₦airaland Forum

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Ministries of Power and Finance, and the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) to conclude the engagement with Siemens AG to commence the pre-engineering and concessionary financing aspects of the Presidential Power Initiative.

The Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) is a power infrastructure upgrade and modernization Programme agreed to by Federal Government of Nigeria and Siemens AG of Germany, with the support of the German Government.

Under the PPI, the Federal Government will on behalf of the other shareholders in the Electricity Distribution Companies invest in infrastructure upgrades in the form of improved payment systems, distribution substations, transformers, protection devices, smart meters, transmission lines, etc.

All DisCos have, directly, and through the BPE, been diligently carried along over the last 15 months to understand in detail the challenges in the electricity systems.

All items to be purchased were provided by the DisCos and Transmission Company of Nigeria and they will be vetted by a professional Project Management Office.

The funding for the PPI will be secured under concessionary terms (up to 3-year moratorium and 12-year repayment at concessionary interest rates) through the German Euler Hermes cover, which the Federal Government will on-lend as a convertible loan to the other shareholders in the DisCos.

President Buhari has approved the release of funding for the first part of Phase 1 of the PPI, to kick-off the pre-engineering and concession financing workstreams.

To ensure fairness and transparency of the intervention, the President has also directed that the Federal Government engage the International Finance Corporation (‘IFC’) to assist in developing the commercial structure of the intervention under this Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), as well as in undertaking an independent company valuation of the DisCos.

The President has also directed that to ensure value for money and preserve the integrity & transparency of the procurement process under the Govt-to-Govt framework, Siemens AG shall be solely responsible for nominating its EPC partners to perform all onshore works; NO middlemen.

“Our goal is simply to deliver electricity to Nigerian businesses and homes… Our intention is to ensure that our cooperation is structured under a Govt-to-Govt framework. No middlemen will be involved, so that we can achieve value for money for Nigerians.” — President Buhari

The PPI journey started on August 31, 2018, when Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Nigeria and met with President Buhari.

Chancellor brought along with her a business delegation that included the Global CEO of Siemens. Nigeria and Germany agreed to explore cooperation in a number of areas, including Power.

The Presidential Power Initiative (PPI):

a. Will deliver improved power supply nationwide, with attendant results in job creation, investor confidence, cost and ease of doing business and economic growth.

b. Will provide training and capacity building for thousands of young Nigerians (non-graduates, students and graduates)

c. Will create economic opportunities for Nigerian engineering companies that will serve as local vendors for the provision of manpower and equipment.

d. Will stimulate/encourage inflow of additional investment into the power sector.

The ultimate goal of the PPI is to modernize and increase the Nigerian electricity grid capacity from about 5 GW currently to 25 GW, over three phases.

AVERTING THE ROAD TO VENEZUELA

By FEMI ADESINA

Let’s tell the story of Venezuela, because it bears striking similitude with that of Nigeria.
Just like us, Venezuela is rich in oil, very rich. At a time, the county’s problem was not money, but how to spend it. Just like Nigeria.

And quite like us again, the South American country did not look inwards. It planted nothing, did not invest in agriculture, since there was an endless flow of oil wealth. Life was one long Christmas, and it was jingle bells all the way.

But the rainy days came, as they would always come. And the bells stopped jingling. Rain began to beat Venezuela badly. Nowhere to take refuge. It did not buy umbrellas in the time of affluence, so no shelter from the rains.

From the days of the immediate past President, Hugo Chavez, to the current Nicolas Maduro, the country has seen that life is not one long honeymoon. The egungun festival would always end, no matter how fun and pleasurable it has been.

From a land flowing with milk and honey, what are the characteristics of Venezuelan life today? Hyperinflation. Starvation. Diseases. Crime and high mortality rates. Massive emigration, the worst in the history of the country.

And the half has never yet been told. By 2017, over 75% of the population had reportedly lost 8 kg (19 lbs) due to hunger. There are interminable food queues, and people even cross the borders, looking for sustenance. At least 94% live in grinding poverty, more than 10% (3.4 million) have left the country, and 25% needed one form of humanitarian assistance or the other.

How did a country that was once an oasis of pleasure get to this sorry pass? Simple. Economic mismanagement, sole dependence on oil. More than 70% of food needs were being imported, and why not, since petroleum-dollars were flowing. Then, the crunch came. Oil prices crashed, and Venezuela crashed with it. Just like it almost happened to Nigeria. Almost. If not for a simple man from Daura called Muhammadu Buhari.

Imagine pediatric wards in hospitals filled with underweight babies, who still continue to suck the shriveled breasts of equally emaciated mothers. Close your eyes and try to envision hitherto middle class adults now rummaging through rubbish heaps for scraps, with the remainder of what used to be neckties now hanging limply over threadbare shirts and suits that have turned to ‘coats,’ looking more like parachutes on thin shoulders . That was what Nigeria almost became. Almost. And by today, with COVID-19 ravaging the world, all international borders closed, oil prices crashed and external reserves dwindling, that is where we would have been. If God had not brought Muhammadu Buhari our way in 2015.

When he got to office as President, oil prices had crashed from an Olympian height of 100 dollars per barrel (it even went as high as 143 dollars), and then dropped to less than 30 dollars. Where were the savings during the boom years? None. Where were the foreign reserves? Mere pittance. Empty national treasury. Excess crude oil account, depleted. Nothing in reserve, local or foreign. The Venezuelan situation was at the very doors. But how did we avert it? How did we avoid the journey to Caracas, the capital of Venezuela?

President Buhari knew that we had to stave off the evil day by getting to work immediately. Whatever money we had left must be put where our mouth was, otherwise danger loomed.

With a rallying cry, the President urged Nigerians to return to the land. They obeyed. God also showed mercy by giving consistently good rainy seasons back to back. And today, we can count our blessings.
In late 2015, the Buhari Administration came with the Anchor Borrowers Program, championed by the central bank. It was launched in Kebbi, and the vision was to grant farmers access to finance, so that they could grow rice, wheat, ginger, maize, soybeans, and many other products.

And what a revolution has been sparked off. When we launched in Kebbi in 2015, it was in a vast open land. When we went back to same state earlier this year for the Argungu International Fishing Festival, the heap of rice was almost touching the sky. We once had groundnut pyramids in this country. Now, they have been succeeded by rice pyramids. Just because a President came, and had a dream. He then turned the dream to reality.

I once visited one vast farm in Nasarawa State run by Nigeria Farmers Group and Cooperative Society. It is promoted by a man named Retson Tedheke, started in 2017, and there you have professionals from different disciplines, engaged in farming. Very impressive. I was told Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had also been there. The place sure is dreamland, and who would have thought a prophet could come from a small town like Nazareth? But it’s happening, right before our eyes. Thanks to the man from Daura.
Each time, as I see palliative materials being handed out at this time of health and economic emergency, and I behold heaps and heaps of bags of rice, all locally grown, I imagine what else could have happened. What if we had needed to import, and there was no foreign currency, and all international borders were closed? Hunger ooo. Starvation ooo. Weeping and gnashing of teeth. But we averted the journey to Venezuela. We avoided the trip to Caracas, because a man called Muhammadu Buhari came.
There was a time we imported beans even from Burkina Faso. Rice from Thailand, and from everywhere under the sun. Milk, tomato paste, palm oil, vegetable oil, even toothpick. Everything was imported. Today, we rank highest in Africa in rice cultivation and milling, with over seven million tonnes yearly. Jobs have been created in millions, and food sufficiency has almost been achieved.
Cotton farmers were funded last year to start production. It means a rebound for the textiles sector soon, and jobs and jobs.

Fertilizer that used to be imported at hundreds of millions of dollars, with the attendant sleaze that attended it, is now done locally. Nigeria and Morocco are in alliance, and the project is driven right from the Presidency. Not less than 11 moribund blending plants have been resuscitated, and we now produce about 1.3 million tonnes . Prices of fertilizer have crashed from N15,000 to N5,500 per bag. And set to crash further. Farmers now have direct access to the product, and at affordable prices. Just because a man from Daura had a dream, and turned it to reality.
Agriculture has contributed a great deal to our Gross Domestic Product in the past four years. The private sector has equally keyed in. Dangote Group is already test running a two billion dollars fertilizer plant, which will see us become a net exporter of the product. And many others.

A presidential aspirant recently described the closure of our land borders as an ‘insane’ policy. May we have many more positive insanities. If President Buhari was not proactive, even prescient, to have closed our borders, where would local farmers be today? Every food product was being smuggled into the country, thus discouraging local initiatives. And when borders were closed, apart from the security benefits, local production of food items thrived-rice, poultry, vegetables , tomatoes, other food products boomed. Yet, somebody says it’s ‘insanity,’ because the selfish interests of buccaneers were affected. More of such insanities, please.

The Coronavirus pandemic is severely testing our capacities to feed ourselves. And we are making a good showing, acquitting ourselves creditably.
Despite the crash in the global economy, we are continuing with key infrastructure projects, not borrowing to pay salaries as we did in the height of the 2014 oil boom. An army of entrepreneurs is being created in different spheres. All because a man from Daura had a dream, and turned it to reality. May God bless this man. Amen, somebody!
Harry Belafonte, King of Calypso music, sang the hit track, Matilda.
“Hey! Matilda, Matilda, Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.
Five hundred dollars, friends, I lost
Woman even sell me cart and horse!
Heya! Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela.”
But now that Venezuela is the way it is, with President Maduro striving day and night to turn things round, where will Matilda run to? Nigeria, I guess.

*Adesina is Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Buhari

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

PRESIDENT BUHARI EXTENDS TENURE OF NDDC INTERIM MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

President Muhammadu Buhari has extended the tenure of the Professor Keme Pondei-led Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) from May 1 to December 31, 2020.

The extension is to cover the period of the forensic audit of the NDDC, earlier approved by the Federal Executive Council, under the chairmanship of the President.

In the same vein, President Buhari equally approved that the NDDC provides intervention support to complement efforts of the Federal and State governments against further spread of COVID-19 in the nine States of the Niger Delta region, in the sum of Six Billion, Two Hundred and Fifty Million Naira (N6,250,000,000.00) only.

The materials and supplies are to be done through Emergency Procurement method as provided in Sections 42(b) (c) and 43 of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.

Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President 
(Media and Publicity)
April 30, 2020

ADDRESS BY H.E. MUHAMMADU BUHARI,
PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ON THE CUMULATIVE LOCKDOWN ORDER OF LAGOS AND OGUN STATES AS WELL AS THE FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY ON COVID- 19 PANDEMIC
AT THE STATE HOUSE, ABUJA
MONDAY, 27th APRIL, 2020

Fellow Nigerians

I will start by commending you all for the resilience and patriotism that you have shown in our collective fight against the biggest health challenge of our generation.

As at yesterday, 26th April 2020, some 3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been recorded globally with about 900,000 recoveries. Unfortunately, some 200,000 people have passed away as a result of this pandemic.

The health systems and economies of many nations continue to struggle as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Nigeria continues to adapt to these new global realities on a daily basis. Today, I will present the facts as they are and explain our plans for the coming months fully aware that some key variables and assumptions may change in the coming days or weeks.

Exactly two weeks ago, there were 323 confirmed cases in 20 States and the Federal Capital Territory.

As at this morning, Nigeria had recorded 1,273 cases across 32 States and the FCT. Unfortunately, this includes 40 deaths.

I am using this opportunity to express our deepest condolences to the families of all Nigerians that have lost their loved ones as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. This is our collective loss and we share your grief.

Initial models predicted that Nigeria will record an estimated 2,000 confirmed cases in the first month after the index case.

This means that despite the increase in the number of confirmed cases recorded in the past two weeks, the measures we have put in place thus far have yielded positive outcomes against the projections.

The proportion of cases imported from other countries has reduced to only 19% of new cases, showing that our border closures yielded positive results. These are mostly fellow Nigerians returning through our land borders. We will continue to enforce land border arrival protocols as part of the containment strategy.

Today, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has accredited 15 laboratories across the country with an aggregate capacity to undertake 2,500 tests per day across the country.

Based on your feedback, Lagos State Government and the FCT with support from NCDC have established several sample collection centers. They are also reviewing their laboratory testing strategy to further increase the number of tests they can perform including the accreditation of selected private laboratories that meet the accreditation criteria.

Several new fully equipped treatment and isolation centres have been operationalised across the country thereby increasing bed capacity to about three thousand.

I commend the State Governors for the activation of State-level Emergency Operation Centres, establishment of new treatment centres and the delivery of aggressive risk communication strategies.

Over 10,000 healthcare workers have been trained. For their protection, additional personal protective equipment have been distributed to all the states.

Although we have experienced logistical challenges, we remain committed to establishing a solid supply chain process to ensure these heroic professionals can work safely and are properly equipped.

In keeping with our Government’s promise to improve the welfare of healthcare workers, we have signed a memorandum of understanding on the provision of hazard allowances and other incentives with key health sector professional associations.

We have also procured insurance cover for 5,000 frontline health workers. At this point, I must commend the insurance sector for their support in achieving this within a short period of time.

Nigeria has also continued to receive support from the international community, multilateral agencies, the private sector and public-spirited individuals. This support has ensured that critical lifesaving equipment and materials, which have become scarce globally, are available for Nigeria through original equipment manufacturers and government-to-government processes.

The distribution and expansion of palliatives which I directed in my earlier broadcast is still on going in a transparent manner. I am mindful of the seeming frustration being faced by expectant citizens. I urge all potential beneficiaries to exercise patience as we continue to fine tune our logistical and distribution processes working with the State Governments.

Our Security Agencies continue to rise to the challenge posed by this unusual situation. While we feel deeply concerned about isolated security incidents, I want to assure all Nigerians that your safety and security remain our primary concern especially in these difficult and uncertain times.
As we focus on protecting lives and properties, we will not tolerate any human rights abuses by our security agencies. The few reported incidences are regrettable, and I want to assure you that the culprits will be brought to justice.

I urge all Nigerians to continue to cooperate and show understanding whenever they encounter security agents. Furthermore, for their protection, I have instructed that the personnel of all the security agencies be provided with the necessary personal protective equipment against infection.

