will be an indelible one. He will be a president that provided Nigerians with uninterrupted power supply. Another is electoral reform, because if you cannot have credible election, then you cannot have a credible government. Jonathan has shown his commitment to electoral reform. He has restrained federal authorities from interfering in elections. Recently, the privatisation that was done in the power sector is about reformation, transparency and good governance. It’s also one of Jonathan’s legacies. We have arranged for gas capturing equipment that will help people to have adequate gas supply. He also organised privatisation successfully. We have about 10 NIPP projects, which by December will all have been achieved. When we have problems, a Yoruba adage says Ti ina o ba tan lori eni, eje ko ni tan ni eekan, meaning ‘if you have not completely got rid of lice in your head, you will still have blood stains on your fingertips when you scratch’. Nigerians have been used to failure in government’s promises. The media have helped in that aspect by propagating the voice of the opposition, which is to cause disillusionment. Whatever alliance that is formed will be disbanded in 2014 by the overwhelming success of PDP. The opposition will be shamed come 2014. Desperately, 2014 is a year of harvest of all the handwork of President Jonathan’s administration. Nigerians will beg Jonathan to run for the election. 2014 is the year of good tidings. What was the attack on friends of Nigerian, like United States, all about? I didn’t attack the United States. I am an educated Nigerian citizen and there is no U.S. citizen of my age that is better than I. I am a proud, well educated Nigerian. I respect Americans, but I cannot take whatever they say. I read their report in Nigerian newspapers about the police pension scam, petroleum scam, Otedola and Farouk Lawan scam. It was Nigerians that brought up the issues for them to talk about. They have talked about the trials of former governors of Ogun, Nasarawa and Oyo states; that their cases started in 2011 and by 2012, they had not been settled. We know that the judiciary in Nigeria is very slow because of the long adjournment – which is not the fault of Jonathan’s administration. What is troubling Nigerians is that when there is a problem, instead of us facing the problem, we look for a scapegoat. Let us address our issues squarely. When talking about corruption, about a year ago, members of the parliament in Britain were under probe for mismanaging funds for their upkeep. Corruption is an English word, and not a Nigerian word. The president is working on that aspect; we don’t expect him to take a gun and start shooting corrupt people; neither can he send them to jail without trial. We will get the judicial system working. This is the first time in 50 years that criminal justice in Nigeria is being reviewed. It was the president that endorsed the Freedom of Information Bill. Only one state in the federation has adopted the bill, which is Lagos State. Corruption is not a federal offence; there is corruption in the local and state levels. Even the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly is facing corruption charges. Corruption is not only in the federal system; it is every Nigerian’s problem, and all of us must face it. In the report that America gave, they admit that EFCC is prosecuting over 50 cases of corruption. We have the slowness of the procedures at the judiciary level, and we are tackling it. This government cannot be a scapegoat for malpractices that have been in the country for over 20 years. Before joining the government, I was told that the opposition in Nigeria paid millions of dollars to lobby in America for them to continue to write negative reports about Nigeria and its government. Have you ever seen black Americans abuse their government? But Nigerians go about in their suit and briefcases in America denouncing their government. Americans don’t denounce their own government; they only criticise it. They don’t abuse Obama; they only disagree with his submission. But here in Nigeria, we talk about the president recklessly without any decorum. Americans commended their president after the Boston issue, but here in Nigeria, we never take or see anything good in what President Jonathan does – which is unhealthy rivalry. As a medical doctor, where is this expertise for media-minding coming from? I was a distinction student in English and literature at Igbobi College. I was attracted to the literary art, but my late sister, Dr. Mrs. Olumide, insisted that I study medicine. That was how I became a doctor. I received training from the late Akin Ogumade Davies. He was the state Publicity Secretary of the National Party of Nigeria. In those days, he was my mentor; he taught me how to write press releases. I was also trained by the former editor of (the defunct) Concord newspaper, Duro Onabule. Advocacy is something that I love. Ogunmade saw the talent in me and he encouraged me. I wrote a lot of press releases during the time of (Alhaji Lateef) Jakande to tackle the UPN in Lagos State. I later became the National and State Publicity Secretary of the (defunct) National Republican Convention. I have actually gone through the mills; I did not jump to become an advocate in one day. What drew me into medicine was what drew me into politics. I was driven into medicine because of the passion to care for the people. When I became a doctor, I saw the limitations in my ability to care for people. I saw that the number of people that I could care for was limited to my consulting room. So, I saw the larger stage where I could actually affect the minds of many more people, and that only stage was politics. I dreamt of becoming one of the leaders of