Barely a week after the Presidential Advisory Committee, headed by Theophilus Danjuma, submitted a report advising the president – in a rare instance of ‘speaking truth to power’ – to prune the federal bureaucracy, Mr. Jonathan announced the appointment of new special advisers. This is the kind of irony one expects to encounter in satirical novels about clownish African despots obsessed with the perverse pleasure to be had from seeking counsel for the express purpose of defying it.

Mr. Jonathan’s actions speak of a man who, being as busy as we assume he is, has not had the time to read the Advisory Committee’s report; or who has, for reasons best known to him, willfully chosen to disregard it.

While we recognise that as president, the buck stops on his table, and that it is his decision to take or reject any advice offered him, this action of his raises questions about his commitment to the prudent management of Nigeria’s resources. In spite of his assurances to the contrary, all we keep seeing from Mr. Jonathan is a more-of-the-same brand of leadership; an unwillingness to break away from a debilitating status quo.

One of the legacies of the Yar’Adua government, in which Mr. Jonathan faithfully served, for almost three years, as vice president – was the consistent depletion of the Excess Crude Account, set up by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo as a savings account of sorts for oil windfalls accruing to Nigeria.

Even if the initial blame should go to Mr. Yar’Adua, it is clear today that Mr. Jonathan deserves to share a chunk of it. From Mr. Jonathan’s actions since becoming president almost a year ago – regular unaccounted-for withdrawals from the account, the most recent being $1bn in the days leading up to the PDP presidential primary – mean his complicity in the questionable management of the country’s oil wealth is evident.

The fiscal recklessness is mind boggling, as are the lame excuses constantly being issued by the government. We are compelled to wonder if the government is seeing the same figures and scenarios that everyone else is seeing.

It is time to put a stop to the foolishness. This country is spending far more than it can afford to spend. To worsen it we are spending on all the wrong things. Mr. Jonathan and his bureaucrats should make an effort to read Atiku Abubakar’s letter to him regarding the 2011 budget. What we want is not a spirited defence but instead a reversal of course. The president should also read the recommendations of the PAC – ten specific steps that include the need to urgently cut the budget deficit and recurrent expenditure.

At this time, the last thing Nigeria needs is a government more concerned about theoretical economic indices, the reception of its international bond and the assessment of rating agencies, than about the economic catastrophe that surely awaits if Nigeria continues in the direction in which it is currently headed.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Opinion/5670256-146/story.csp

Barely a week after the Presidential Advisory Committee, headed by Theophilus Danjuma, submitted a report advising the president – in a rare instance of ‘speaking truth to power’ – to prune the federal bureaucracy

They are part of GEJ's govt. Its not like they are ACN or CPC people.

In any event, what new ministries were created, cos I conclude that many critics do not understand the PAC's recommendations which were laid out in simple English?

It is time to put a stop to the foolishness. This country is spending far more than it can afford to spend. To worsen it we are spending on all the wrong things. Mr. Jonathan and his bureaucrats should make an effort to read Atiku Abubakar’s letter to him regarding the 2011 budget. What we want is not a spirited defence but instead a reversal of course. The president should also read the recommendations of the PAC – ten specific steps that include the need to urgently cut the budget deficit and recurrent expenditure.

Instead of Atiku to congratulate Jonathan after being roundly thrashed, he is busy sponsoring press stories.
I de laf ooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

Poor Atiku and Atiku lovers.
PDP primaries have been won by GEJ. Its done and dusted. Nutin de happen!

www.nairaland.com/attachments/180447_ROTFLMAO_gif3d0c775232c7f27cf80592785b9635b6

At a time when responsible governments around the world are cutting down on spending, Nigeria’s government continues to bask in its country’s status as an “oil-rich” nation in a world addicted to oil, piling up debt and deficit without regard for the future. [b]In the 2011 budget, [/b]the State House is proposing to spend N21 billion, including more than N600 million ($4 million) on the purchase of computers, scanners and photocopying machines alone, and another N500 million on the purchase of “canteen / kitchen equipment.” These are just two examples.


abi this one is still Yara adua adminstration - My Man GEJ is toeing the line of bankruptcy

LOL.

These people should do more than NairaLand or the internet.

Lets say there is no NairaLand, where will you make all these noise?