As we continue to streamline our response in the centers of Lagos and the FCT, I am gravely concerned about the unfortunate developments in Kano in recent days. Although an in-depth investigation is still ongoing, we have decided to deploy additional Federal Government manpower, material and technical resources to strengthen and support the State Government’s efforts, with immediate effect.

In Kano, and indeed many other States that are recording new cases, preliminary findings show that such cases are mostly from interstate travel and emerging community transmission.

Drawing from these, I implore all Nigerians to continue to adhere strictly to the advisories published by the Presidential Task Force and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

These include regular hand washing, physical distancing, wearing of face masks/coverings in public, avoidance of non-essential movement and travels and avoidance of large gatherings.

Fellow Nigerians, for the past four weeks, most parts of our country have been under either Federal Government or State Government lockdowns. As I mentioned earlier, these steps were necessary and overall, have contributed to slowing down the spread of COVID-19 in our country.

However, such lock downs have also come at a very heavy economic cost. Many of our citizens have lost their means of livelihood. Many businesses have shut down. No country can afford the full impact of a sustained lockdown while awaiting the development of vaccines.

In my last address, I mentioned the Federal Government will develop strategies and policies that will protect lives while preserving livelihoods.

In these two weeks, the Federal and State Governments have jointly and collaboratively worked hard on how to balance the need to protect health while also preserving livelihoods, leveraging global best practices while keeping in mind our peculiar circumstances.

We assessed how our factories, markets, traders and transporters can continue to function while at the same time adhering to NCDC guidelines on hygiene and social distancing.

We assessed how our children can continue to learn without compromising their health.

We reviewed how our farmers can safely plant and harvest in this rainy season to ensure our food security is not compromised. Furthermore, we also discussed how to safely transport food items from rural production areas to industrial processing zones and ultimately, to the key consumption centers.

Our goal was to develop implementable policies that will ensure our economy continues to function while still maintaining our aggressive response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These same difficult decisions are being faced by leaders around the world.

Based on the above and in line with the recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the various Federal Government committees that have reviewed socio-economic matters and the Nigeria Governors Forum, I have approved a phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos and Ogun States effective from Monday, 4th May, 2020.

However, this will be followed strictly with aggressive reinforcement of testing and contact tracing measures while allowing the restoration of some economic and business activities in certain sectors.

Furthermore, new nationwide measures are to be introduced as follows;
There will be an overnight curfew from 8pm to 6am. This means all movements will be prohibited during this period except for essential services;
There will be a ban on non-essential inter-state passenger travel until further notice;
Partial and controlled interstate movement of goods and services will be allowed for the movement of goods and services from producers to consumers; and
We will strictly ensure the mandatory use of face masks or coverings in public in addition to maintaining physical distancing and personal hygiene. Furthermore, the restrictions on social and religious gatherings shall remain in place. State Governments, corporate organisations and philanthropists are encouraged to support the production of cloth masks for citizens.

For the avoidance of doubt, the lockdown in the FCT, Lagos and Ogun States shall remain in place until these new ones come into effect on Monday, 4th May 2020.

The Presidential Task Force shall provide sector specific details to allow for preparations by Governments, businesses and institutions.
In respect to the above guidelines. State Governors may choose to adapt and expand based on their unique circumstances provided they maintain alignment with the guidelines issued above.
To support our businesses and traders, the monetary and fiscal authorities shall deploy all the necessary provisions needed for production to continue and thus, jobs restored.

These revised guidelines will not apply to Kano State.

With regards to Kano, I have directed the enforcement of a total lockdown for a period of two weeks effective immediately. The Federal Government shall deploy all the necessary human, material and technical resources to support the State in controlling and containing the pandemic and preventing the risk of further spread to neighboring States.

I wish to once again commend the frontline workers across the country who, on a daily basis, risk everything to ensure we win this fight. For those who got infected in the line of duty, rest assured that Government will do all it takes to support you and your families during this exceedingly difficult period. I will also take this opportunity to assure you all that your safety, wellbeing and welfare remains paramount to our Government.

I will also recognise the support we have received from our traditional rulers, the Christian Association of Nigeria, the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and other prominent religious and community leaders. Your cooperation and support have significantly contributed to the successes we have recorded to date.

I will urge you all to please continue to create awareness on the seriousness of the coronavirus among your worshippers and communities while appealing that they strictly comply with public health advisories.

I also thank the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and the Presidential Task Force for all their hard work to date. Through this collaboration, I remain confident that success is achievable.

I also wish to thank corporate organisations, philanthropists, the UN system, the European Union, friendly nations, the media and other partners that have taken up the responsibility of supporting our response.

And finally, I will thank all Nigerians again for your patience and cooperation during this difficult and challenging period. I assure you that government shall continue to take all necessary measures to protect the lives and livelihoods of our citizens and residents.

I thank you for listening and may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria

MY LAST CONTACT WITH ABBA KYARI
By FEMI ADESINA

He told us he would be back at his desk soon. I believed it. But now, it would never happen. Not tomorrow, not next week, not forever. Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, has gone the way of all flesh.

Our last contact was on Friday, March 20, 2020.President Muhammadu Buhari was scheduled to meet with the Chairman of ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, by 3 p.m. Such meetings hold in the diplomatic room of the presidential office complex.

The protocol is that aides invited to attend any meeting must be seated 15 clear minutes before the President walked in. I was in the diplomatic room at the required time. A seat had been designated for me, next to that of the Chief of Staff.

Few minutes later, Mallam Abba (as he was often called by us) walked in. I rose to greet him.
“Femi, how are you? They have said we should not shake hands again,” he responded. Rather jocularly, he extended his right foot. I touched his foot with my own, and we both laughed. Leg-shake, instead of handshake.

At the dot of 3 p.m (he does it like clockwork, the grand old soldier) the President walked in. We all rose to welcome him, as we would normally do.
The ECOWAS Commission boss had come to discuss the ensuing constitutional crisis in Guinea Conakry, which was to hold election that weekend. After 10 years in office, and at 82 years of age, President Alpha Conde, had insisted on running for another term in office, and he tinkered with the country’s Constitution to make himself eligible. The opposition was having none of it, and there was civil disobedience, in which some lives had been lost.
President Buhari is the immediate past Chairman of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, and a highly respected figure in the sub-region. The ECOWAS Commission boss had come to consult him on the way forward for Guinea Conakry.

The meeting lasted for about 30 minutes, during which the situation in Guinea-Bissau had also come up briefly.

When we rose, I had my opinion on what to do about the matters discussed. I consulted with Mallam Abba, and he agreed completely with me. I took my leave, headed back to my office.

Walking right behind me was the Chief of Staff, flanked by Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, and my colleague in the media office, Mallam Garba Shehu. They were chatting.
After I passed through the security screening point that would see me turn off to my office, I looked back instinctively. Why did I do it? I didn’t know, still don’t know. But it turned out to be my last view of Kyari. He was laughing as he talked with the two people beside him.

That glance I took turned out to be the very final. About 72 hours later, Mallam Abba was diagnosed with the deadly Coronavirus, which sent him sadly on a journey of no return.

Catching COVID-19 (as the inelegant virus has been elegantly codenamed by World Health Organization) is not supposed to be a death sentence. I had no doubt that Mallam Abba would beat the infection, and be back at his desk soon, as he had promised. I prayed for him a number of times in the following three weeks.

On Tuesday, April 15, the President was billed to receive a delegation from the European Union by noon. As I walked into the Presidential Villa, I met a personal staff of the Chief of Staff.
“How’s Chief?” I asked.
He told me he was doing well. And that was what we believed.

I’m not much of a dreamer. At least, not dreams with significance. Dreams come from a multitude of business, as the Good Book says, so if a man drinks a bowl of garri before going to bed, and he dreams of swimming in a pond or river, he actually started swimming right from inside that bowl of garri.
On Thursday night inward Friday, I dreamt. The President and myself were in a corridor in the Presidential Villa, and he was talking with me. Suddenly, by my right, I saw a figure waiting for me to finish with the President. It was Mallam Abba, clad in his usual white native attire, with the trademark red cap. But this time, there was no flowing Agbada, which I found rather odd. He never (or rarely) appeared without the flowing robe. He was heavily bearded, another surprise, and the beard was all white. I rounded off discussion with the President, and yielded space for the Chief.

I made nothing of the dream, but after he died, I shared my experience with my friend, Mallam Garba Deen Mohammed.

“He came to say goodbye to you, and you didn’t know it,” my friend said. I didn’t know till then that Garba Deen had the uncommon gift of interpretation of dreams. Well, I now know where to go the next time I dream.

On Friday, April 17, I uncharacteristically went to bed after listening to the 8 p.m news. And off I went, for “He giveth his beloved sleep.” No dream, no kakiri kakiri (wandering) in my sleep. Till my phone fetched me from a far distance, out of that deep sleep. It was 12. 05 a.m.

At the other end of the line was a senior aide of the President. He told me he was there with two other very prominent personalities, whom he named. Then he dropped the bomb.

“Mallam Abba is dead, and we need you to issue a statement informing the public.”
I sprang from the bed, with my head almost touching the ceiling. Sleep fled completely from my eyes. Abba Kyari dead? How? When? Where? But he promised us he would soon be back at his desk. This was sad, sad, sad.

I put the statement together. And in the process, I had a feeling of deja vu. I remembered that day in September 2014, as I had typed the press statement announcing the death of Dimgba Igwe, my boss, my friend and brother, who had got knocked down by a hit and run driver, as he jogged on the road in Okota area of Lagos. I had worked under Igwe as a reporter for years, and as editor of The Sun Newspaper, while he was Deputy Managing Director/Deputy-Editor-in-Chief, before retirement.
As I typed the announcement of Kyari’s death, I remembered that day in August 2015, when I’d been directed to announce his appointment as Chief of Staff. Ironically, the lot to announce his death also fell on me. The job of a spokesman!

From the time I issued the statement about 12.30 a.m Friday, my phone never stopped ringing for hours. In this era of fake news, people want to reconfirm everything from source. Despite signing the statement, and putting it in different platforms of traditional and digital media, everybody who had access to me must call. My two phones rang simultaneously and ceaselessly, just as there was no let up on email, Facebook Messenger, Skype, and many other platforms. It was a burden I had to bear. Not a wink of sleep till the very next night.

I was home, planted in front of the television as Kyari was being buried at Gudu Cemetery. It all looked surreal. Yes, the man had a frail health at the best of times. But death? It didn’t sound probable, though nobody actually knows when the Grim Reaper could come calling.

As I watched Mallam Abba being consigned to Mother Earth, my childhood thoughts came roaring back. What if he had only lost consciousness, and he regained it after sand had been heaped on him? What if he felt so much heat, and he could not move or shout? Oh, the lot of mortal man. Doomed to die, whether he liked it or not.

I thought of Mr President. I knew his pain, his torture, but which he would bear stoically, with equanimity. I’d seen him respond to the news of death of his allies, one of the most recent being that of Professor Tam David-West last November. I saw the silent pain, the grief, the total submission to the perfect will of God. That of Mallam Abba was not different, if not more poignant. A friend of about 42 years, and Chief of Staff for about five years. Now gone!

Mallam Abba headed the bureaucracy of the Presidential Villa, and we constantly had things to do together. Almost daily. He had his strengths, and his weaknesses. We all do. But my greatest plus for him was his loyalty to our principal. It was never in doubt. And for me, if you love Buhari, all your sins are forgiven. If they are like scarlet, they become white as snow. If they are red like crimson, they become white as wool. That is me, no apologies.

I have read majority of the things written about Kyari. Positive and negative. I love the balanced one by Works and Housing Minister, Babatunde Raji Fashola: “I bear testimony to his dedicated execution of the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) initiative, which guaranteed funds to cash-strapped projects like the Second Niger Bridge, the Abuja-Kano Highway, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Mambilla Hydro Project, and the East-West Road...
“Like all of us, Abba was flawed but he was not conceited. We disagreed but I never found Abba disagreeable.”

Infrastructure would be one of the strongest achievements of the Buhari government by the time it exits in 2023. There’s no way those great projects would be counted, without the name of Kyari being mentioned. Or the rice and fertilizer revolution, and agriculture generally. He was the moving force behind most of them, translating the vision of the President into action. The good he did will live after him. The weaknesses have been interred with his bones.

Some people, particularly on social media, have rejoiced about the passage of the Chief of Staff. They are of all men most miserable. Really to be pitied. I recommend to them the poem, The Glories of Our Blood and State, by James Shirley:
“There is no armor against Fate;
Death lays its icy hands on kings;
Sceptre and Crown
Must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade.”
Those gloating are mere mortals. We all have our different appointments with death. May it only be in the fullness of time is our prayer. But nobody has control over it.

I also point those misguided minds to the Good Book, in Psalms 62:9: “Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up; they are together lighter than vanity.”
Rejoice not at any man’s death, because all men, whether of low or high degree, are vanity and a lie.
Abba Kyari sleeps, till the great day of awakening, after what Shakespeare calls “life’s fitful fever.” He contracted the deadly virus on an official trip abroad. So, he died in the line of duty. He has done his own. You too, do your own. For God, for country, and for humanity.

Adesina is Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Buhari

LOOKING UP IN LOCKDOWN SEASON

By Femi Adesina

As the Covid-19 pandemic remains unrelenting, a large swathe of the country is under lockdown, some proclaimed by Federal Government, others pronounced by the respective state governors. It’s not exactly the best of times for Nigerians, but the sacrifices are required to stay alive. As it is said, a living dog is better than a dead lion.

However, it is not all gloom and doom for the country. Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet (biblical Samson’s riddle). In the early days of the pandemic in Nigeria, before the lockdown became widespread, good news had wafted out from locations where critical infrastructure works were in progress. And as we hunker at home now, such things can still sweeten our ‘belle,’ as we expect better days for the world, for our country, and for ourselves.

The first phase of the lockdown for FCT, Lagos and Ogun states was proclaimed in a national broadcast on March 29. And while we were still in the doldrums, feeling like King Leah at his worst, a tweet came on March 31 from CCECC, the Chinese company handling the Lagos-Ibadan railway project.

“”A stunning victory!” the message read. “The track laying work on the main line for the Lagos-Ibadan railway has been completed at 12.08 p.m on March 28. This marks the fact that the railway is getting one step closer to opening to traffic.”

