- Chief Mike Ozekhome criticised President Buhari's Independence Day speech
- The lawyer said the president failed to address important issues
- He accused him of hating the Igbo race Chief Mike Ozekhome who is a constitutional lawyer and a right activist has lashed out at President Muhammadu Buhari saying he has shown his hatred for the Igbo race. Vanguard reports that in a statement issued by the lawyer on Sunday, October 1, he criticised the president’s Independence Day speech saying it confirmed his fixated hatred for the Igbos. The lawyer wondered why the president did not criticise the activities of Fulani herdsmen and the quit notice issued to Igbos in the north.
Ozekhome said President Buhari failed to use the opoortunity to address more important issues facing his administration. Read the statement below: “The entire national day broadcast by PMB on the occasion of Nigeria’s 57th independence is quite disappointing in all ramifications”.
“It was very un-presidential and un-reconciliatory. PMB left the real issues and pursued trifles”. “The speech was bereft of nobility of statesmanship, and devoid of a calm grasp and appraisals of the dire straits Nigeria is currently in”. “The broadcast was rabidly narcissist, parochial, nepotic and clannish, as it failed to see anything wrong with the blatant and well reported threats by the Arewa youths to quit fellow Nigerians from their domains”. “The speech followed his now well worn out fixation of perceived hatred for the Igbo race, whose leadership he needlessly scurilized and lampooned, for allegedly being behind IPOB and other agitations”. “I doubt and didn’t hear him mention anything about gun wielding herdsmen that literally vanquish citizens in their own homesteads across Nigeria”. “The President celebrated mediocrity and edified his government’s non-performance two and half years down the line”. “I genuinely wondered if he was discussing the same country, Nigeria, that I am in, or another utopian planet Mars”. “The beautiful picture of a peaceful country he painted so glowingly and artistically with the paintbrush of breathless satisfaction is quite different from the stark reality on the ground, which every beleaguered Nigerian labours under”. “His speech writers either wallowed in utopian mystic of redemptive messianism, or in crass fraud and grand deception”.
“But, Nigerians are no fools. Did I hear PMB say this is the first time a government at the Centre is losing the governorship, senatorial and Houses of Assembly’s elections to the opposite at the state level? “No sir, wrong. Whoever gave Mr. President this false electoral history has done him incalculable disservice and great damage and ridicule’. “Few examples: Remember Ondo state (Labour Party), Osun and Edo states (AC), Anambra (APGA), etc? “Not only did the ruling PDP party lose the elections to those opposition parties, the then President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan actually rolled out the drums and congratulated the new governors, Senators and House members”. “Peter Obi won the Anambra state governorship election in 2010 for the second time on the platform of APGA”. “Obasanjo was President at the Centre under the PDP party, just as Bola Tinubu won the Lagos state governorship seat twice under AD and ACN, with Obasanjo as president under PDP at the Centre”. “Buhari lost yet another golden opportunity to balm bruised nationalities’ ego and cement Nigeria’s yawning cleavages, hate and divisiveness”. “Must everything be predicated on falsehood, force, threats and gun boat diplomacy, viet armis? “It didn’t ever work. When he applied such excessive force and threats to the Niger Delta militants, I counseled then it would not work”. “The marginalized youth picked up the gauntlet, serially blew up oil pipelines, tore up Nigeria’s oil jugular into smithereens”.
“Crude oil output plummeted to about 700 thousand barrels per day from 1.5m barrels”. “It took the then Acting President Yemi Osibanjo’s shuttle diplomacy to the Niger Delta region to quell the strife”. “It was Napoleon Bonarparte, a French General and Emperor (1769-1821), who famously declared: “do you know what amazes me more than anything else? The impotence of force to organize anything”. “PMB sir, allow Nigerians enjoy the full bloom of democracy and its inbuilt mechanisms for conflict resolution.”

https://www.naij.com/1128159-buhari-shown-fixated-hatred-igbos-ozekhome.html?utm_source=mailfire&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=direct#1128159

FFK and Ezekwesili ...

https://www.naij.com/1128269-fani-kayode-slams-president-buhari-shameful-independence-day-speech.html?utm_source=mailfire&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=online_pusher#1128269

Maybe your man has ear problem...below is the full presidential speech by his excellency



TOP VIDEOS

Full Text Of President Buhari’s Independence Day Broadcast

Channels Television  
Updated October 1, 2017

305



President Muhammadu Buhari has kick-started the activities to mark the 57 anniversary of Nigeria’s Independence with a nationwide broadcast.

