Chief Olabode Ibiyinka George, former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in this interview with TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI, expresses his thoughts on the ban of Twitter by the federal government, ongoing constitution review exercise and other national issues. Excerpts:

The Federal Government at the weekend suspended, indefinitely, the operations of Twitter in Nigeria for deleting a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari. What is your take on that?

The outright ban of Twitter is not a proper thing to do. This government should be patient in their dealings. If the federal government is angry with Twitter, does that imply that all Nigerians are also at war with Twitter? Were Nigerians consulted before this decision was taken? The head of the Minister of Information should be examined. Why will he advise the President to take such a decision? Why should the Minister of Communications give that advice? If they find any fault with our currency now, will the federal government ban the exchange of naira to dollars?

This is scary. Why are we just fighting everybody up and down? It has nothing to do with politics. It is undemocratic and illegal. My advice to oga (President Buhari) is to take things easy. We are in a democracy and not under military rule. When Twitter banned Donald Trump during the US presidential election, why didn’t Trump place outright ban on Twitter in the whole of US?

The President’s account with Twitter is an individual account, not that of all Nigerians. Twitter is a private company and they have their laws. If they said the President’s tweet violated their rules and deleted it; let them take it up with Twitter. It is an individual account and not that of the entire country. Are we consulted before the President signed in for Twitter? Why should we be punished for his sins?

In all these, where is the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo? He is a constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria but he is just sitting down there looking. Will he not be a better adviser to the President?. Why he is keeping quiet in the face of all these? Is he just Vice-President by name? Is he just a loading number there or a figure head second in command? He should wake up too and advise the President on constitutional matters. They keep shouting that they have done well in the last six years, the result is clear for everyone to see.

What options do Nigerians have in this, can the federal government be sued?

Of course, people can sue the federal government but unfortunately, the courts are not sitting. Everything is just closing on us. I can never support this ban. How can they punish Nigerians for the sins committed by the President? If the Twitter management believe there is a mistake on his part or he tweeted something that they didn’t like, he should resolve it with them, not saying all Nigerians will not have access to Twitter again. What types of people are advising the President? The Minister of Information should explain himself and the Communications Minister too is also culpable. Must all Nigerians suffer because they close the account of the President? That is very primitive. Twitter only said they don’t like the tone of language used by the President; that’s all. Why are they are treating the issue like it is a direct slap on all Nigerians? When Trump violated their rules, they only singled out his account for ban. Why didn’t they say because he is the president of the United States, then all Americans should be banned? Why should our own be different here? They are talking about June 12 as Democracy day, is this action democratic? They should please take things easy and not test the patience of Nigerians. This is a purely a matter between the President and Twitter, they should stop treating it as if all Nigerians are at war with Twitter?

What is your take on the ongoing constitution amendment exercise?

Few days ago, I wrote an open letter to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan where I said it was our first Prime Minister Alhaji Tafawa Balewa who was once observed that the “Nigerian democracy should be an ethnic commonwealth which should give each constituent a fair place under its umbrella even if they have lost at the polls. “

This succinct wisdom long uttered more than sixty years ago is the very pivot of the present agitation for a more equitable union. However , the present shadow boxing in the name of the constitution review will not meet Balewa’s standard.

And thus, when the Senate Constitutional Review Committee berthed in Lagos the other day, it was without any inkling of democratic seriousness, totally devoid of any sense of fairness, indifferent to the equitable pursuit of justice. The Lagos public hearing of the constitutional review committee was wrong footed ab initio. There was nothing genuine or sincere about the mode of presentation. There was no attempt to widen the pool of contributions or give the public hearing any semblance of popular input.

The Chairperson of the Lagos hearing , Senator Remi Tinubu, typified the narrow, restrictive nature of the Committee. She was overbearing, uppity, vain, even truculent in her engagement with contributors.

Many people were deliberately denied the openness of democratic contributions. The hearing was stage-managed, anchored in prejudice, framed in puppeteering identification. Alternative views were cast aside, flung into the pits . This is not right . This is not just.

It is obvious that the Committee is not interested in true and thorough representation of the will of the Nigerian people. It appears to be working with a script towards a predetermined end. The contributions were narrow, overtly partisan, one-sided, lacking in plural contributory logic. This is not acceptable to the Nigerian people. The structures of the present constitution is so biased , so flawed and so mangled with inequities that a mere review will not be sufficient to correct all the glaring wrongs afflicting the Nigerian state.