What a delight! Out of the strong came something sweet. In time of lockdown, things are looking up for Nigeria. The Muhammadu Buhari administration is writing its name in gold.

For those who are perhaps less than 40-50 years old, they have not seen trains working in most parts of the country, except perhaps in Lagos and a few other cities. Now, trains would soon zoom across the national landscape, starting from Lagos-Ibadan. It’s a thing to rejoice over, even at a dolorous time, with the specter of Coronavirus hanging like a diabolical Incubus.

The Lagos-Ibadan railway covers 158 kilometers, across ten stations, from Apapa to Ibadan. From Ebute-Metta to Ibadan has now been completed, while Apapa to Ebute-Metta, an addendum to the original contract, will be done after the Covid-19 emergency.

The implication? People can now live in Ibadan, and work in Lagos, and commute effortlessly. Goods can now be evacuated from Apapa Port to other parts of the country without subjecting the roads to deadweight, and causing premature spoilage. Nigeria is joining the rest of the modern world in the area of haulage and public transportation. I’m sure proud to be part of the Buhari government that is launching Nigeria into new realms. With three more years, by the grace of God, people ain’t seen nothing yet. Ise ribiribi ko duro.

From the Eastern frontier came an update on the Second Niger Bridge, by the middle of March. There, things are surely looking up too.

Scope of work is the 1.6 kilometer bridge, and 10.3 kilometers highway, including Owerri Interchange and Toll Station.

In three previous civilian administrations, headed by presidents from the same political party, the Second Niger Bridge had been an object of unscrupulous politicking. When they wanted votes from that part of the country, they would vow to build the bridge in three months. But the project never took off. Till July 25, 2018, when the Letter of Award came. The contract was signed on August 14,2018, and work commenced on September 1 of the same year. Contract period is 42 months. Buhari is on the march again.

As at the middle of March, approximately 35.50% of the work had been completed. Manpower on site was 1,472, and the local economy of the area was being hugely impacted. The Second Niger Bridge has roared to life in the time of Buhari, and completion date would be well within the lifespan of the administration. No more false political promises.

At the Lagos-Sagamu end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, great things were also happening before the lockdown. At least 596 people were at work, rehabilitating, reconstructing, and expanding the arterial road, one of the most strategic in the country.
The first Letter of Award for the road was on June 13, 2013, two years before Buhari came. The contract was signed on September 11 of same year. Contract period was 48 months. But did much happen, even when the country was awash with money, with oil prices above 100 dollars per barrel? No. There had to be an augmentation of the contact on July 24, 2018, with another target of 48 months. At a time oil prices oscillated between 50-60 dollars per barrel, Nigeria was doing a lot more, while earning a lot less. The same oil price crashed to as low as 23 dollars per barrel in recent weeks, with the Coronavirus causing reduced demand, coupled with the price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Before lockdown forced suspension of work on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, roadworks had been completed from Lagos to Sagamu, while drainage works were at final stages. Something to cheer us up as we seek refuge at home, covered by the Everlasting Arms.

Good news abound from different parts of the country, but let me take just one more. The Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road. It has been a death trap for years, due to its parlous state. But trust the Buhari government to bite the bullet. On January 2,2018, the Letter of Award was given, the contract signed on April 24 of same year, and work commenced on August 16. It was to last for 36 months.

Before lockdown led to a locking down of the works, this important road was already 34% completed. In the life of the Buhari administration, it should be delivered.

Sometime in 2016, few months into office as Minister of Power, Works and Housing (as he was then), I had visited Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola in his office, and we discussed extensively. He told me about some roads President Buhari had mentioned to him as priority projects in different parts of the country. He said something which I never forgot since then: “If funds are available, building roads and bridges are simple things. Let the funds be available, and see what we will achieve in the time ahead of us.”

True. Buhari is achieving. Fashola is delivering, despite the modest funds available. Now, those funds have diminished to less than half of what we had projected for the year. Budget 2020 benchmark has been reviewed from 57 dollars per barrel, to 30 dollars. But the good news is the directive given by the President to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed: no matter what, salaries must not fail, pensions must be paid, and infrastructure works must be funded.

With global recession looming, it will be tough. But all things being equal, railway works will continue, roads and bridges will not stop, and the Buhari government will exit in 2023 with its head held high, in a blaze of glory.

Amen, somebody!

Adesina is Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Buhari

ADDRESS BY H.E. MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ON THE EXTENSION OF COVID- 19 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN AT THE STATE HOUSE, ABUJA

MONDAY, 13TH APRIL, 2020



1. Fellow Nigerians



2. In my address on Sunday, 29th March, 2020, I asked the residents of Lagos and Ogun States as well as the Federal Capital Territory to stay at home for an initial period of fourteen days starting from Monday, 30th March 2020.



3. Many State Governments also introduced similar restrictions.



4. As your democratically elected leaders, we made this very difficult decision knowing fully well it will severely disrupt your livelihoods and bring undue hardship to you, your loved ones and your communities.



5. However, such sacrifices are needed to limit the spread of COVID-19 in our country. They were necessary to save lives.



6. Our objective was, and still remains, to contain the spread of the Coronavirus and to provide space, time and resources for an aggressive and collective action.



7. The level of compliance to the COVID-19 guidelines issued has been generally good across the country. I wish to thank you all most sincerely for the great sacrifice you are making for each other at this critical time.







8. I will take this opportunity to recognise the massive support from our traditional rulers, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) during this pandemic.



9. I also acknowledge the support and contributions received from public spirited individuals, the business community and our international partners and friends.



10. I must also thank the media houses, celebrities and other public figures for the great work they are doing in sensitizing our citizens on hygienic practices, social distancing and issues associated with social gatherings.





11. As a result of the overwhelming support and cooperation received, we were able to achieve a lot during these 14 days of initial lockdown.



12. We implemented comprehensive public health measures that intensified our case identification, testing, isolation and contact tracing capabilities.



13. To date, we have identified 92% of all identified contacts while doubling the number of testing laboratories in the country and raising our testing capacity to 1,500 tests per day.



14. We also trained over 7,000 Healthcare workers on infection prevention and control while deploying NCDC teams to 19 states of the federation.



15. Lagos and Abuja today have the capacity to admit some 1,000 patients each across several treatment centres.



16. Many State Governments have also made provisions for isolation wards and treatment centres. We will also build similar centers near our airports and land borders.



17. Using our resources and those provided through donations, we will adequately equip and man these centres in the coming weeks. Already, health care workers across all the treatment centers have been provided with the personal protective equipment that they need to safely carry out the care they provide.



18. Our hope and prayers are that we do not have to use all these centres. But we will be ready for all eventualities.



19. At this point, I must recognise the incredible work being done by our healthcare workers and volunteers across the country especially in frontline areas of Lagos and Ogun States as well as the Federal Capital Territory.



20. You are our heroes and as a nation, we will forever remain grateful for your sacrifice during this very difficult time. More measures to motivate our health care workers are being introduced which we will announce in the coming weeks.



21. As a nation, we are on the right track to win the fight against COVID-19.



22. However, I remain concerned about the increase in number of confirmed cases and deaths being reported across the world and in Nigeria specifically.



23. On 30th March 2020, when we started our lockdown in conforming with medical and scientific advice, the total number of confirmed cases across the world was over 780,000.



24. Yesterday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases globally was over one million, eight hundred and fifty thousand. This figure is more than double in two weeks!



25. In the last fourteen days alone, over 70,000 people have died due to this disease.



26. In the same period, we have seen the health system of even the most developed nations being overwhelmed by this virus.



27. Here in Nigeria, we had 131 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 12 States on 30th March 2020. We had two fatalities then.



28. This morning, Nigeria had 323 confirmed cases in twenty States. Unfortunately we now have ten fatalities. Lagos State remains the center and accounts for 54% of the confirmed cases in Nigeria. When combined with the FCT, the two locations represent over 71% of the confirmed cases in Nigeria.



29. Most of our efforts will continue to focus in these two locations.



30. Majority of the confirmed cases in Lagos and the FCT are individuals with recent international travel history or those that came into contact with returnees from international trips.



31. By closing our airports and land borders and putting strict conditions for seaport activities, we have reduced the impact of external factors on our country. However, the increase in the number of States with positive cases is alarming.



32. The National Centre for Disease Control has informed me that, a large proportion of new infections are now occurring in our communities, through person-to-person contacts. So we must pay attention to the danger of close contact between person to person.



33. At this point, I will remind all Nigerians to continue to take responsibility for the recommended measures to prevent transmission, including maintaining physical distancing, good personal hygiene and staying at home.



34. In addition, I have signed the Quarantine Order in this regard and additional regulations to provide clarity in respect of the control measures for the COVID-19 pandemic which will be released soon.





35. The public health response to COVID-19 is built on our ability to detect, test and admit cases as well as trace all their contacts. While I note some appreciable progress, we can achieve a lot more.



36. Today, the cessation of movement, physical distancing measures and the prohibition of mass gatherings remain the most efficient and effective way of reducing the transmission of the virus. By sustaining these measures, combined with extensive testing and contact tracing, we can take control and limit the spread of the disease.



37. Our approach to the virus remains in 2 steps - First, to protect the lives of our fellow Nigerians and residents living here and second, to preserve the livelihoods of workers and business owners.



38. With this in mind and having carefully considered the briefings and Report from the Presidential Task Force and the various options offered, it has become necessary to extend the current restriction of movement in Lagos and Ogun States as well as the FCT for another 14 days effective from 11:59 pm on Monday, 13th of April, 2020. I am therefore once again asking you all to work with Government in this fight.



39. This is not a joke. It is a matter of life and death. Mosques in Makkah and Madina have been closed. The Pope celebrated Mass on an empty St. Peter’s Square. The famous Notre Dame cathedral in Paris held Easter Mass with less than 10 people. India, Italy and France are in complete lockdown. Other countries are in the process of following suit. We cannot be lax.



40. The previously issued guidelines on exempted services shall remain.



41. This is a difficult decision to take, but I am convinced that this is the right decision. The evidence is clear.



42. The repercussions of any premature end to the lockdown action are unimaginable.



43. We must not lose the gains achieved thus far. We must not allow a rapid increase in community transmission. We must endure a little longer.



44. I will therefore take this opportunity to urge you all to notify the relevant authorities if you or your loved ones develop any symptoms. I will also ask our health care professionals to redouble their efforts to identify all suspected cases, bring them into care and prevent transmission to others.



45. No country can afford the full impact of a sustained restriction of movement on its economy. I am fully aware of the great difficulties experienced especially by those who earn a daily wage such as traders, day-workers, artisans and manual workers.



46. For this group, their sustenance depends on their ability to go out. Their livelihoods depend on them mingling with others and about seeking work. But despite these realities we must not change the restrictions.



47. In the past two weeks, we announced palliative measures such as food distribution, cash transfers and loans repayment waivers to ease the pains of our restrictive policies during this difficult time. These palliatives will be sustained.



48. I have also directed that the current social register be expanded from 2.6 million households to 3.6 million households in the next two weeks. This means we will support an additional one million homes with our social investment programs. A technical committee is working on this and will submit a report to me by the end of this week.





49. The Security Agencies have risen to the challenges posed by this unprecedented situation with gallantry and I commend them. I urge them to continue to maintain utmost vigilance, firmness as well as restraint in enforcing the restriction orders while not neglecting statutory security responsibilities.



50. Fellow Nigerians, follow the instructions on social distancing. The irresponsibility of the few can lead to the death of the many. Your freedom ends where other people’s rights begin.



51. The response of our State Governors has been particularly impressive, especially in aligning their policies and actions to those of the Federal Government.



52. In the coming weeks, I want to assure you that the Federal Government, through the Presidential Task Force, will do whatever it takes to support you in this very difficult period. I have no doubt that, by working together and carefully following the rules, we shall get over this pandemic.



53. I must also thank the Legislative arm of Government for all its support and donations in this very difficult period. This collaboration is critical to the short and long-term success of all the measures that we have instituted in response to the pandemic.





54. As a result of this pandemic, the world as we know it has changed. The way we interact with each other, conduct our businesses and trade, travel, educate our children and earn our livelihoods will be different.



55. To ensure our economy adapts to this new reality, I am directing the Ministers of Industry, Trade and Investment, Communication and Digital Economy, Science and Technology, Transportation, Aviation, Interior, Health, Works and Housing, Labour and Employment and Education to jointly develop a comprehensive policy for a “Nigerian economy functioning with COVID-19”.



56. The Ministers will be supported by the Presidential Economic Advisory Council and Economic Sustainability Committee in executing this mandate.



57. I am also directing the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the National Security Adviser, the Vice Chairman, National Food Security Council and the Chairman, Presidential Fertiliser Initiative to work with the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to ensure the impact of this pandemic on our 2020 farming season is minimized.



58. Finally, I want to thank the members of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 for all their hard work so far. Indeed, the patriotism shown in your work is exemplary and highly commendable.



59. Fellow Nigerians, I have no doubt that by working together and carefully following the rules, we shall get over this pandemic and emerge stronger in the end.



60. I thank you all for listening and may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

LAWAN, GBAJABIAMILA GOT IT WRONG

Re-2 Trillion Social Investment Programme a Failure, say Lawan, Gbajabiamila

My attention has been drawn to the online report of the Nation newspaper of 7th April 2020, with the above caption. Indeed, several other online publications carried similar stories, alleging that the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIPs), as supervised under the Office of the Vice President, were a ‘scam’. Given the gravity and implications of the narrative conveyed, as well as the caliber of persons involved, it has become necessary to clarify the issues in the public domain.

That the National Social Investment Programme has gulped over N2 trillion since 2016, when the fund was created. UNTRUE
Although the total appropriation by the National Assembly (NASS) from inception, for the 4 NSIPs, is N1.7 trillion, the actual funds released for the NSIPs between January 2016 and October 2019 (when the NSIPs were handed over to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development), amounted to N619.1 billion, constituting 36.4% of the total appropriation from the NASS.

