It is no longer news that President Buhari was in France early this week(Monday-Wednesday) on a three-day official visit. What has being making news though are excerpts from an interview that the President had with French TV station France24. Many blogs, newspapers, online media, and even wailing wailers have as usual sought to make profit and traffic by staging headlines using this short interview. Here is the full transcript of this about 12mins interview with the President. i guess this should help in making better, more informed and unbiased analysis.
You've said your top priority is security. What came out of your meetings with your French counterpart when it came to Boko Haram and of course those Chibok students that have sparked that worldwide #BringBackOurGirls campaign?
France has being in a very strong position to know our problem in that region. The Lake Chad Commission comprising Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Benin and Niger. The first thing is to identify VIRTUALLY the base. Nigeria used to be the base of Boko Haram until Niger and Chad, with French encouragement, decided to come into Nigeria, attacked and dislodged the Boko Haram insurgents from Nigerian soil, and then occupied the place until the Nigeria troops were able to eventually go and replace them.
The re-organisation we carried out in the military, the results are being seen, both at the war front and in neighbouring countries. And we moved the Tactical Headquarters from Abuja to Maiduguri.
I think we are making progress. Our main concern is now how to recover the Chibok girls and ascertain their current condition. We are much occupied with that decision and at this level matters concerning them have to be kept confidential. Because we are not sure of the genuine leadership of the Boko Haram which we can negotiate with to get those girls released.
That is one of the questions that will follow. After military gains, at what point do you negotiate?
It is difficult, we have to first identify that those who claim to be leaders of Boko Haram are actually leaders, and are influential, and they know where the girls are, and they know their condition. So, just for any boko haram member to come and contact the government, and say that he is a leader, and that he can get the girls released, we are being very careful about it.
You mentioned that all the neighbouring francophone countries, the French troops deployed in Mali and Chad, are you saying/feeling when it comes to boko haram, the Francophone countries are more hands-on than some of your other Western allies?
Certainly, for two reasons, Nigeria is totally surrounded by former French colonial countries and France has maintained a strong relationship with its former colonies. So Nigeria gets more security and economic advantages by France still being in charge of those countries. France’s deployment of its troops in Mali, Niger and Chad give us opportunity for more necessary intelligence, and training and equipment.
Boko haram able to FESTER in an area that's always been a bit forgotten, the North-East of the country are the poorest. What would you do to restore faith in the government for the people of the North-East?
One of the things to be done is related to a study initiated VIRTUALLY by a London University Professor in 1925 that unless rivers are diverted into Chad Basin, Lake Chad will dry up. We have seen the seriousness of that; it affects farming, fishing, cattle rearing. If that project is executed, at least 2 million Nigerians will benefit, I believe that in Niger, Chad and Cameroon, over 1 million people will also benefit. This is one of the projects that the Lake Chad Basin Commission can ask the G7, in this case led by France, to help execute so that 3-5 million people can be settled.
Now this is about Abuja. You don’t have a government yet, when are we going to have the naming of a cabinet?
We have a government, but we do not have a cabinet. I don’t know how you defined that. We have a government, that is why I am here. As for the cabinet, I said that we will have one by the end of the month.Time flies, end of the month is coming too quickly for my liking.
You'll be sticking to it?
Yes, I will stick to the end of the month promise. Constitutionally, I will send the list of ministers to the National Assembly.
Some people said the country could run better without ministers...
When you started to introduce me, you said that I was around in 1983 to 1985. Even then we had ministers, so under this system, we have to have ministers, and we are going to have ministers.
Are markets being a bit spooked by the fact that they don't have a finance minister, there is volatility now in the bond market, when it comes to Nigeria, does the delay in naming your minister hurt?
No oh. It's what we know and which we learnt from the western system. The civil service provides continuity in government. Civil servants are the technocrats who do most of the work. The ministers are there i think to make a lot of noise, i think Politicians make a lot of noise but the work is done by the technocrats. They are there and provide the continuity. You can see my team(that came to France), you will see perm secs of finance, trade and industries, and others. They provide the continuity, dig into the records as long as possible, they guide us because we are just coming into government. They have been there, some for 15, 20 years. I think that this question of ministers is political. People from different constituencies want to see their people directly in government and see what they can get out of it.
Cabinet or not, you are going to be dealing with low price of oil, will one of the measures be to devalue the Naira?
The Naira has been devalued. It used to be around N160 to the dollar but it is now hovering around N200 and above. I don’t think it is healthy for us to devalue it further. That is why we're getting the Central Bank to make some modifications in terms of making foreign exchange available for essential services; industries, spare parts, essential raw materials and so on. However, Nigeria can produce enough toothpick and rice. We don’t need to give our hard currency for those who insist on having toothpick from Europe or from China. Instead of having Nigerian toothpick, they can source for the foreign exchange and buy it.
Mr President, You are back at the Presidential Palace after thirty years. Is it the same place?
It was not the same place. The last time I was there, I was in the barracks. This time I am in a palace. I still need a map and a compass to find my way. It is so big and it must be very expensive to maintain. But it is there, it cannot be removed.
Apart from operating at a different setting, are you a different man?
I don’t think basically, I am a different man. But I came back under a different system.
A better one?
Yes, a better one reluctantly because this is what works. I say it often; I was convinced as far back as 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed. I keep saying an empire collapsed in the 20th century without a shot being fired literally. Now it is 18 republics. This is why I believe that multi-party democracy is the best form of government, with a big caveat that elections must be free, fair and credible.Otherwise, it's the same old problem.
Source was also edited for better accuracy of transcription. You can watch the video in the link below.
Mr President, You are back at the Presidential Palace after thirty years. Is it the same place?
It was not the same place. The last time I was there, I was in the barracks. This time I am in a palace. I still need a map and a compass to find my way. It is so big and it must be very expensive to mantain, but it's there it cannot be removed.
Compare this with what one derang.ed sa.tanoid posted earlier that instantly got featured on fp [below].
Asked today by an interviewer on France 24, whether Aso Rock was like the Government House he left in 1985.
Buhari answered: It was not the same place. The last time I was there, I was in the barracks. This time I am in a palace. At times, I can’t find my way around. It is so big so much that it must be expensive to maintain. But it is there, it cannot be removed.”
A clear case of deliberate misinformation, distortion of "choice of words", sheer pettiness, desperation, hypocrisy and outward cowardice from PDP.
Lies, blackmail, perverse pertinacity towards notoriety, mischief couple with other vices is what relegated Pdp to the opposition it is known today, unfortunately this same despicable tactic is what the party still pathetically choose to cling on as a viable means to realise their fanciful comeback. What a bunch of jokers.
Compare this with what one derang.ed sa.tanoid posted earlier that instantly got featured on fp [below].
A clear case of deliberate misinformation, distortion of "choice of words", sheer pettiness, desperation, hypocrisy and outward cowardice from PDP.
Lies, blackmail, perverse pertinacity towards notoriety, mischief couple with other vices is what relegated Pdp to the opposition it is known today, unfortunately this same despicable tactic is what the party still pathetically choose to cling on as a viable means to realise their fanciful comeback. What a bunch of jokers.