Who will listen to you in Nigeria? No one. Why? Because people know better than to listen to sponsored stories and propaganda.

Havent you realised?

When majority of Nigerians are hypocrites, do not be surprised by their double standards. Just try to keep your own spot clean and let your works speak for you. The PAC report is good, but the reporters should look at the man in the mirrow. Retired Gen. Danjuma should address the grave consequences of the evils perpetrated by his partners in crime in the middle belt region. They are responsible for the Jos crisis.

Ma_J_Blige:

LOL.

These people should do more than NairaLand or the internet.

Lets say there is no NairaLand, where will you make all these noise?

Who will listen to you in Nigeria? No one. Why? Because people know better than to listen to sponsored stories and propaganda.

Havent you realised?

ode

who sponsored stories  - who set up the pac committee - was it Atiku?

please reason clearly before posting nonsense

blacksta:

ode

who sponsored stories  - who set up the pac committee - was it Atiku?

please reason clearly before posting nonsense

LOL

Cant you make a point without an abuse?

Please that shows a lot about you - pack it up or go back to primary school. You have a very poor ability to be factual and objective. Wake up and smell the coffee- your intellect is suspect. All your abuses goes back to your elders at home.

Ma_J_Blige:

LOL

Cant you make a point without an abuse?

Please that shows a lot about you - pack it up or go back to primary school.

Even the bolded would be too great a task!

Atiku People = Foolish People

Beaf:

Even the bolded would be too great a task!

Atiku People = Foolish People

Ma_J_Blige:

LOL

Cant you make a point without an abuse?

Please that shows a lot about you - pack it up or go back to primary school. You have a very poor ability to be factual and objective. Wake up and smell the coffee- your intellect is suspect. All your abuses goes back to your elders at home.

Lol

With thIS 1 person in two - who would want to be foes with GEJ - bloody guard dogs i say

ABEG ENTER BUSH

Beaf:

Instead of Atiku to congratulate Jonathan after being roundly thrashed, he is busy sponsoring press stories.
I de laf ooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

Poor Atiku and Atiku lovers.
PDP primaries have been won by GEJ. Its done and dusted. Nutin de happen!

www.nairaland.com/attachments/180447_ROTFLMAO_gif3d0c775232c7f27cf80592785b9635b6

Beaf y ar u being so childish!

Then, i genuinely look forward to your eye opening debates and arguments but now you r seriously becoming like your mentor GEJ - Clueless and brainless.

Ma_J_Blige:

LOL

Cant you make a point without an abuse?

Please that shows a lot about you - pack it up or go back to primary school. You have a very poor ability to be factual and objective. Wake up and smell the coffee- your intellect is suspect. All your abuses goes back to your elders at home.

^^^ he has not abused you yet and believe me you deserve a serious abuse for that sarcastic comment.

Ma_J_Blige:

LOL.

These people should do more than NairaLand or the internet.

Lets say there is no NairaLand, where will you make all these noise?

Who will listen to you in Nigeria? No one. Why? Because people know better than to listen to sponsored stories and propaganda.

Havent you realised?

As distasteful as this sounds, some elements of it are true, what beats me however, is that someone could really attempt to score a winning point with such shameful trend.

The fact that no one will listen to "us" in Nigeria shows the kinds of defective sham we have that we call democracy, contrary to what the initial author of this piece intends, it puts the government in a grim light. 

One will think that a democratic government should be for the people, thankfully we have Nairaland, some of us can practice and enjoy the dividends of e-democracy.

@Beaf

Some of us wouldn't offer Atiku the smallest support even if his life depended on it, that however does not prevent us from condemning the reckless spending habit of the government.

What sorts of sane individuals for example spends a billion importing dustbins from the UK when local dustbin manufacturers are closing down due to lack of patronage? do i need to be an Atiku supporter to see and condemn this uninformed reckless spending?

Dude, you really need to start looking beyond "He's-from-my-region-parapoism" approach to things, it makes you lose respect!

violent:

@Beaf

Some of us wouldn't offer Atiku the smallest support even if his life depended on it, that however does not prevent us from condemning the reckless spending habit of the government.

What sorts of sane individuals for example spends a billion importing dustbins from the UK when local dustbin manufacturers are closing down due to lack of patronage? do i need to be an Atiku supporter to see and condemn this uninformed reckless spending?