The monies released for the N-SIPs can be further broken down into 14.03% (2016); 35% in 2017; 43.5% in 2018 and 57.8% (as at Sept 2019) of the N500b in 2016 and N400b appropriated for the subsequent years. It should be noted that for 2017 to 2020, the sum of N100b was appropriated specifically for the National Housing Fund hosted by the Federal Ministry of Finance. These releases covered operational activities and payments to 13,363,680 beneficiaries across all the 4 NSIPs, all of whom can all be verified either through their BVN numbers or their unique numbers generated by the National Social Register, those identities having been generated for the poorest of the poor who do not own bank accounts for sundry reasons.

As at September 2019, the funds had been expended as follows, on the: Job Creation programme (549,500 N-Power graduates and non-graduates and 7 Technology Hubs); National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (in 33 States, 9,963,762 pupils to 107,862 cooks in 54,952 primary schools); the National Cash Transfer Programme (including the development of the National Social Register by the National Social Safety Net Coordination Office) 1,491,296 poor and vulnerable households comprising 6,056,872 individuals in 33 States and 620,947 cash transfer beneficiaries; and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (managed by the Bank of Industry); a total of 2,279,380 TraderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni beneficiaries.

That as part of the conditions for poor and vulnerable beneficiaries to be engaged, they are made to apply online, through the internet and they require a BVN for payment. UNTRUE
The National Cash Transfer Programme derives all the cash transfer beneficiaries from a National Social Register (NSR), comprising State Social Registers that are developed and hosted by the State Ministries of Panning of each State. The process for objective identification of poor and vulnerable households is as provided in the Financing Agreement (F.A) signed between Nigeria and the World Bank, for which purpose the World Bank IDA Credit and the recovered funds from the Abacha family are being utlised. The process involves a poverty mapping of the LGAs in each State, community mobilization, targeting and identification supported by trained enumerators at State and LGA levels, after which each of the households identified by the communities is visited and data collated, which information includes fields such as the size of household, age, gender, persons with disability (if any), assets, vocation of head of household, educational qualifications (if any), dwelling house conditions, etc.

Finally, all the data collated is subjected to a proxy means testing formula to determine those who merit the grants and the accompanying training. Even though each State hosts its own information, all of the data is hosted at the National level as the National Social Register. As at March 31st 2020, the NSR comprised 11,045,537 individuals from 2,644,495 households, collated from 35 States, 453 LGAs, 47,698 communities. Each and every beneficiary has a generated unique number and can be tracked.

Furthermore, payment service providers have been selected in an open procurement process to pay the cash beneficiaries at their locations, as many of them reside in communities where there is a dearth of banking infrastructure. Even though the majority of beneficiaries are not financially literate, the National Social Investment Office (NSIO, then under the Office of the Vice President) commenced the pilot exercise of payment of beneficiaries in 6 States through microfinance banks in September 2019, with a 93% success rate. The exercise was preparatory to full digitization, especially with the impending cashless policy in March 2020.

It is also pertinent to mention that the National Economic Summit Group, (working with Accenture and the Busara Centre for Behavioral Sciences) formed the Policy Intervention Unit for the NSIO. Furthermore, in addition to the World Bank’s strict auditing responsibilities, the African Network of Environmental and Economic Justice has provided over 700 monitors across all the LGAs where the NSIP beneficiaries exist. The link to the Report is to be downloaded at: https://aneej.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Mantra-Field-Report-final-compressed.pdf. Indeed, the ICPC, EFCC & the DSS were also invited to monitor the process to protect the beneficiaries, after they receive the benefits in the field.

It is only in respect of the Job Creation programme that applications are made online. That particular programme was initiated for youth who consist of graduates and non-graduates, as with JAMB candidates who continue to apply for their own admission, online. Indeed, all the LGAs around the country currently have N-Power beneficiaries serving in sundry capacities. The utilization of the BVN for N-Power beneficiary payment is also as a means of identity (since the NIN number can be generated from the BVN) and to facilitate the tracking of payments and further ensure accountability.

The identities of the cash transfer beneficiaries are protected by law (the FOI Act), as the consent of recipients of social grants is a pre-requisite, before disclosure. They can, however, be found and verified through the LGA community facilitators (CTFs) who have been trained to support them by weekly visits to the wards. The names, wards, LGAs, States and phone numbers of the CTFs can be found at http://n-sip.gov.ng/resource-data/, as the data collation continues to grow around the country.
The Leadership of the Senate also stated that the NSIP information was not accessible to the National Assembly. UNTRUE

It is, however, on record that all invitations to public hearings and meeting by the NASS were honoured by the myself (as the supervisor of the NSIPs) and the cluster teams, while documents relating to the structure, activities and progress of the NSIPs were routinely shared with them, over the period that the NSIO supervised the NSIPs under the auspices of the Office of the Vice President (OVP). Furthermore, the monthly reports of 3,000 N-Power monitors, spread across the 774 LGAs, are available to both Poverty Alleviation Committees of the NASS.

It should also be noted that the accounting and procurement aspects of the NSIPs were handled by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning on behalf of the NSIO, and not the OVP. All requests for information related thereto were responded to, by that Ministry.
It was further asserted, apparently, that because the beneficiaries are not known personally to the NASS members, the National Social Register is a ‘scam’ and needs to be reformed through a process that is ‘more inclusive’ of the NASS. REGRETTABLE & DANGEROUS

The NSR comprises persons selected by the communities directly, within the constituencies of each of the NASS members. No person has been imported from one community to the other. They have been identified as very poor by the communities in which they reside and may not necessarily be known by the lawmakers. Verification of their identity and status is possible, as has been for all investigative journalists and monitors, through the CTFs.

It should be noted that Nigeria has signed a Financing Agreement with the World Bank, in which the process of identification of beneficiaries was set out. Any departure from the process, which would place at risk the accessibility to the IDA Credit and the recovered funds from the Abacha family.
The demand for the inclusion of candidates to the NSR from the NASS has been a recurring issue from the inception of the NSIPs. My role and singular focus has simply been to comply with the terms of Agreement and the MoU entered into by the Federal Government of Nigeria, as well as to establish an objective, efficient and transparent process for uplifting the poor out of poverty through structures and mechanisms that are credible and sustainable. I have consistently reminded both NASS Committee Chairmen on Poverty Alleviation that there is no social protection programme in the world in which politicians are responsible for selecting the beneficiaries of cash transfers. All successful social protection programmes extract their beneficiaries from an objective community platform, if only to ensure that the poorest of the poor are supported out of poverty in an inclusive community driven and timely manner. The data being collated in each household enables the accurate and scientific measurement and tracking, to assure of analysis and research towards resolving poverty. Since poverty knows no ethnicity, religion or political affiliation, the process must be insulated from influences that are likely to deviate from achieving the desired objective of alleviating abject poverty, rather than be used for patronage or as compensation for loyalty.

The tripartite process for identification of cash transfer beneficiaries is in accordance with similar established best practice the world over, as the communities in which the poor reside know who is most in need. The community takes ownership and supports the process, if engaged in the identification of the needy. While not perfect, the process is as near authentic as is possible in the circumstances, as we continue to strive towards improvement. Building the State Social Registers has been a painstaking and continuous collaborative effort, with huge amount of funds expended in striving to achieve the credibility that would be put to waste, if discarded as suggested. Reform is certainly welcome, but not the ‘reform’ that would introduce influence and partisanship into the NSR, thereby making a mockery of the critical data so far collated around the country.

The NSIPs have been handed over to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs since October 2019, but it has become necessary to respond to the unfortunate allegations made at the National Assembly on the 7th of April 2020, which allegations were made in respect of certain aspects of the NSIPs from inception in November 2015 to September 2019. This response is necessary for the purpose of:
Safeguarding the entitlements of the poorest of Nigerian citizens, whose benefits are likely to cease because they are not known or connected to NASS members or any other person of influence;
Protecting the integrity of the NSR, which development has been a painstaking process over the past 4 years, along with the huge investment and effort expended on data that is critical for development and poverty analysis; and
Ensuring compliance with the World Bank Financing Agreement (FA) signed by Nigeria and the World Bank, as well as the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Nigeria, the Swiss Government and the World Bank, to facilitate the return of the funds recovered from the Abacha family. Disregarding the process set out in the F.A would risk the suspension of the utilization of the IDA Credit and the recovered funds for the cash transfer beneficiaries. That balance which is currently over $500m, would be placed at risk. In the current Nigerian situation, we cannot afford to lose such a huge amount of resources that have been provided to support the poorest of the poor out of poverty.

This Statement is prepared to set the records straight on certain aspects of the processes, structure and activities of the NSIPs between November 2015 and September 2019 when I supervised the NSIO operations. Having handed over the NSIPs in October 2019, I assume no responsibility for the operations thereafter as the Ministry is well positioned to handle the NSIPs and take decisions thereupon. Thank you.


Maryam Uwais MFR
Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments
8th April 2020.

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE



COVID-19: WHAT PRESIDENT BUHARI HAS DONE, AND IS DOING, BY PRESIDENCY



In his broadcast to the nation on Sunday, March 29, 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari declared that “in Nigeria’s fight against Covid-19, there is no such thing as an overreaction or under-reaction. It is all about the right reaction by the right agencies and trained experts.”



Lest we forget, below is a chronicle of some of the reactions by the agencies and trained experts, under the leadership of President Buhari. All these are apart from the impressive job being done by some state governors.



· January 28, 2020, (one month before the first case of Corona Virus). Federal Government assured citizens of the country of its readiness to strengthen surveillance at five international airports in the country to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The government announced the airports as Enugu, Lagos, Rivers, Kano and the FCT.



· January 28: The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) also announced that it had already set up coronavirus group and was ready to activate its incident system if any case emerged in Nigeria.



· January 31: Following the developments on Covid-19 pandemic in mainland China and other countries worldwide, the Federal Government set up a Coronavirus Preparedness Group to mitigate the impact of the virus if it eventually spreads to the country. On the same day, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed Nigeria among other 13 African countries identified as high-risk for the spread of the virus.



· February 27: Nigeria reports its first Coronavirus case



· Early March: Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, announced that 60 persons who had contact with the index Italian patient were under isolation – 40 in Ogun State and 20 in Lagos State.



· March 9: President Buhari established a Presidential Task Force for the control of the virus in the country.



· March 17: Nigeria postponed the 20th National Sports Festival that was billed to hold in Benin City, Edo State from 22 March to 1 April.



· March 18: Presidential Task Force Press Briefing during which the Federal Government announced that travellers from 13 countries would no longer be allowed to enter Nigeria until the Coronavirus pandemic was over.



· Nigeria is restricting entry into the country for travellers from China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, United States, Norway, United Kingdom, Netherlands & Switzerland. These are countries with over 1,000 cases domestically.



· The government also stopped issuance of visas from the countries.



· The Federal Government also suspended the issuance of visa on arrival to travelers from the earlier named countries. All travelers returning from these countries prior to the restriction will be in supervised self-isolation, monitored by NCDC and Port Health Services.



· March 18: The Management of the National Youth Service Corps suspended the 2020 Batch A stream one 21 days orientation exercise indefinitely. The orientation exercise commenced on 10 March and was expected to end on 30 March, before it was suspended after just 8 days.



· March 18: Nigeria placed a travel ban on 13 countries with high cases of the virus namely: United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, China, Spain, Netherlands, Norway, Japan and Iran.



· March 18: The Nigeria Football Federation suspended all football activities for four weeks.



· March 19: Nigerian President’s daughter in isolation after returning from Britain.



· March 20: Nigerian government announced the closure of tertiary educational institutions, secondary and primary.



· March 20: Nigeria extended travel ban to two more countries, Sweden and Austria.



· March 20: Nigeria announced the closure of international airports in Enugu, Port Harcourt and Kano.



· March 21: The Nigerian Railway Corporation announced the suspension of all passenger services from 23 March.



· March 21: Nigeria announced the closure of the remaining two international airports in Abuja and Lagos.



· March 23: The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad ordered all courts in Nigeria to shut down from 24 March.



· March 23: Nigeria announced the suspension of Federal Executive Council, (FEC) and National Council of State (NCS) meetings indefinitely.



· March 23: The Independent National Electoral Commission announced suspension of all activities for 14 days.



· March 24: The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board suspends activities for two weeks.



· March 24: The National Examination Council announced an indefinite postponement of the 2020 common entrance examination into 104 Unity schools in Nigeria, which was scheduled to hold on 28 March.



· March 24: The Federal Capital Territory Administration ordered the immediate closure of shops in the markets and neighbourhood centres, except those selling food items, medicines and other essential commodities.



· March 24: FCT also directed the immediate suspension of gathering in churches and mosques.



· March 25: Government announced the closure of Asaba airport with effect from March 27; land borders from March 29.



· March 26: CBN announced Covid-19 fund contributions by seven Nigerian billionaires and banks. Access Bank Plc, Nigeria’s biggest lender by assets, is teaming up with Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, to provide treatment and isolation centres across Africa’s most populous nation as it braces for the impact of the coronavirus.



· March 26: Federal Government received 107 boxes of medical supplies from China, comprising surgical masks, protective clothing, face shields and detection kits.



· March 27: Federal Government released 10 Billion Naira to Lagos State, and 5 billion Naira special intervention fund to NCDC to equip, expand and provide personnel to its facilities and laboratories across the country.



· Closure of the nation’s international Airports and Land Borders for four weeks in the first instance, to enable the country put up the appropriate policies, processes and infrastructure to cope with suspected and confirmed cases at home, without risking compounding of the situation with more imported cases.



· Only cargo vessels that have been at sea for more than 14 days would be allowed to dock in the ports, after the crew have been tested and confirmed disease-free by the Port Health Authorities.



· NCDC to draft all its recent retirees back into service to beef up manpower.



· Furthermore, all NCDC staff and experts who are away on training or international assignments are to return immediately. Nigerian Air Force (NAF) conducting an evacuation mission to bring back some of Nigerian specialists in Central Africa, to enable them support the national response.

· March 27: President Buhari commends the monetary policy authorities for their financial intervention to support entrepreneurs and companies. Government also looking at fiscal measures to minimise the negative impact of this pandemic on the livelihood of millions of Nigerians.



· Government begins the process of reviewing the federal budget.



· President Buhari directs the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, to work with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), to ensure that production of essential items such as food, medical and pharmaceutical products continues.