the country, and I have achieved that dream. My mission is to cater for the overall majority. Are you still eyeing Oke-Mosan (Ogun State Government House) despite the 2007 failure? No, I am beyond that now. I am now at the national level. Are you still a practising medical doctor? Not again; I only practise locally. I serve my children and anybody in my family, but I will not recommend drugs to you (general laughter). You can be called ‘Bolanle’ (the proverbial child born with a silver spoon in his mouth) because your dad was a wealthy man who founded the ‘Agbonmagbe’ bank, a precursor of Wema Bank. How much of that business acumen do you possess? I have not been a very successful businessman; but glory be to God, I have managed up to this stage. I have tried my hands in business, but I have not recorded the kind of success that my pedigree would have wished. I did not come from a poor background; I was born into a comfortable family. You were known as a man-about-town some years back. Do you still rock your world despite your tight schedules? I am tired of social life. I am not very sociable anymore. It’s not because of my job; it’s a personal thing. I thank God I have had a great life. I have lived and enjoyed myself very well, and I’m satisfied with the way I’m living now. I attend few family functions. I have slowed down deliberately. I am now home-bound. We have heard stories about how much you rocked town. Can you let us into how much of town you rocked? It is a normal thing, but whatever you have heard are true (laughs). You served Obasanjo in this same capacity you are with Jonathan, and both are now said to be estranged. How do you manage the two leaders, even with the suspicion that all is not well between them? There is nothing to manage. There is a Yoruba adage that says Oju kan ni ada n ni, meaning ‘a cutlass has only one edge’. When I served Obasanjo, I put my heart in it. Even now, I am still very close to him; and that does not affect my job with President Jonathan. For me, it’s all or none. I commit myself to whatever I do. I am Jonathan’s man. There was a report by a certain leader from the North, alleging that Obasanjo caned you for fraud and all that? That’s Junaid Muhammed. I do not think he and I were in the presence of Obasanjo. Junaid is a very proud and brilliant Northerner. The problem with him was that when he came to Channels Television programme, he came unprepared, and he met with me and did not find it funny. He was terribly destabilised. That was just a blatant lie; President Obasanjo never slapped anybody when I was there. The worst thing he did was when he threw his slippers at me one day when we had an argument. He was talking to me about farming; that he had just done something good for the farmers and he was very happy. I asked about those that were not farmers; and I said that in my family, we didn’t have a farm, and I had never farmed. So, I told him that he should not just beat his chest for farmers alone. He got very angry and said I was one of those that were spoiling the country, and threw his slippers at me. That was the closest act of violence he did. How would you describe your operations so far? We are going to have seminars, training workshop in partnership with MDAs, that will energise the total machinery of government. The All Progressives Congress people do not know what we have in store. They will see people on the platform and will be shocked. We will overwhelm them. We will run them out of town. That was why I laughed when they said PDP should go, talking with their mouth like a masquerade dancing in the market square. They are mediocre. We have what it takes but we have not used them, and we will start using them. We are going to start communicating effectively. You have a government that is working, yet people are abusing it. President Jonathan has sleepless nights and people still say he’s not working. Can you let us into your love life? There is nothing about my love life. I was married at the age of 24. I have nine children from three wives. |
Re: Day Obasanjo Threw Slippers At Me - Okupe by temitemi1(m): 10:41am On Dec 20, 2014 |
All hail GEJ!!! GEJ till 2019!!! |
Re: Day Obasanjo Threw Slippers At Me - Okupe by mkoabiola: 11:02am On Dec 20, 2014 |
I nva knew okupe is a polygamist 9 children ,3 wives Yet he stil has d tym to bark for gej Incredible. 1 Like |
Re: Day Obasanjo Threw Slippers At Me - Okupe by kokoA(m): 11:04am On Dec 20, 2014 |
So Obasanjo really flogged this old man like a kid. Anyways, na as goat take stand for market na ehm dem dey price am. 4 Likes |
Re: Day Obasanjo Threw Slippers At Me - Okupe by omenka(m): 11:06am On Dec 20, 2014 |
Okupe doesn't even deserve Obj's slippers, he deserves to be thrown a sledge hammer at, or at worst, an old shoe, just like that journalist in Iraq threw at Bush. 3 Likes |
Re: Day Obasanjo Threw Slippers At Me - Okupe by johnmartus(m): 11:11am On Dec 20, 2014 |
trash always sound like kids 1 Like |
Re: Day Obasanjo Threw Slippers At Me - Okupe by omarlee(m): 12:09pm On Dec 20, 2014 |
I love Baba Iyabo, for the man don't take shit from a lowly person like bastaard Okupe. 1 Like |
Re: Day Obasanjo Threw Slippers At Me - Okupe by mistabiola: 12:17pm On Dec 20, 2014 |
temitemi1: This same Okupe called him a clueless man and you're still supporting him #chai 1 Like
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Re: Day Obasanjo Threw Slippers At Me - Okupe by badex11: 12:23pm On Dec 20, 2014 |
Jh 1 Like |
Re: Day Obasanjo Threw Slippers At Me - Okupe by Dreyl(m): 12:44pm On Dec 20, 2014 |
Long bullshít! |
Re: Day Obasanjo Threw Slippers At Me - Okupe by TheRealCoolHunK: 12:50pm On Dec 20, 2014 |
SAF vs Becks part 2. Hehe |
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