Dude, you really need to start looking beyond "He's-from-my-region-parapoism" approach to things, it makes you lose respect!

The article specifically names Atiku as the person who should be listened to. I guess there's something about being so caught up in an empty cause that one fails to even read a simple article properly. Thats why you find yourself making up stuff that has no bearing to the article.

Funny!

Atiku People = Foolish People

^^

which part of it has no bearing to the article?

The article states clearly that GEJ's government is reckless, and i pointed out a very good example to propagate this claim, but i bet you are too blinded by the politics of "paraposim" to see the mind boggling reckless acts of the GEJ led government.
The fact that Atiku was mentioned in the report is barely substantiative and hardly bares on the main message that the report was trying to pass across, which points out that this government is bent on taking us back to the debt-burdened age.

I still can't, for the life of me, get why a government spends a billion buying dustbins from abroad, such waste!. . .peharps you can help me understand, Mr Beaf?

violent:

^^

which part of it has no bearing to the article?

The article states clearly that GEJ's government is reckless, and i pointed out a very good example to propagate this claim, but i bet you are too blinded by the politics of "paraposim" to see the mind boggling reckless acts of the GEJ led government.
The fact that Atiku was mentioned in the report is barely substantiative and hardly bares on the main message that the report was trying to pass across, which points out that this government is bent on taking us back to the debt-burdened age.

I still can't, for the life of me, get why a government spends a billion buying dustbins from abroad, such waste!. . .peharps you can help me understand, Mr Beaf?

Dude, Atiku has been defeated and consigned to the rubbish dump. Why not simply accept it? Lolz

LOLzzz

Beaf:

Dude, Atiku has been defeated and consigned to the rubbish dump. Why not simply accept it? Lolz

great news that Atiku has been defeated and consigned to the rubbish dump, let's all now pray that for the good of man and country,  that Jonathan is the next in line

and hey, before you even think about throwing further darts, you should know that i give back as good as i get  , you should also know that i was a staunch supporter of Jonathan, but now, i just wish PDP and its entirety a speedy journey on the way to hades.

here are some threads where I once showed active support for Jonathan, and then, it wasn't even long before he demonstrated that he wouldn't stop at nothing to drain the last good stuffs from the treasury, such a shame really.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-515669.0.html

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-433777.0.html

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-425681.0.html

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-414826.0.html

violent:

great news that Atiku has been defeated and consigned to the rubbish dump, let's all now pray that for the good of man and country, that Jonathan is the next in line

and hey, before you even think about throwing further darts, you should know that i give back as good as i get , you should also know that i was a staunch supporter of Jonathan, but now, i just wish PDP and its entirety a speedy journey on the way to hades.

here are some threads where I once showed active support for Jonathan, and then, it wasn't even long before he demonstrated that he wouldn't stop at nothing to drain the last good stuffs from the treasury, such a shame really.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-433777.0.html

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-425681.0.html

Dude people change, some for the good, some for the worse. If you aren't an Atiku supporter, then please read thoroughly before commenting; perpetual haste means perpetual errors of judgement.
. . .And I am not throwing any barbs at you, cos you are one of the few seemingly decent anti-GEJ fella's; on your part, stop sinking down the path of unprovoked personal statements, its cheap sir.

Jonathan lacks the mental bandwith to rule Nigeria. Vote Ribadu

We need more than good luck to get ahead. We need a nation builder

violent:

As distasteful as this sounds, some elements of it are true, what beats me however, is that someone could really attempt to score a winning point with such shameful trend.

The fact that no one will listen to "us" in Nigeria shows the kinds of defective sham we have that we call democracy, contrary to what the initial author of this piece intends, it puts the government in a grim light. 

One will think that a democratic government should be for the people, thankfully we have Nairaland, some of us can practice and enjoy the dividends of e-democracy.