· The Minister of Health stated that of the 65 Coronavirus cases, 40 had immediate travel history to one or more of the Coronavirus affected countries in the last two weeks;10 are close contacts of confirmed cases; 6 had neither a recent travel history nor a known contact and 6 were detected on an offshore oil vessel. He further revealed that, 3 persons had been discharged from treatment and one fatality was recorded. The Minister affirmed that 61 currently active cases are clinically stable with mild or moderate symptoms.



· The Minister of Health hinted that Lagos State is currently the epicentre of COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria, stating also that the Lagos State government and the ministry of health had scaled up their response activities as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control supports them as well as other affected states, through the rapid response teams deployed.



· The minister emphasised that health facilities and health workers at all levels should be on high alert and maintain a high index of suspicion to give full cooperation to contact tracers everywhere. He added that while train stations, land borders and international airports remained closed, precautionary measures should be taken by FG to protect sea ports.



· The minister emphasized the containment strategy of social distancing which he said, had been repeatedly announced. He added that directives had been issued at National and State levels to limit large gatherings, including religious, social and political gatherings, school events etc.



· March 27: A circular was issued by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF) directing public servants on Grade Levels 12 and below on non-essential roles to work from home.



· Contact-tracing is on-going to identify persons who had been in close contact with confirmed cases.



· The Federal Ministry of Health is working closely with States and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to review response activities, and initiate measures to protect the health and wellbeing of Nigerians. The Multi-Sectoral Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), led by NCDC coordinates it and other national response activities



· NCDC launched a WhatsApp APL, a free to use service to provide a central source of accurate, verified and current information on COVID-19 in Nigeria.



· The Minister of Health also emphasized that the NCDC hotline is available 24/7 and toll free and that various states also have hotlines that could be called for direct state specific questions on COVID-19, while urging citizens to use them legitimately for reporting and enquiries.



· March 29: Presidential Broadcast.



· March 30: President Buhari signs Covid-19 Regulations, 2020 into law.



· March 30: 11pm: Lockdown begins in FCT and Lagos, as directed by President Buhari.



Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media and Publicity)

April 1, 2020

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

COVID-19: WHAT PRESIDENT BUHARI HAS DONE, AND IS DOING, BY PRESIDENCY

In his broadcast to the nation on Sunday, March 29, 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari declared that “in Nigeria’s fight against Covid-19, there is no such thing as an overreaction or under-reaction. It is all about the right reaction by the right agencies and trained experts.”

Lest we forget, below is a chronicle of some of the reactions by the agencies and trained experts, under the leadership of President Buhari. All these are apart from the impressive job being done by some state governors.

· January 28, 2020, (one month before the first case of Corona Virus). Federal Government assured citizens of the country of its readiness to strengthen surveillance at five international airports in the country to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The government announced the airports as Enugu, Lagos, Rivers, Kano and the FCT.

· January 28: The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) also announced that it had already set up coronavirus group and was ready to activate its incident system if any case emerged in Nigeria.
· January 31: Following the developments on Covid-19 pandemic in mainland China and other countries worldwide, the Federal Government set up a Coronavirus Preparedness Group to mitigate the impact of the virus if it eventually spreads to the country. On the same day, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed Nigeria among other 13 African countries identified as high-risk for the spread of the virus.

· February 27: Nigeria reports its first Coronavirus case

· Early March: Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, announced that 60 persons who had contact with the index Italian patient were under isolation – 40 in Ogun State and 20 in Lagos State.
· March 9: President Buhari established a Presidential Task Force for the control of the virus in the country.

· March 17: Nigeria postponed the 20th National Sports Festival that was billed to hold in Benin City, Edo State from 22 March to 1 April.

· March 18: Presidential Task Force Press Briefing during which the Federal Government announced that travellers from 13 countries would no longer be allowed to enter Nigeria until the Coronavirus pandemic was over.

· Nigeria is restricting entry into the country for travellers from China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, United States, Norway, United Kingdom, Netherlands & Switzerland. These are countries with over 1,000 cases domestically.

· The government also stopped issuance of visas from the countries.

· The Federal Government also suspended the issuance of visa on arrival to travelers from the earlier named countries. All travelers returning from these countries prior to the restriction will be in supervised self-isolation, monitored by NCDC and Port Health Services.

· March 18: The Management of the National Youth Service Corps suspended the 2020 Batch A stream one 21 days orientation exercise indefinitely. The orientation exercise commenced on 10 March and was expected to end on 30 March, before it was suspended after just 8 days.

· March 18: Nigeria placed a travel ban on 13 countries with high cases of the virus namely: United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, China, Spain, Netherlands, Norway, Japan and Iran.

· March 18: The Nigeria Football Federation suspended all football activities for four weeks.

· March 19: Nigerian President’s daughter in isolation after returning from Britain.

· March 20: Nigerian government announced the closure of tertiary educational institutions, secondary and primary.

· March 20: Nigeria extended travel ban to two more countries, Sweden and Austria.

· March 20: Nigeria announced the closure of international airports in Enugu, Port Harcourt and Kano.

· March 21: The Nigerian Railway Corporation announced the suspension of all passenger services from 23 March.

· March 21: Nigeria announced the closure of the remaining two international airports in Abuja and Lagos.

· March 23: The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad ordered all courts in Nigeria to shut down from 24 March.

· March 23: Nigeria announced the suspension of Federal Executive Council, (FEC) and National Council of State (NCS) meetings indefinitely.

· March 23: The Independent National Electoral Commission announced suspension of all activities for 14 days.

· March 24: The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board suspends activities for two weeks.

· March 24: The National Examination Council announced an indefinite postponement of the 2020 common entrance examination into 104 Unity schools in Nigeria, which was scheduled to hold on 28 March.

· March 24: The Federal Capital Territory Administration ordered the immediate closure of shops in the markets and neighbourhood centres, except those selling food items, medicines and other essential commodities.

· March 24: FCT also directed the immediate suspension of gathering in churches and mosques.

· March 25: Government announced the closure of Asaba airport with effect from March 27; land borders from March 29.

· March 26: CBN announced Covid-19 fund contributions by seven Nigerian billionaires and banks. Access Bank Plc, Nigeria’s biggest lender by assets, is teaming up with Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, to provide treatment and isolation centres across Africa’s most populous nation as it braces for the impact of the coronavirus.

· March 26: Federal Government received 107 boxes of medical supplies from China, comprising surgical masks, protective clothing, face shields and detection kits.

· March 27: Federal Government released 10 Billion Naira to Lagos State, and 5 billion Naira special intervention fund to NCDC to equip, expand and provide personnel to its facilities and laboratories across the country.

· Closure of the nation’s international Airports and Land Borders for four weeks in the first instance, to enable the country put up the appropriate policies, processes and infrastructure to cope with suspected and confirmed cases at home, without risking compounding of the situation with more imported cases.

· Only cargo vessels that have been at sea for more than 14 days would be allowed to dock in the ports, after the crew have been tested and confirmed disease-free by the Port Health Authorities

· NCDC to draft all its recent retirees back into service to beef up manpower.

· Furthermore, all NCDC staff and experts who are away on training or international assignments are to return immediately. Nigerian Air Force (NAF) conducting an evacuation mission to bring back some of Nigerian specialists in Central Africa, to enable them support the national response.

· March 27: President Buhari commends the monetary policy authorities for their financial intervention to support entrepreneurs and companies. Government also looking at fiscal measures to minimise the negative impact of this pandemic on the livelihood of millions of Nigerians.

· Government begins the process of reviewing the federal budget.

· President Buhari directs the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, to work with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), to ensure that production of essential items such as food, medical and pharmaceutical products continues.

· The Minister of Health stated that of the 65 Coronavirus cases, 40 had immediate travel history to one or more of the Coronavirus affected countries in the last two weeks;10 are close contacts of confirmed cases; 6 had neither a recent travel history nor a known contact and 6 were detected on an offshore oil vessel. He further revealed that, 3 persons had been discharged from treatment and one fatality was recorded. The Minister affirmed that 61 currently active cases are clinically stable with mild or moderate symptoms.

· The Minister of Health hinted that Lagos State is currently the epicentre of COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria, stating also that the Lagos State government and the ministry of health had scaled up their response activities as the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control supports them as well as other affected states, through the rapid response teams deployed.

· The minister emphasised that health facilities and health workers at all levels should be on high alert and maintain a high index of suspicion to give full cooperation to contact tracers everywhere. He added that while train stations, land borders and international airports remained closed, precautionary measures should be taken by FG to protect sea ports.

· The minister emphasized the containment strategy of social distancing which he said, had been repeatedly announced. He added that directives had been issued at National and State levels to limit large gatherings, including religious, social and political gatherings, school events etc.

· March 27: A circular was issued by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF) directing public servants on Grade Levels 12 and below on non-essential roles to work from home.

· Contact-tracing is on-going to identify persons who had been in close contact with confirmed cases.

· The Federal Ministry of Health is working closely with States and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to review response activities, and initiate measures to protect the health and wellbeing of Nigerians. The Multi-Sectoral Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), led by NCDC coordinates it and other national response activities

· NCDC launched a WhatsApp APL, a free to use service to provide a central source of accurate, verified and current information on COVID-19 in Nigeria.

· The Minister of Health also emphasized that the NCDC hotline is available 24/7 and toll free and that various states also have hotlines that could be called for direct state specific questions on COVID-19, while urging citizens to use them legitimately for reporting and enquiries.

· March 29: Presidential Broadcast.

· March 30: President Buhari signs Covid-19 Regulations, 2020 into law.

· March 30: 11pm: Lockdown begins in FCT and Lagos, as directed by President Buhari.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media and Publicity)

April 1, 2020

Notice to Affected Stakeholders and General Public Regarding Covid-19 and Restrictions in Movement of Persons.

In light of the devastating effects of the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) on many countries around the world, we applaud and appreciate the appropriate and proactive restrictions in personal and vehicular movement directed by President Muhammadu Buhari in his speech of Sunday 29 March 2020. These restrictions are critical to significantly reduce the transmission rate of the disease and make it much easier for health professional to trace, test and isolate patients.

To ensure that Nigerians can still perform online transactions and use ATMs whilst observing these restrictions, we will like to inform the general public and all affected stakeholders that we have obtained exemptions from the President to allow very skeletal operations in the Financial System and Money Markets in order to keep the system in light operations during this time.

To this end, all relevant staff of affected outfits and agencies should look out for further instructions from their immediate bosses. We are mindful of the difficulties these restrictions would bring on ordinary Nigerians and are grateful to the President for approving these exemptions, which should help ease some of these burdens. We urge all Nigerians to be patient, cooperative and united as all hands are on deck to defeat this virus.


Zainab S. Ahmed ​​​​​​
Hon. Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning​

Godwin I. Emefiele
Governor, CBN

ADDRESS BY H.E. MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ON THE COVID- 19 PANDEMIC SUNDAY 29TH MARCH, 2020




1. Fellow Nigerians,



2. From the first signs that Coronavirus, or COVID-19 was turning into an epidemic and was officially declared a world-wide emergency, the Federal Government started planning preventive, containment and curative measures in the event the disease hits Nigeria.



3. The whole instruments of government are now mobilized to confront what has now become both a health emergency and an economic crisis.



4. Nigeria, unfortunately, confirmed its first case on 27th February 2020. Since then, we have seen the number of confirmed cases rise slowly.



5. By the morning of March 29th, 2020, the total confirmed cases within Nigeria had risen to ninety-seven.



6. Regrettably, we also had our first fatality, a former employee of PPMC, who died on 23rd March 2020. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family in this very difficult time. We also pray for quick recovery for those infected and undergoing treatment.



7. As of today, COVID-19 has no cure. Scientists around the world are working very hard to develop a vaccine.



8. We are in touch with these institutions as they work towards a solution that will be certified by international and local medical authorities within the shortest possible time.



9. For now, the best and most efficient way to avoid getting infected is through regular hygienic and sanitary practices as well as social distancing.



10. As individuals, we remain the greatest weapon to fight this pandemic. By washing our hands regularly with clean water and soap, disinfecting frequently used surfaces and areas, coughing into a tissue or elbow and strictly adhering to infection prevention control measures in health facilities, we can contain this virus.



11. Since the outbreak was reported in China, our Government has been monitoring the situation closely and studying the various responses adopted by other countries.



12. Indeed, the Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) was one of ten global health leaders invited by the World Health Organisation to visit China and understudy their response approach. I am personally very proud of Dr Ihekweazu for doing this on behalf of all Nigerians.





13. Since his return, the NCDC has been implementing numerous strategies and programs in Nigeria to ensure that the adverse impact of this virus on our country is minimized. We ask all Nigerians to support the work the Federal Ministry of Health and NCDC are doing, led by the Presidential Task Force.



14. Although we have adopted strategies used globally, our implementation programs have been tailored to reflect our local realities.



15. In Nigeria, we are taking a two step approach.



16. First, to protect the lives of our fellow Nigerians and residents living here and second, to preserve the livelihoods of workers and business owners to ensure their families get through this very difficult time in dignity and with hope and peace of mind.



17. To date, we have introduced healthcare measures, border security, fiscal and monetary policies in our response. We shall continue to do so as the situation unfolds.



18. Some of these measures will surely cause major inconveniences to many citizens. But these are sacrifices we should all be willing and ready to make for the greater good of our country.



19. In Nigeria’s fight against COVID-19, there is no such thing as an overreaction or an under reaction. It is all about the right reaction by the right agencies and trained experts.



20. Accordingly, as a Government, we will continue to rely on guidance of our medical professionals and experts at the Ministry of Health, NCDC and other relevant agencies through this difficult time.



21. I therefore urge all citizens to adhere to their guidelines as they are released from time to time.



22. As we are all aware, Lagos and Abuja have the majority of confirmed cases in Nigeria. Our focus therefore remains to urgently and drastically contain these cases, and to support other states and regions in the best way we can.



23. This is why we provided an initial intervention of fifteen billion Naira (N15b) to support the national response as we fight to contain and control the spread.



24. We also created a Presidential Task Force (PTF) to develop a workable National Response Strategy that is being reviewed on a daily basis as the requirements change. This strategy takes international best practices but adopts them to suit our unique local circumstances.