In his address, the President spoke about calls for restructuring, agitations in the country, the progress his administration has made in the areas of security, economy and in moving the country forward and the challenges facing the nation.

Read the full text of his speech below:

My dear Nigerians,

October 1st remains a special date for all Nigerians as this marks the day when we attained one of the most precious of human desires — freedom.

Over the years the country has gone through trials and tribulations, but October 1st is always a day for celebrations.

It is a day for thanksgiving, reflection and re-dedication.

It is also a day for remembrance. We should remind ourselves of the recent journey from 1999 – 2015, when our country happily returned to democratic rule.

However, in spite of oil prices being an average of $100 per barrel and about 2.1m barrels a day, that great piece of luck was squandered and the country’s social and physical infrastructure neglected.

We were left with no savings and huge infrastructure deficit.

The APC Government’s Campaign rallying cry to restore security, re-balance the economy and fight corruption was not all rhetoric.

The country must first be secured. The economy must be re-balanced so that we do not depend on oil alone. We must fight corruption which is Nigeria’s Number One Enemy. Our Administration is tackling these tasks in earnest.

In the past two years, Nigeria has recorded appreciable gains in political freedom. A political Party at the Centre losing elections of State Governor, National Assembly seat and even State Assemblies to the opposition parties is new to Nigeria. Added to these are complete freedom to associate, to hold and disseminate opinions. Such developments clearly attest to the country’s growing political development. But like all freedoms, this is open to abuse.

Recent calls on re-structuring, quite proper in a legitimate debate, has let in highly irresponsible groups to call for dismemberment of the country. We can not and we will not allow such advocacy.

As a young Army Officer, I took part from the beginning to the end in our tragic civil war costing about 2m lives, resulting in fearful destruction and untold suffering. Those who are agitating for a re-run were not born by 1967 and have no idea of the horrendous consequences of the civil conflict which we went through.

I am very disappointed that responsible leaders of these communities do not warn their hot-headed youths what the country went through. Those who were there should tell those who were not there, the consequences of such folly.

At all events, proper dialogue and any desired constitutional changes should take place in a rational manner, at the National and State Assemblies. These are the proper and legal fora for National debate, not some lop-sided, un-democratic body with pre-determined set of objectives.

Government is keeping up the momentum of dialogue with stakeholders in the Niger Delta to keep the peace. We intend to address genuine grievances of the communities.

Government is grateful to the responsible leadership of those communities and will pursue lasting peace in the Niger Delta.

SECURITY

On security, Nigerians must be grateful to our gallant Armed Forces for rolling back the frontiers of Boko Haram’s terrorism, defeating them and reducing them to cowardly attacks on soft and vulnerable targets.

Nigeria is grateful to its neighbours and the international community for the collective efforts to defeat this world-wide menace of terrorism.

Not even the most organized and most equipped police and security forces in the world can escape the menace of modern day terrorism, as we have seen in recent years in Europe and other parts of the world.

But we are not letting up. Our Armed Forces in an effort to enhance the operational capability of troops of OPERATION LAFIYA DOLE have established Mobile Strike Teams in the North East. These will ensure the final push to wipe out the remnants of Boko Haram.

In addition, through targeted air strikes most of the leadership and identified logistics bases and routes of the insurgents have been neutralized. The Armed Forces have established a Naval presence in the Lake Chad Basin as part of the coordinated military efforts to curtail the movements or re-emergence of the sect in the area.

Government is working round the clock to ensure release of the remaining Chibok girls, as well as other persons in Boko Haram captivity. Government will continue to support the Armed Forces and other security agencies to fight not only terrorism, but kidnapping, armed robberies, herdsmen/farmers violence and to ensure peace, stability and security in our country.

ECONOMY

With respect to the economy, the Government has remained pro-active in its diversification policy. The Federal Government’s agricultural Anchor Borrowers Programme, which I launched in November 2015, has been an outstanding success with:

· N43.92 billion released through the CBN and 13 participating institutions,
· 200,000 small holder farmers from 29 states of the federation benefitting,
· 233,000 hectares of farmland cultivating eight commodities, namely Rice, Wheat, Maize, Cotton, soya-beans, Poultry, Cassava and Groundnuts, in addition to fish farming.