The unanimous position of the Nigerian people is the total overhaul of the present constitution. Nothing else will do. A genuine juncture of remedy will be to revisit the report of the 2014 Constitutional Conference which has been generally applauded for the sweeping breadth of its equity and democratic balance in rectifying the prejudicial and unworkable structures that are on the ground now.

As a stakeholder in the Nigerian project and as someone who is sworn to the unity of the Nigerian state, I believe that our nation can emerge stronger and better only when all the component units that make up our nation have a sense of belongingness and general accommodation regardless of tribe or sectarian belief, when everyone is treated equally without ethnic bias, when merit is the sole determinant of public positions. This can only be achieved with a people’s constitution. This is indeed what we should work for rather than the charade and the present jamboree that is chaired by Senator Ovie Omo – Agege.

Enough of this false and misleading engagement. Let’s renew our nation through the pursuit of the truth and the resolve on the fairness doctrine. Their-in resides the national salvation. It is only fit and proper that I should conclude this intervention with another nugget of wisdom from our first Prime Minister, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa when he observed : “If crook’s are allowed to determine the destiny of the people, the people will suffer indefinitely.

Governor Seyi Makinde is marking two years in office. How will you rate his performance as the only PDP governor in the SouthWest?

If I am to rate Governor Makinde from figure zero to ten, I will score him 9/10. This is because despite enormous challenges, his performance in the last two years has been quite impressive and he has tried his best to fulfill his electoral campaigns to the people of the state.

You need to visit Oyo state and see what he has been able to achieve so far; all the infrastructural developments and other achievements in other critical sectors. Take for instance, all the road construction across the state. On Thursday, he inaugurated the 65km Moniya-Ijaiye -Iseyin Road. Even the Oke-Ogun road that was impassable before is now rehabilitated.

In the educational sector, look at the support he gave to pupils who have dropped out of schools and were roaming the streets because their parents cannot afford to pay their school fees. Less than a year that he became governor, COVID-19 came and he was able to handle it successfully without letting it get out of hand in the state.

Don’t also forget that Oyo is a very big state with 33 local governments. In the transportation area, I can say that he performed creditably well if you look at transportation within the city of Ibadan. He has also done well in tackling insecurity so that the people of the state can have peace.

Let’s keep praying for him that he will still be able to do more to make life more meaningful for the people. I wish him and the good people of Oyo state the best and I am appealing to them to cooperate with him and give him more support in the coming days so that he can be able to achieve more.
https://independent.ng/twitter-ban-nigerians-shouldnt-suffer-for-the-offence-committed-by-buhari-bode-george/

Which one be uppity again?

These politicians go just loot money, relax for house dey study grammar

Damn

Seyi Makinde tackled insecurity


How exactly, Bode must be deaf and blind nowadays

H

Who's Remi Tinubu?

Tinubu must have collected Bode's babe when they where young. This man jumps on anything Tinubu.

This one will just die for nothing over Tinubu matter, its either you bow or continue wailing.

Uppity...meaning she deserves pity of Nigerians

OnionBandit:
Which one be uppity again?

These politicians go just loot money, relax for house dey study grammar

Damn

From husband now to the wife..

Mr Bode George,respect your old age

The way the Tinubus ignore this man is really having a problem on him

Says who

Shetemi12:
The way the Tinubus ignore this man is really having a problem on him

OnionBandit:
Which one be uppity again?

These politicians go just loot money, relax for house dey study grammar

Damn

Uppity? na grammar? Anyway English no be our language

wife of our incoming presidiot

Ekez:
Who's Remi Tinubu?

Seriously Bola Tinubu have been changing senators of Lagos east and west districts by allowing others to go and collect their own national cake. As soon as he realizes that a representative or senator is gaining more political relevance in Lagos or south west states, he will move in his machinery (bullion van) to unseat that legislator.

He don't want rivalry in the south west at all. Wonder how the sophisticated ones just allowed these to play all this long.

Why is Remi Tinubu the longest serving senator? In the entire south west districts... because he knows the wife can not challenge his political weight.

#Yorubaronu
#Otogefortinubu

VP osinbajo said sometimes ago that he doesn't think that government regulation is necessarily the way to go, but he believe that we as persons of faith and we, as leaders, and those of us who use the social media actively owe a responsibility to our society and to everyone else

OP. There are certain things in the Presidency that you are aloof of, it is not only President and Vice President in the Presidency, they have aides, PAs etc; sometimes, no matter how cordial the relationship between the number 1 & 2, there are people are always hellbent on sabotaging it, it happened during GEJ in fact, Ruben Abati said it, it's out there in the public space. Understand this, then you know where I'm going with this assertion.