25. Our goal is to ensure all States have the right support and manpower to respond immediately.



26. So far, in Lagos and Abuja, we have recruited hundreds of ad-hoc staff to man our call centers and support our tracing and testing efforts.







27. I also requested, through the Nigeria Governors Forum, for all State Governments to nominate Doctors and Nurses who will be trained by the NCDC and Lagos State Government on tactical and operational response to the virus in case it spreads to other states.



28. This training will also include medical representatives from our armed forces, paramilitary and security and intelligence agencies.



29. As a nation, our response must be guided, systematic and professional. There is a need for consistency across the nation. All inconsistencies in policy guidelines between Federal and State agencies will be eliminated.



30. As I mentioned earlier, as at this morning we had ninety-seven confirmed cases. Majority of these are in Lagos and Abuja. All the confirmed cases are getting the necessary medical care.



31. Our agencies are currently working hard to identify cases and people these patients have been in contact with.



32. The few confirmed cases outside Lagos and Abuja are linked to persons who have travelled from these centres.



33. We are therefore working to ensure such inter state and intercity movements are restricted to prevent further spread.









34. Based on the advice of the Federal Ministry of Health and the NCDC, I am directing the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days with effect from 11pm on Monday, 30th March 2020. This restriction will also apply to Ogun State due to its close proximity to Lagos and the high traffic between the two States.



35. All citizens in these areas are to stay in their homes. Travel to or from other states should be postponed. All businesses and offices within these locations should be fully closed during this period.



36. The Governors of Lagos and Ogun States as well as the Minister of the FCT have been notified. Furthermore, heads of security and intelligence agencies have also been briefed.



37. We will use this containment period to identify, trace and isolate all individuals that have come into contact with confirmed cases. We will ensure the treatment of confirmed cases while restricting further spread to other States.



38. This order does not apply to hospitals and all related medical establishments as well as organizations in health care related manufacturing and distribution.



39. Furthermore, commercial establishments such as;

a. food processing, distribution and retail companies;

b. petroleum distribution and retail entities,

c. power generation, transmission and distribution companies; and

d. private security companies are also exempted.



40. Although these establishments are exempted, access will be restricted and monitored.



41. Workers in telecommunication companies, broadcasters, print and electronic media staff who can prove they are unable to work from home are also exempted.



42. All seaports in Lagos shall remain operational in accordance with the guidelines I issued earlier. Vehicles and drivers conveying essential cargoes from these Ports to other parts of the country will be screened thoroughly before departure by the Ports Health Authority.



43. Furthermore, all vehicles conveying food and other essential humanitarian items into these locations from other parts of the country will also be screened thoroughly before they are allowed to enter these restricted areas.



44. Accordingly, the Hon. Minister of Health is hereby directed to redeploy all Port Health Authority employees previously stationed in the Lagos and Abuja Airports to key roads that serve as entry and exit points to these restricted zones.



45. Movements of all passenger aircraft, both commercial and private jets, are hereby suspended. Special permits will be issued on a needs basis.



46. We are fully aware that such measures will cause much hardship and inconvenience to many citizens. But this is a matter of life and death, if we look at the dreadful daily toll of deaths in Italy, France and Spain.



47. However, we must all see this as our national and patriotic duty to control and contain the spread of this virus. I will therefore ask all of us affected by this order to put aside our personal comfort to safeguard ourselves and fellow human beings. This common enemy can only be controlled if we all come together and obey scientific and medical advice.



48. As we remain ready to enforce these measures, we should see this as our individual contribution in the war against COVID-19. Many other countries have taken far stricter measures in a bid to control the spread of the virus with positive results.



49. For residents of satellite and commuter towns and communities around Lagos and Abuja whose livelihoods will surely be affected by some of these restrictive measures, we shall deploy relief materials to ease their pains in the coming weeks.



50. Furthermore, although schools are closed, I have instructed the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to work with State Governments in developing a strategy on how to sustain the school feeding program during this period without compromising our social distancing policies. The Minister will be contacting the affected States and agree on detailed next steps.





51. Furthermore, I have directed that a three month repayment moratorium for all TraderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni loans be implemented with immediate effect.





52. I have also directed that a similar moratorium be given to all Federal Government funded loans issued by the Bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture and the Nigeria Export Import Bank.



53. For on-lending facilities using capital from international and multilateral development partners, I have directed our development financial institutions to engage these development partners and negotiate concessions to ease the pains of the borrowers.



54. For the most vulnerable in our society, I have directed that the conditional cash transfers for the next two months be paid immediately. Our Internally displaced persons will also receive two months of food rations in the coming weeks.



55. We also call on all Nigerians to take personal responsibility to support those who are vulnerable within their communities, helping them with whatever they may need.



56. As we all pray for the best possible outcome, we shall continue planning for all eventualities.





57. This is why I directed that all Federal Government Stadia, Pilgrims camps and other facilities be converted to isolation centers and makeshift hospitals.



58. My fellow Nigerians, as a Government, we will avail all necessary resources to support the response and recovery. We remain committed to do whatever it takes to confront COVID-19 in our country.



59. We are very grateful to see the emerging support of the private sector and individuals to the response as well as our development partners.



60. At this point, I will ask that all contributions and donations be coordinated and centralized to ensure efficient and impactful spending. The Presidential Task Force remains the central coordinating body on the COVID-19 response.



61. I want to assure you all that Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies with a role to play in the outbreak response are working hard to bring this virus under control.



62. Every nation in the world is challenged at this time. But we have seen countries where citizens have come together to reduce the spread of the virus.



63. I will therefore implore you again to strictly comply with the guidelines issued and also do your bit to support Government and the most vulnerable in your communities.





64. I will take this opportunity to thank all our public health workforce, health care workers, port health authorities and other essential staff on the frontlines of the response for their dedication and commitment. You are true heroes.



65. I thank you all for listening. May God continue to bless and protect us all.





President Muhammadu Buhari

29th March 2020.

Please note that the Federal Government is NOT paying or planning to pay N30,000 to every Nigerian with a verified BVN account

Disregard mystatenews dot com and all other websites peddling this FAKE NEWS. And stop sharing it!

Me Femi Adesina did not say this; neither did the Federal Government!

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE
 
BATTLE AGAINST COVID-19: PRESIDENT BUHARI THUMBS UP ELUMELU, RABIU, DANGOTE, ATIKU, BANKS, OTHERS

President Muhammadu Buhari has saluted the public-spiritedness of wealthy Nigerians and organizations for standing up to be counted in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The President commends members of the Nigerian Private Sector Coalition Against Covid-19, made of people like Aliko Dangote, Abdulsamad Rabiu of BUA Group, Femi Otedola, Tony Elumelu, Herbert Wigwe, Segun Agbaje and Jim Ovia of UBA, Access, GT, and Zenith Banks, respectively, for contributing N1 billion each, and being in the vanguard of encouraging others in the private sector to do same.

UBA has equally donated the sum of N5 billion to Nigeria and Africa, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has pledged N50 million,  while First Bank is partnering with government, the United Nations, and innovative technological firms to provide e-learning solutions to at least one million children under its ‘Keep Them Engaged, Keep Them Safe’ initiative.

The President extols every other helping hand that has been lent by individuals, groups and organizations, which may not necessarily be in the public domain, noting that God who sees all things will abundantly recompense.

President Buhari recommends these laudable strides to other high net-worth Nigerians and organizations, stressing that hand in hand, the country will overcome the challenges brought by the pandemic, and chart new course in nationalism and brotherhood.

Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President 
(Media and Publicity)
March 27, 2020

TEXT OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE HON MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND CULTURE, ALHAJI LAI MOHAMMED, IN ABUJA ON THURSDAY, 26 MARCH 2020
Good afternoon gentlemen, and welcome to this press conference, called to update you on the measures being taken by the Federal Government to tackle the Coronavirus pandemic.
2. I want to say straight away that our strategy at containing this pandemic is working, but we still have a long way to go. We know our priorities and we know our challenges. We have taken very bold measures in stopping international flights into the country, and we hail the state governments that have take equally bold measures in their states, which include the closure of markets and the prohibition of large congregations.
3. However, we are determined to be more aggressive in enforcing the measures aimed at containing the spread of the virus, such as: - Social distancing - Contact tracing - Testing - Isolation of suspected cases - And ensuring that our messaging gets down to the grassroots
4. Gentlemen, I don't intend to sound apocalyptic. But the truth is that time is running out. If we don't urgently and more aggressively enforce the measures I have just listed, we have a short window within which to stop this pandemic or face an explosion in terms of the cases. We cannot afford to be complacent.
5. In view of this, we are considering tougher measures to enforce compliance, stop the exportation of the disease to states that do not have it and minimize spread. Possible measures include:
- Stopping inter-state/inter-town travels, except for essential services - Closing all motor parks and inter-state rail stations. Already, all train movements nationwide have been stopped. - Using fire fighting and other adaptable vehicles and personnel to fumigate cities and towns.
We will be considering and announcing new measures from time to time, but rest assured that whatever decisions we take will be in the best interest of Nigerians.
6. Let me announce that we have received donated safety and test kits from the Jack Ma Foundation in China. The supplies are: - 100,000 Face Masks - 1,000 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) - 20,000 test kits
The face masks and the PPE will be distributed to the front-line health workers while the test kits will be shared among the five test laboratories.
7. We are also taking measures to increase the number of bed spaces for isolation of suspects. The facilities we have now include the 40-bed Facility, the 60-bed Facility, and the 160-bed Facility, all in Abuja, We are still looking at other facilities within the Federal Capital Territory.
8. As we said during our last press conference, contact tracing is very critical to stopping the spread of the virus. Today, we have 51 cases covering 8 states: Lagos - 32 FCT - 10 Ogun - 3 Ekiti - 1 Edo - 1 Bauchi - 1 Osun - 1 Oyo - 1 Rivers - 1
We have 4,370 people of interest whom we are tracing. We urge those who have had contact with suspected cases to immediately report to the authorities. We urge Nigerians to support the authorities in this regard. We are on the verge of reaching the level of community spread. We must stop this immediately or we will record exponential cases in the days ahead. There is no better way to say this.
9. Let me say, without mincing words, that we are not getting the kind of cooperation that this moment deserves from Nigerians. Many are busy engaging in meaningless criticisms instead of complying with the stipulated directives to keep people safe. Some Nigerians who flew into the country from overseas filled wrong addresses and phone numbers in their forms, making it difficult to trace them when the need arises. Some Nigerians defied orders to stay away from large gatherings while some religious leaders willfully flouted the directives to ensure social distancing. The government is doing its best but we need the citizens to do their best too. We have now gone past the stage of persuasion. It's time for strong enforcement.
10. This brings me to the rising instances of fake news associated with coronavirus. The epidemic of fake news is now competing with the pandemic of coronavirus, and this is not helping the fight against the disease. Instances of such fake news include - That there are only two ventilators in Abuja, out of which one has been commandeered for a top government official - That a British Airways Flight was due to land in Nigeria on Wednesday despite the closure of all international airports. - That President Muhammadu Buhari has been coughing and is now on ventilator.
Fake. Fake. Fake. It's all fake news.
11. A section of the traditional media has also been engaging in scaremongering and irresponsible reporting on the disease. It is wrong to speculate on those who are positive or negative for coronavirus without any empirical information. In any case, being positive to coronavirus is not a death sentence, as we can see around the world. There is no need for the kind of scaremongering we are seeing in a section of the media. The danger is that this scaremongering can even discourage some who may want to come forward for testing. We therefore wish to appeal to the media to be more circumspect in their reporting.
12. Gentlemen, we have noted the decision of at least five domestic airlines - Air Peace, Aero and Azman, Dana and Arik - to suspend their flight operations. The suspension is a boost for the efforts of the government to check the spread of the pandemic. Some of the airlines have also announced one form of support or another for the government's efforts to tackle the pandemic. This is very commendable. We are aware of more private sector support to the FG and will be announcing this after full compilation. We seek the support and cooperation of more capable individuals and organizations in order to defeat this pandemic.
13. Finally, we appeal to Nigerians not to panic. It is said that panic is our greatest enemy. The Federal Government is determined to work with the good people of Nigeria to defeat Covid-19. And defeat the disease we will.
14. I thank you, gentlemen, for your kind attention. I will now take your questions

CORONAVIRUS: #Nigeria has now added two new countries to the list of high-risk countries from which entry to Nigeria by travelers has been restricted: AUSTRIA and SWEDEN.

The restrictions involve the temporary suspension of all visas issued to nationals from these countries.

Nigerians arriving from AUSTRIA and SWEDEN will be subjected to supervised isolation for 14 days.

We are also advising all Nigerians to avoid travel to these countries.

These travel and visa restrictions take effect from Friday 20 March 2020, for 4 weeks subject to review.

The List of countries from which Nigeria is restricting entry for travellers has therefore now grown from 13 to 15: China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, United States of America, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Sweden.

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

PROTECTING NIGERIANS FROM COVID-19 IS PRIORITY FOR US NOW, SAYS PRESIDENT BUHARI

President Muhammadu Buhari Friday in Abuja reiterated the commitment of his administration to the welfare of Nigerians especially with the current happenings around the world.

Speaking while receiving the management of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) in State House, President Buhari said: “I am pleased that you are working with the Ministry of Health on protecting our citizens from Covid-19 virus.”

“You must work to guarantee the safety and security of our pilgrims. As a government, this is now a key priority for us. I therefore enjoin you to ensure that adequate medical provisions and other welfare requirements are afforded our pilgrims,” he added.

The President expressed his delight with the operations of the Commission so far especially, the reduction to up to 15 per cent in Hajj fares.

“I am pleased to hear of the progress you have made thus far especially in reducing Hajj fares by up to 15 per cent. I am also impressed that you are still working to further bring down the cost next year. This is commendable now especially with the recent global events that have impacted on the economy. Such savings will be timely and most welcome to the pilgrims as well as to Nigeria’s economy,” he said.

President Buhari however, cautioned them against sacrificing quality for safety and comfort of pilgrims.

“However, as you assess and reduce these costs, you must ensure that quality service and comfort are provided for our pilgrims as these are the core mandates of your Commission and must remain your primary goal,” he said.