The logic of this escapes me, why SHOULD they listen to you? What has that got to do with democracy?

blacksta:

At a time when responsible governments around the world are cutting down on spending, Nigeria’s government continues to bask in its country’s status as an “oil-rich” nation in a world addicted to oil, piling up debt and deficit without regard for the future. [b]In the 2011 budget, [/b]the State House is proposing to spend N21 billion, including more than N600 million ($4 million) on the purchase of computers, scanners and photocopying machines alone, and another N500 million on the purchase of “canteen / kitchen equipment.” These are just two examples.


abi this one is still Yara adua adminstration - My Man GEJ is toeing the line of bankruptcy

Sorry, I have to call you on this. Are you mesmerized by the figures or have you got something intelligent to say? Have you asked for and received a breakdown of the figures and found them exaggerated? Or is it that in your very very limited experience you can not imagine such sums?

johndoe200:

The logic of this escapes me, why SHOULD they listen to you? What has that got to do with democracy?

and why should a government not listen to its people?  what kinds of people sign up on Nairaland these days? little wonder the logic escapes you

If what we are screaming is for the government to be prudent on how the treasury resources are expended, then why should a responsible government not listen?

violent:

and why should a government not listen to its people?  what kinds of people sign up on Nairaland these days? little wonder the logic escapes you

If what we are screaming is for the government to be prudent on how the treasury resources are expended, then why should a responsible government not listen?

Ahhhhh. I see, you think you are a Nigerian? Under your screen name it says UK. Well you must forgive me, I have never considered, you internet Nigerians as Nigerians. That being the case, you really don't matter no?

@beaf and co,
spending or reckless spending is not the major issue here rather spending for or on what?
cld u pls revisit the security situation in bayelsa Gej's home state, jos and other northern states. what abt the bombs and the bombings?
assuming GEJ leaves today, what is it he will be remembered for, maybe the above issues?
assuming these people dying in the north are ur family members? what if ur kids or parents were shown burnt or slaughtered in one of those pictures.
i have gone through ur arguements on nairaland and i am yet to see u deliever points on any topic.
look at the man jonathan appointed as the inec chairman, asking for billions on daily basis. look at ojukwu's wife been appointed as the special adviser on nigerian's in diaspora, meaning what?
look at his band of advisers and supporters, the same old criminals that have denied us progress.
tell me what jonathan is doing well and tell me how nigerians are enjoying from our messiah - jonathan.
how is the controversy of a denial in the pdp presidential zooning going to affect the future of this country? i am from imo state so be informed i am an igboman.
the idea of having ebele and azikiwe in his name does not change the truth.

johndoe200:

Ahhhhh. I see, you think you are a Nigerian? Under your screen name it says UK. Well you must forgive me, I have never considered, you internet Nigerians as Nigerians. That being the case, you really don't matter no?

Wow!

never knew people get to be this dumb!. . . .chei! so in your own words, whoever has left the shores of Nigeria be it on holiday, business or educational purpose  shouldn't be regarded as a Nigerian and they shouldn't matter when the politics and economy of Nigeria is being discussed?

chei!. . .this is one way off from being dumb!. . . .this is just amazing!

Ma_J_Blige:

LOLzzz

I say again - u be GEJ ODE.

BEAF oo, stop running, you have series of questions you have been running away from, are you only good at accusing and worse at defending?

Go and answer the loads of questions you have refused to answer. Are you waiting for your God to furnish you with answers or what exactly are you waiting for?

johndoe200:

Sorry, I have to call you on this. Are you mesmerized by the figures or have you got something intelligent to say? Have you asked for and received a breakdown of the figures and found them exaggerated? Or is it that in your very very limited experience you can not imagine such sums?

utter nonsense  - what figures are we talking about  - what figures do i have see  when a government spends 75% of it budget on recurrent and have been warned by local and international monetary organisations to make plans to reduce the percentage it spends on the administrative costs. How does the idiotic government  respond- he further appoints 4 special adviser - more salary earning stations doing nothing to justify the cost

It is a coincidence that Johndoe, Ma j blige and Beaf all write and reason alike.

I am getting tired chatting to the same person.

it is complete rubbish to assume that three people arguing against you are one and the same. So, you are surprised that some people do not agree to your in objective line of reasoning? Because the three people dont agree with you, hence they are the same person? How do you reason as such?

Ma_J_Blige:

it is complete rubbish to assume that three people arguing against you are one and the same. So, you are surprised that some people do not agree to your in objective line of reasoning? Because the three people dont agree with you, hence they are the same person? How do you reason as such?

Lol

it is too much of a coincidence and has nothing to do with different opinions - your cases are too isolated it is against rational mindsets.