These initiatives have been undertaken in close collaboration with the states. I wish to commend the efforts of the Governors of Kebbi, Lagos, Ebonyi and Jigawa States for their support to the rice and fertilizer revolutions.

Equally commendable are contributions of the Governors of Ondo, Edo, Delta, Imo, Cross River, Benue, Ogun, Kaduna and Plateau States for their support for the Presidential initiative for palm oil, rubber, cashew, cassava, potatoes and other crops.

With the abundance of rainfall last year and this year, agriculture has enjoyed Divine intervention.

Since December last year, this Administration has produced over 7 million 50Kg bags of fertilizer. Eleven blending plants with a capacity of 2.1 million metric tons have been reactivated. We have saved $150 million in foreign exchange and N60 billion in subsidy. Fertilizer prices have dropped from N13,000 per 50Kg bag to N5,500.

Furthermore, a new presidential initiative is starting with each state of the Federation creating a minimum of 10,000 jobs for unemployed youths, again with the aid of CBN’s development finance initiatives.

Power remains a huge problem. As of September 12th, production of power reached an all — time high of 7,001 Megawatts. Government is increasing its investment, clearing up the operational and financial log jam bedeviling the industry. We hope to reach 10,000 Megawatts by 2020.

Key priorities include better energy mix through solar and Hydro technologies. I am glad to say that after many years of limbo, Mambilla Power Project has taken off.

Elsewhere in the economy the special window created for manufacturers, investors and exporters, foreign exchange requirements has proved very effective. Since April, about $7 billion has come through this window alone. The main effect of these policies is improved confidence in the economy and better investment sentiments.

The country has recorded 7 consecutive months of lower inflation, Naira rate is beginning to stabilize, appreciating from N525 per $1 in February this year to N360 today. Broad-based economic growth is leading us out of recession.

Furthermore, in order to stabilize the polity, the Federal Government gave additional support to states in the form of:

· State Excess Crude Account loans,
· Budget Support Facility,
· Stabilization Fund Release
to states and local governments as follows:
· N200 billion in 2015
· N441 billion in 2016
· N1 trillion in 2017

Altogether totaling N1.642 trillion.

This was done to enable states to pay outstanding salaries, pensions and small business suppliers who had been all but crippled over the years.

In addition, the Government’s current N500 billion Special Intervention Programme is targeting groups through;

· Home Grown School Feeding Programme,
· N-Power Job creation to provide loans to small-scale traders and artisans,
· Conditional Cash Transfer,
· Family Homes Fund and
· Social Housing Scheme.

CORRUPTION

Fellow Nigerians,

We are fully aware that fighting corruption was never going to be a straightforward task. We expected corrupt elements to use any weapon to fight back, mainly judicial obstruction and political diversion. But we are determined to eradicate corruption from our body politic.

In this fight, the Government has:
· Empowered teams of prosecutors,
· Assembled detailed databases,
· Accelerated the recovery of stolen funds.

The Administration’s new institutional reforms include:
· Enforcing Treasury Single Account,
· Whistle-Blowers Policy,
· Integrated Payroll Personnel and Information System.

We have signed multi-lateral cooperation agreements on criminal matters with friendly countries. There are signs of increasing cooperation from the Judiciary. Recently the Chief Justice of Nigeria directed Heads of all our Courts of first instance and Appeal to accelerate hearings of corruption cases and dismiss any judicial officers found to have been compromised.

Justice Salami has just been appointed to chair the Judiciary’s anti-graft committee. Government expects a lot from this Committee.

I commend the National Assembly for refocusing on its oversight committees. They should, in addition, ensure swift passage of enabling corruption laws. But fighting corruption is a bottom to top operation. I call on all Nigerians to combat corruption at every turn. By not asking for and refusing to accept a bribe, by reporting unethical practices or by blowing a whistle, together we can beat corruption. The government for its part will work for accountability at all levels – Federal, State and Local Governments. CHANGE will then be real.

As we enter the second half of our term of office, we intend to accelerate progress and intensify our resolve to fix the country’s challenges and problems.

Thank you and a happy holiday to all of you.

God bless our country




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