The Chairman of the Commission, Zikrullah Kunle Hassan had informed the President of the efforts of the commission to make life better for Nigerians on pilgrimage. He said that the Saudi government had given some concessions to Nigerians especially in the way of accommodation and tents, assuring the President of even better deals next year when his Board fully takes over negotiations.

“With your kind approval this year, we are working to take full charge of Makhan accommodation because hitherto, the states have been in charge. The idea is that when we take full charge, we will be able to reduce further the cost and to do this, we need to engage the accommodation agents and owners in a possible two to three-year lease with a view to having a reduction in price,” he said.

Alhaji Hassan also appealed to the President to constitute the Board of Trustees of the Hajj Savings Scheme to make it easier for pilgrims to perform their religious obligation.

He further assured that he was in discussions with the Federal Ministry of Health on the Covid-19 pandemic as the Commission aligns itself with government positions in tackling the scourge.

Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
(Media & Publicity)
March 20, 2020

PRESS RELEASE

CLOSURE OF INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS

The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 has announced the closure of three (3) International airports in the country as part of measures taken to combat the spread of coronavirus.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation/ Chairman PTF, Boss Mustapha, stated that effective from Saturday 21st March, 2020 midnight, the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano; Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu and the Port-Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa will be closed to all international flights.

However, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation said that the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos will remain opened to and accept international flights irrespective of the type of operations.

All stakeholders are enjoined to collaborate with Port Health Services in the identification of suspects/persons at points of entry and to bring such persons to the attention of Port Health Officers for appropriate action.

Meanwhile, the PTF urges all Nigerians to remain calm and cooperate with the instructions already issued by the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on modes of worship and gatherings at this time not exceeding fifty (50) persons.

The PTF assures Nigerians that adequate and appropriate information will be made available in due course.

CORONAVIRUS: Nigeria announces Entry Restrictions

The Presidential Task Force on the Control of the Coronavirus this morning announced that:

1. The Federal Government of Nigeria is restricting entry into the country for travellers from the following countries; China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Switzerland. These are all countries with over 1,000 cases domestically.

2. The Federal Government is temporarily suspending all visas issued to nationals from these countries. Nigerians arriving from these countries will be subjected to supervised isolation for 14 days.

3. The Federal Government of Nigeria is also advising all Nigerians to avoid travel to these countries.

4. These restrictions will come into effect from Fri 20 March 2020 for 4 weeks subject to review.

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

ALLEGED ATTACK ON PRESIDENT BUHARI IN KEBBI: CONTORTIONISTS AT WORK AGAIN

President Muhammadu Buhari was in Kebbi State Thursday to declare open the Argungu Fishing and Cultural Festival. It was the first time the international tourism event would hold in eleven years, as security considerations had rendered it impracticable.

As the President went round the arena to inspect rice pyramids on display, and take photographs with farmers, a young man was so very excited to see his President so close. He made an attempt to get to him.

World over, such would not be allowed by security details. The young man was prevented, and he protested that he should be allowed to greet his President. Now, professional contortionists are making mischief of the event. They are passing the video clip off on social media as an attempt to attack the President.

Malicious people always twist things to give a negative narrative. But they simply dash their heads against the wall. The country moves on.

Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media and Publicity)
March 12, 2020

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

ALLEGED ATTACK ON PRESIDENT BUHARI IN KEBBI: CONTORTIONISTS AT WORK AGAIN

President Muhammadu Buhari was in Kebbi State Thursday to declare open the Argungu Fishing and Cultural Festival. It was the first time the international tourism event would hold in eleven years, as security considerations had rendered it impracticable.

As the President went round the arena to inspect rice pyramids on display, and take photographs with farmers, a young man was so very excited to see his President so close. He made an attempt to get to him.

World over, such would not be allowed by security details. The young man was prevented, and he protested that he should be allowed to greet his President. Now, professional contortionists are making mischief of the event. They are passing the video clip off on social media as an attempt to attack the President.

Malicious people always twist things to give a negative narrative. But they simply dash their heads against the wall. The country moves on.

Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media and Publicity)
March 12, 2020

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

PRESIDENT BUHARI APPROVES SUSPENSION OF THE COORDINATOR OF AMNESTY PROGRAMME

Following numerous allegations and petitions surrounding the Presidential Amnesty Programme, the National Security Adviser (NSA) set up a Caretaker Committee to look into the activities of the programme, on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Part of the Committee’s task is to ensure that allocated resources are properly utilized in consonance with government’s objective of alleviating problems in the Niger Delta region, and stamping out corruption in the Amnesty Programme.

Consequently, the NSA recommended to Mr President that the Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme, Professor Charles Quaker Dokubo be suspended, a recommendation that has been approved and which takes immediate effect.

The President has also directed that the Caretaker Committee set up to review the programme should oversee the running of the programme henceforth, with a view to ensuring that government objectives are achieved.

Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media and Publicity)
February 28, 2020

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

BEWARE, MERCHANTS OF FAKE NEWS ON THE PROWL – PRESIDENCY

Purveyors of fake and concocted Information are currently on overdrive, and Nigerians are urged to be careful what they consume as news, and also share with others, particularly from the social media.

An unfounded information has been making the rounds that President Muhammadu Buhari is billed to travel to the United Kingdom for 20 days, and from there proceed to Saudi Arabia, and then Austria. Fake. It is nothing but falsehood from mischievous minds.

Members of the First Family, Ministers, top government officials, the military, and other key institutions, are equally objects of this orchestrated falsehood, coming from enemies of national cohesion.

We urge Nigerians to be discriminatory about what they accept as credible information, and restrain themselves from sharing what they have not authenticated as genuine. That is how we can all collectively beat the malevolent minds at their pernicious games.

Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media and Publicity)
February 17, 2020

A new case for a Commonwealth based on trade

By Muhammadu Buhari

The United Kingdom’s exit of the European Union is now all but certain. Only the passage of time will reveal what their new relationship shall be. But with this new arrangement, I – like many other Commonwealth leaders – also seek a new settlement: not only of closer relations between the UK and my own nation, but of unleashing trade within the club in which we together shall remain.

Relations between Nigeria and the UK are close and longstanding, most recently reiterated in our 2018 bi-lateral security pact and our collaboration in anti-trafficking. But in recent years, our relationship – particularly economically – has become increasingly defined by Britain’s membership of the European Union.

A new free trade agreement would reconfigure this, presenting new opportunities for both. As the largest economy in Africa, my country of nearly 200 million people has a great deal to offer: Nigeria’s vast natural energy and mineral resources, unbarred through the ending of customs barriers, could help supply growth for companies in all corners of the UK. Greater access would also be forthcoming to one of the world’s fastest expanding groups of consumers – the Nigerian middle classes.

For my country, greater UK engagement in its economy would bring jobs to under-tapped sectors, such as agriculture and manufacturing. Millions of highly skilled, English-speaking but underemployed young people, are eager to work but without the opportunities that foreign investment can bring to create jobs and build businesses.

Yet there is also a case to be made that our two Commonwealth countries should try, with other members, to deliver more – collectively. In 2015, I became the first head of a new Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council tasked with boosting trade and investment within the wider organisation. Now with the United Kingdom – the Commonwealth’s largest economy – no longer obliged to ringfence its economy with tariffs, this mission will be given a jolt of vitality.

However, we must be realistic: the commonwealth will not suddenly become a multilateral-free trade zone. Today many members reside within regional free trade and customs zones of their own. Yet without any of us needing to relinquish these ties, we can work together to minimise – consistent with respective memberships – as far as possible many of the tariffs and barriers on commodities, products and services. Because member countries’ national laws are built on the principles of English jurisprudence, we might work together from this common platform to better align regulations on investment, certification and trade.

A renewed sense of Commonwealth solidarity would also be of enormous benefit to the large and vital diasporas – particularly from Africa and the Indian subcontinent – that live in Western Commonwealth countries such as Britain, Canada and Australia. These communities still maintain the strongest of cultural and family links with the countries from which they and their forebears emigrated.

Yet visa restrictions and customs barriers must be reduced to fulfill the potential these connections could bring to the nations where they today reside. As an African leader I have an obligation to speak of the fact that while many in the African Diaspora enjoy considerable benefits from life in the West, they do not always feel at the heart of the community. A renewed sense that there are ties that bind us through the Commonwealth, and a concerted effort to grow those links through trade, could act as a spur to encourage togetherness and the certainty of belonging.

This year provides two critical summits in which this new determination could take seed. In January, London shall play host to the UK-Africa Investment Summit. (The continent is the Commonwealth’s largest constituent, providing over a third of its membership.) And then back to Africa, where Rwanda will welcome countries to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. It is at this biennial summit that many of the organisation’s milestones have been achieved – particularly in democracy and human rights. The 2020 summit could be the wrench that begins to tighten our economic structures, drawing strength from our shared bonds of history, friendship and language.

Time will tell if Britain’s new ability to strike free trade deals directly with other countries once it departs the EU can be built into more than bilateral economic cooperation. But there is no reason why, collectively, we should not try.

Nor should we dismiss the potential for making the Commonwealth of Nations more than a voluntary organization of equals based on a shared history that it is today. Instead it is in all our people’s interests to labour, dispassionately, to increase our focus on lowering barriers to achieving what truly brings freedom, friendship and equality: prosperity through trade.

Muhammadu Buhari is President, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Nigeria: Open Letter to Femi Adesina by Apostle Johnson Suleman

Nigeria’s unity is sacrosanct:

The unity and togetherness of Nigeria is sacrosanct. Our collective peace is non-negotiable.

I personally bleed when I hear drumbeats of war and yearnings for the dissolution of Nigeria, either from tribal or political overviews. No nation remains the same after war. Therefore, we can’t be fanning the embers and heating the polity of revolution or dissolution.

On constructive criticism/ pro-good governance:

Growing up as an aspiring journalists, late Dele Giwa was my role model, especially owing to his approach and activism mentality. Also, whilst growing up as a journalist, Femi Adesina was my view of an extreme perfect gentleman whom I loved from afar until we met at Government House, Rivers state, when former Governor and now Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, made our acquaintance.

Sadly, in Nigeria and especially under this current administration, anyone who speaks truth to power is termed partisan or political; some even say such a person hates President Muhammadu Buhari. But how can a man hate his president? That’s giving a dog a bad name just to hang it.

Let me give you a few shockers, sir, which many Nigerians don’t even know. My biological father is an APC chieftain; a major frontline and stakeholder in Edo state politics with the ruling party.

The governor and the deputy governor of Edo state are very close to me and the national chairman is my brother. Yet, we all relate well and they worship in our church whenever they are around because they separate issues from the relationship. That is principle sir!

I have built schools and given to governments, fixed government roads and rehabilitated people who were convicted. These are verifiable as you can ask my state governor. If I hate this government, I won’t do all that.

Wrong notion of the president:

Also, I hear people erroneously say the president is a religious bigot. I am shocked! How can that be? A very good friend of mine recently spoke to me about president Buhari and I told her my views of him and she laughed. And that evening, President Mumhamadu Buhari called me on phone and we exchanged pleasantries. And, at the end, I prayed with him in Jesus name and he said Amen! Tell me, which religious bigot does that?

So, seeing what is happening now tells me that he is surrounded by people who are painting him wrongly before some who aren’t privileged to know him. Or has he changed from being whom I knew him to be then?

When he was sick, I called all our church members in the 58 nations of the world where we have branches to pray for his speedy recovery and homecoming.

Also, a few weeks ago, I tweeted against Nigerians insulting and using demeaning verbal assertion on the person of the president. I mean, If not for anything, his age should be respected. But I came under fire and was taken to the cleaners for defending the president. But I ignored the backlash because, if you wrestle with a pig, you will be stained but the pig would enjoy it.

On Insecurity and issue of CAN:

Sir, when I read your response to CAN, two things came to mind: I asked myself, must the allure of power make you antagonistic of church leaders whilst your colleague is protecting his? I equally felt your response was ill-timed, knowing these leaders where mourning. I apologise if it came out wrongly or rudely.

John 13.35 says, “by this shall all men know you are my disciples if ye have love to one another.” Some say clerics or the clergy should stay off politics; I think the right word should be that clerics should not be partisan.

Remember that in the last administration, we spoke truth to power, even in a more corrosive and acidic manner than we do now. But it wasn’t a big deal for them because that administration was tolerant and ignored most things said. Therefore, this government should stop responding to everything. The best way to respond to complaints is to give result, not explanations, insults or counter upper-cut.

Condemning killings does not amount to being political! Every other thing is left for politicians to handle but ensuring the safety of lives and property is the responsibility of every Nigerian.

In every clime where you have principled men, criticism is inescapable. We must take it in its stride. Also, rational discourse is now a practical impossibility in Nigeria because you will be termed anti-this and or pro that.

It hurts to see certain folks remotely connected to some issues that do not concern them and yet, are ascribed mastery and expertise on such.

On Herdsmen killings:

One of my church members and leader of Urhobo Progressive Union was kidnapped. He is 80 years old. It took great wisdom to manage it as a certain extraction of Nigerians threatened to cause chaos because they felt it was an insult to their region.

Few days ago, one pastor coming to see me was kidnapped and the wife was shot. Another one was equally shot that same day on the hand by alleged killer herdsman.

But I refuse to use the word Fulani because I have Fulani friends that are so awesome and nice. But certain devils, some of which are foreigners, even like the Arewa group had rightly said last year, have infiltrated their ranks and fabrics and these foreign devil’s incarnate operate with audacity and temerity, without caring whose ox is gored. We must fish them out!

Muslims are being killed and we should condemn it. Christians are also slaughtered and we should equally condemn it.

2023 presidency:

The issue of who succeeds in 2023 should go into extinction now and the focus should be on security. A wise man speaks not because he has to say something but because he has something to say.

If I could reach you privately, I would not have resorted to the media. I also took this approach to respond to the heavy insults and name-calling on your tweeter handle which is, well, okay by me and understandable because you were angry.

But I hope this meets you well. This is me pouring my heart to my brother. I am actually not good at writing letters like this. Unlike someone, we all know that does. I guess I would meet him for tutorials.

I love you my brother and God bless Nigeria.

Apostle Johnson Suleman (Snr. Pastor Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide)

What did Femi Adesina really do wrong?

One thing is certain and it is the fact that Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity is very devoted to his principal. He loves President Muhammadu Buhari to the moon. As one of the President’s frontline men, he will do everything to fend off any unwarranted attack from any individual or group. He did just that last week when he wrote an opinion piece that called out the Christian Association of Nigeria over the group’s uncharitable attack on the president following the unfortunate death of late Rev. Lawan Andami from Adamawa State in the hands of Boko Haram terrorists.

For some reasons best known to CAN, the association has never hidden its resentment for the Buhari-led administration since 2015. The attitude of the association towards the administration is very apparent in its incendiary press statements and public posturing of some of its leaders on national issues. While there is nothing wrong in a group like CAN advancing the interest of its members and Christians in Nigeria, it is expected such should be done in a way that promotes peace, harmony and unity of the country. The article by Mr. Adesina caused some ruckus and generated reactions across the country with many supposed men and women of God and other ethnic-based groups calling for his head.

Personally, I do not see what Mr. Adesina did wrong that warranted the amount of acerbic and bilious reactions against him. Was he expected to fold his hands or send candy to an association that deliberately peddled falsehoods against the President of the country? As a Presidential spokesman, his first duty is to promote, defend and fend off unjustifiable attacks against the President and the Presidency. It is even more so when such attacks are blatant lies meant to disparage and create atmosphere for anarchy in the country.

It would appear the golden era of CAN ended when Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor became President in 2010. From 2010 till date, CAN has played more politics than preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ which should be the primary focus. Playing up of ethnic and religious differences for hegemonic advantage by the ruling elite is not a new phenomenon in Nigeria and post-colonial Africa. Identity politics is used to gain power in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies. It is also used to retain power.

Unfortunately, ethno-religious politics assumed a very dangerous dimension in a way never experienced before when activities of Boko Haram terrorists assumed more frightening turn from 2010 with wanton killings and maiming of innocent citizens. Boko Haram, in its more deadly form, started attacking police officers and police stations in Borno State since 2009 following the death of its founder, Mohammed Yusuf. In year 2009 after the death of Yusuf, Boko Haram metamorphosed from a group of religious extremists to a monster immediately Abubakar Sekau became the leader. It launched attacks against churches in Borno State from 2010. First major attack on a church that made global headlines was Christmas day attack on St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madala, a statelite town – 40 kilometres away from the Federal Capital Territory. More than 20 people died in the attack. Prior to when Boko Haram became a full blown terror group, 2011 Presidential election where former President Goodluck Jonathan was the candidate of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and then General Muhammadu Buhari as candidate of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) was bitterly contested on ethno-religious consideration.

With the rise in Boko Haram attacks in 2011, former President Jonathan, his party’s leadership and CAN wholeheartedly embraced CAN conspiracy theories weaved around Boko Haram. Boko Haram was framed as a ploy by northern and Islamic leaders to make Nigeria ungovernable for President Jonathan.

In 2014, Peoples Democratic Party even issued a press statement signed by its former National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Olisa Metuh that pejoratively described All Progressives Congress as a supporter of APC party. If 2011 elections were won using ethnicity and religion, 2015 edition was a battle fought on full scale religious hate, partly enabled by CAN. CAN became an unofficial organ of PDP. It would appear CAN has not recovered from the defeat it suffered in 2015 Presidential election because its leaders then abandoned their pulpit for soapbox. CAN was emotional invested in President Jonathan winning a re-election.

President Buhari has not enjoyed any respite from CAN since he became the leader of this country over 4years ago. He has been insulted, harassed, harangued, labeled, ridiculed, blackmailed and unfairly treated by those who are enjoined by the Bible to pray for those in authorities. Instead of praying for Buhari to succeed CAN would rather accuse him of being the sponsor of Boko Haram. The most recent accusation against President Buhari was during a press conference addressed by Rev. Supo Ayokunle after the sad killing of Rev. Lawal Andimi by Boko Haram. Gruesome murder of the CAN leader from Adamawa shocked the country, but instead of mourning a departed soldier of the Cross, CAN chose to weaponise his death to make baseless allegations. President Buhari was accused of supporting Boko Haram to kill Nigerians and his government was pursuing a policy to depopulate Christians. Those were clearly unfounded accusations anyone should levy against a President. Interestingly, CAN did not make such allegations against President Jonathan under whose leadership Boko Haram wantonly destroyed churches, killed more Christians and murdered countless Pastors.

Undisguised hateful disposition of CAN leaders towards President Buhari suggests an association that is deliberately acting adversarial agenda just because their preferred candidate and political party lost election in 2015. It will serve CAN better to transform to a political party and become official opposition party since PDP has not really lived up to that expectation. It does not serve the cause of the gospel for CAN to hide under the banner of Christ to fuel hate and religious disharmony.

It is a misplaced assumption to think that all Christians in Nigeria must necessarily accept whatever CAN is doing, including its nihilistic advocacy as one done in defence of the gospel. Labelling Adesina as taking side with oppressors of brethren is unkind. Without beating about the bush, Adesina, in line of duty, is obligated to disclaim every falsehood peddled against his boss. And this he has done like a faithful steward to his master.

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

UNITED STATES SUSPENSION OF THE ISSUANCE OF IMMIGRANT VISAS TO NIGERIANS

On 31st January 2020, the United States (U.S) Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced temporary travel restrictions on six (6) countries including Nigeria.

For Nigeria, the restriction is the suspension of the issuance of “immigrant visas” to Nigerian passport holders only. This suspension shall come into effect on 21st February 2020. The suspension does not apply to other U.S visas such as those for official, business, tourism and student travel.

The DHS states the suspension of “immigrant visas” became necessary following a review and update of the methodology (performance metrics) adopted by the U.S Government to assess compliance of certain security criteria by foreign governments. This resulted in certain enhancements on how information is shared between Nigeria and the U.S.

Nigeria remains committed to maintaining productive relations with the United States and its international allies especially on matters of global security. Accordingly, President Muhammadu Buhari has established a committee, to be chaired by the Hon. Minister of Interior, to study and address the updated U.S. requirements. The committee will work with the U.S Government, INTERPOL and other stakeholders to ensure all updates are properly implemented.

FEMI ADESINA
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
February 1, 2020

STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE

PRESIDENT BUHARI ASSENTS TO AGREEMENT ON THE TRANSFER OF SENTENCED PERSONS BETWEEN NIGERIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE MACAO

President Muhammadu Buhari has assented to the Instrument of Ratification of the Agreement on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons between the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.

This is sequel to the Federal Executive Council Conclusion of August 1, 2018, which approved and directed the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to prepare the Instrument of Ratification of the above Agreement for the President’s signature.

President Buhari’s assent formally executes the Agreement.

Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
January 24, 2020

PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY TO NIGERIANS ON NOVEL CORONAVIRUS

22nd January, 2020

This is a public health advisory on a new virus; the novel coronavirus (nCoV), by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. As this is a new virus, and new information is emerging every day, this advisory will be updated as new information and research on the virus and its impact on populations become available.

The first case of a novel (new) coronavirus (2019nCoV) strain was confirmed in China on the 7th of January 2020. According to preliminary investigations, most patients either visited or worked in the Huanan Seafood wholesale market, Wuhan city. As at the 20th of January 2020, 278 laboratory-confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV infection including six deaths have been reported to WHO globally since the first case was reported on the 31st of December 2019.

Many of the initial cases were thought to have contacted the virus through animal-to-human transmission from the market, but human-to-human transmission has also been established. Global surveillance is being established and it is expected that more cases will be reported over the next weeks.

Wuhan city is a major transport hub in China. Beyond Wuhan, cases have been confirmed in other cities in China; Guangdong, Beijing and Shanghai. As at the 21st of January, five cases have been confirmed in four other countries; Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea and the United States of America, all with a travel history to China.

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are normally transmitted between animals and people. A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain of the virus that has not been previously identified in humans. Some coronaviruses can be transmitted from person to person, usually after close contact with an infected patient, for example, in a householdor health care setting. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has convened its Emergency Committee today (22/01/20) to determine whether this outbreak should be declared a “Public Health Event of International Concern” (PHEIC).

SYMPTOMS

This new coronavirus 2019nCoV appears to cause mild to severe respiratory symptoms like cough and breathing difficulties. From current evidence, it appears that death is a rare outcome, mostly in patients with underlying illness.

TREATMENT

There is no specific treatment for disease caused by the novel coronavirus yet. However, many of the symptoms can be treated. Therefore, treatment is based on the patient’s clinical condition. In addition, supportive care for infected persons can be highly effective.

NIGERIA’S PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is currently coordinating a multisectoral technical group that is assessing and managing the risk of importation to Nigeria. NCDC is in close communication with the World Health Organization (WHO) who is closely monitoring the situation globally. WHO is in direct communication with the Government of China and other affected countries, and has released technical and travel guidance.

The Port Health Services unit of the Federal Ministry of Health in Nigeria has been placed on alert and has heightened screening measures at the points of entry. In China, exit screening measures have been enhanced for travellers from Wuhan city at the Points of Entry (PoE) (airports and ground transport stations) since the 14th of January 2020. This includes temperature checks, combined with provision of information and masks to passengers with fever, as well as directing symptomatic passengers to health facilities for follow up.

Nigerians are advised to remain calm. Travelers from Nigeria to Wuhan, China, are advised to avoid contact with sick people, animals (alive or dead), and animal markets.

Travelers from Wuhan to Nigeria, may be asked questions upon arrival by the Port Health Services unit at points of entry about symptoms of illness and travel history, and are advised to report immediately to NCDC, if they feel ill after a trip to Wuhan.

The Federal Ministry of Health through NCDC and its partners are fully committed to strengthening our preparedness and response to infectious disease outbreaks.

Information will be shared with the public as it becomes available.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

To reduce the risk of spread of coronavirus, members of the public are advised to adhere to the following measures:

• Wash your hands regularly with soap under running water

• Cover your mouth and nose properly with handkerchief or tissue paper when sneezing and/or coughing. You may also cough into your elbow if a handkerchief is not available.

• Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing

• Avoid self-medication, report to the nearest health facility when you experience any of the above-mentioned symptoms

• Healthcare workers are always advised to observe standard infection prevention and control measures when attending to patients and take a travel history.

As the situation is evolving, this advisory will be updated as more information becomes available.

ABOUT NCDC

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is the government agency with the mandate to lead the prevention, detection, and control of communicable diseases. Its functions are to prevent, detect, investigate and control communicable diseases of national and international public health importance.

Contact:

NCDC Toll-Free Number: 0800 9700 0010
SMS: 08099555577
WhatsApp: 07087110839
Twitter/Facebook: @NCDCgov
Email: info@ncdc.gov.ng

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT
PRESS RELEASE

NIGERIA WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH OTHER COUNTRIES TO INCREASE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES - OSINBAJO

The Buhari administration will be happy to work closely with other countries who share similar socio-economic objectives in order to increase economic opportunities and healthcare delivery to citizens, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this on Tuesday when he received, on a courtesy visit to the Presidential Villa, Ambassador Dato’ Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari, Secretary General of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation.

The D-8 top official is in Nigeria as the Health & Social Protection Programme of the group is being established in the country.

According to the Vice President, while addressing the Secretary General “I want to congratulate you on the signing of the partnership agreement for the Health and Social Protection Programme. This is important for us and for all D-8 countries.

“We are all emerging economies, the whole question around health care, human capacity development is crucial for us, and I think it is appropriate that we devote the time and resources like we are currently doing.”

Speaking further on the focal areas of cooperation of the D-8, Prof. Osinbajo said, “We are hopeful that you will succeed in deepening the impact of the focal areas of trade, industry, energy and tourism, in all of our countries. We are happy that, working with the other countries, we can achieve our economic objectives.

“So, we are certainly looking forward to continue to work with the D-8. We are committed to the D-8 and expect that the forthcoming summit will expand the scope of work and deepen the achievements of the D-8.

Earlier in his remark, Ambassador Dato’ Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari who thanked Nigeria for hosting the secretariat of the D-8 Health and Social Protection Programme, said implementing programmes on health and poverty alleviation was key to the agenda of the organization.

He also spoke on the D-8’s forthcoming summit in Bangladesh later in the year where a new road map and plan of action for the actualization of the organization’s targets will be launched.

The D-8 countries include Bangladesh, Egypt, Nigeria, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan and Turkey with a combined population of approximately 1 billion covering an area of 7.6 million square kilometres and, 5% of world land area.

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
21st January, 2020

President Muhammadu Buhari has sent warm greetings to President Xi Jinping and all citizens of People’s Republic of China home and abroad, as they celebrate the Chinese Lunar Year from January 25.

President Buhari, in a formal letter, recounts the strides being taken in Nigeria-China relations, and says “we have new opportunities for mutual benefits.”

Below is full text of the letter:

“As celebrations of the Chinese Year of the Rat by Chinese community in Nigeria and across the world commence on 25th January this year, on behalf of the Government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I extend my warmest and most sincere greetings and wishes to you and the Chinese people for a promising and auspicious Lunar New Year.

“In the past year, the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China was warmly celebrated. The tremendous achievements made by the Chinese people fully demonstrate that China has found the successful development path that fits its national reality.

“The past year has also been a productive one for China-Nigeria relations. The all-round, wide-ranging and high-quality bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and China has been further intensified, and our belief in the One China policy re-affirmed. There is a new impetus in Nigeria-China relations and we have new opportunities for mutual benefits.

“I note that 2020 marks the year China will finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and the final year of the 13th Five-Year Plan. We are delighted that China is making positive progress, setting a good example for developing countries to pursue their own development goals.

“This year is also the 20th anniversary of Forum for China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). We are delighted to see that FOCAC has become an effective platform between Nigeria and China and achieved major progress of boosting concrete trade and cooperation and benefiting people of both countries.

“I understand that the rat is the first sign from the cycle of Chinese Astrology that makes 2020 a year of new beginnings and renewals. I would like to take this as a new outset to work with China hand in hand to develop the Belt and Road Initiative, further implement the outcomes of the FOCAC Beijing Summit, and promote the Nigeria-China strategic partnership to a new level.

“While wishing that the Year of the Rat witnesses the common development of our two countries and a better life of our peoples, please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest esteem and personal regards.

“Once again, Happy New Year!”

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media and Publicity)

January 21, 2020