Kim K shared this adorable photo of her daughter wearing her thigh high Balenciaga boots while laying on her back on the floor. She looks so adorable
Monday 15 August 2016
Monday 7 March 2016
Glamour model, Chloe Saxon says Adam Johnson denied having a child just because he wanted to bed her
Speaking to The Sun, Chloe said she regretted meeting the footballer as he is a sex addict:
“His behaviour was seedy and perverted .He made no mention of having a family and actually lied to cover them up. He pretended they didn’t exist, which is sick.”Johnson and Chloe had been in a three-month relationship in 2011 before she dumped him over rumours he was seeing Katie Price. But last December he invited her to Sunderland FC’s London Christmas party at posh venue Drama in Park Lane, just a few weeks before he was due on trial for sex offences against a girl of 15.
She said:
“I thought it would be fun to have a night out. But I made it absolutely clear to him that I wanted my own hotel room. There was absolutely no way I was going to sleep with him.
“He kept asking me what I was going to wear. He’s obsessed with my tattoos, which are on my back and thigh, and was complaining that they wouldn’t be on show.
“All night Adam was telling the other guys to stay away from me. He was all over me, like he was claiming me as his own. He would even follow me to the toilet.
“He was drinking loads, downing tequila from the bottle. I was the only woman there. It seemed like he’d brought me to show me off to his friends.”At about 1am, Chloe and Johnson went back to her hotel room.
Chloe said:
“He was really drunk but I’d only had a couple of glasses of champagne. I just wanted some sleep.Then he got into my bed. I said, ‘No, no, no, you need to go to your own room, right now’.
“I walked round to the side of the bed to make my point and he put his hand up my dress and grabbed my thigh. I was shocked but managed to pull away.He said, ‘I just want to see your tattoos’, but I was very firm and told him to get out. He tried to claim he couldn’t walk, so I escorted him out and down the corridor.
“When we reached his door, he grabbed my head and pulled it toward his to try and kiss me. Our lips touched but I pushed him away and said, ‘No Adam’, then walked quickly back to my room and shut the door.
“He texted me several times begging me to come back to his room, and telling me I had to stay another night, but I just ignored him.”
The next morning Chloe bumped into Johnson and his team-mates in the lobby.
“He was making loads of comments about my boobs, telling me to tell everyone what size they were.I also overheard him make a crude remark to one of his friends behind my back, along the lines of, Look at the t*ts on that’.I felt very uncomfortable. I got away from there as quickly as I could and got the next train back to Sheffield.
“He was relentless. It was really bad. If I was younger or didn’t know how to look after myself it would have been very frightening. I was in London for less than 24 hours, and in that time he repeatedly tried to come on to me and made inappropriate comments.
Later when the court case hit the headlines that was when she realized , the baby was Adam Johnson's.I couldn’t believe my eyes. I immediately noticed how much that baby looked like him. It was definitely his.
“It’s disgraceful. He acted like he was single. If I had known he had a girlfriend, let alone a baby, I would never have gone to the party with him.I feel terrible for his girlfriend. He should have been at home with her and his daughter, trying to do right by them, rather than partying and chatting up other women.He doesn’t care, he’s got no conscience. He thinks he’s invincible.He just wanted to drink and shag. It makes me feel used. I wish I’d never met him.
“He was incredibly arrogant, especially considering what he had done to this poor girl. He knew what he’d done, and what was going to happen.If I were him I’d be hiding, not going out in London. It’s like he didn’t think his actions would have any consequences. What he was doing to that young girl was terrible. She must have been terrified. And when you look at her texts to him, you can see she is a kid.
“He wanted to have complete control over her.There isn’t a platonic bone in his body. He is sex obsessed. When we were dating he always wanted to have sex, constantly talked about it, texted me about it.
“He’s a scumbag. I feel like I was fooled by him. He should be sent to prison for a long time. They need to make an example of him.
“He had the world at his feet ,successful career, gorgeous girlfriend, baby daughter , but now he deserves to lose everything.”
Adam Johnson is set to be sent to jail for sex crimes against an underage.
Sunday 19 July 2015
Emir of Kano weeps as he talks about Nigeria
breaking news: Rebel shelling kills at least 45 in Yemen, medical officials say
SANAA, Yemen – Medical officials
say Shiite rebels and their allies randomly have bombed an area north of
the southern city of Aden, killing at least 45 people.
The rebels are fighting to thwart an offensive by Saudi-backed troops and local fighters.
On Sunday, the officials said hundreds of residents fled Dar Saad, north of Aden, amid intense shelling from the rebels. They said at least 45 people, believed to be civilians, were killed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren't authorized to brief journalists.
The Saudi-backed fighters, backed by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, pushed the rebels out of Aden's airport and two major neighborhoods last week. The rebels vowed to retaliate.
Aden has been the scene of some of the war's most intense ground fighting since March.
The rebels are fighting to thwart an offensive by Saudi-backed troops and local fighters.
On Sunday, the officials said hundreds of residents fled Dar Saad, north of Aden, amid intense shelling from the rebels. They said at least 45 people, believed to be civilians, were killed. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren't authorized to brief journalists.
The Saudi-backed fighters, backed by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, pushed the rebels out of Aden's airport and two major neighborhoods last week. The rebels vowed to retaliate.
Aden has been the scene of some of the war's most intense ground fighting since March.
I was stunned before receiving the award – Yemi Alade
I was stunned before receiving the award – Yemi Alade
Johnny
sensation has come home with the coveted award of the Best Female Act
at the MAMA but the beautiful songstress has confessed being hit by
emotional thunderbolt many artistes have faced in the past when their
names are called to receive awards they never believed could be theirs.Yemi Alade said it took the intervention of her manager Taiye Aliyu and the Psquare brothers to realise It was actually her name that was being called to receive the Best Female Act award. Yemi poured out her mind on Insagram after the award
Femi Adesina Says Buhari Will Probe Jonathan
The special adviser to President Buhari on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, has revealed some of the plans of the presidency.
The presidential spokesman who is a staunch believer in the
president’s cause in a new interview with Vanguard has made some points
cleared. He talked about the many questions that need answers by
Nigerians about Buhari’s administration. Read excerpts from the
interview below:
It has been more than 30 days since the new administration was inaugurated. How do you assess it?
Well, I think that is a little bit unfair because you know how I will assess the administration since I work with the President. But then to be fair and impartial, I will say, yes, the President is on the right course, maybe because there are also some facts that are previously unknown, but I just know that the President is laying a foundation for a new Nigeria. If he can continue on the wind of change that he rode on to office and continue building on the same foundation, definitely change will come. But he is laying a completely new foundation and, when that foundation is fully laid and the country continues, you will see that change is truly here.
When you were announced to be the Special Adviser, how did you feel? Did you see it coming or you never expected it?
I was announced May 31, but if you remember, on May 20, ThisDay had speculated the story. The moment ThisDay speculated it, anything could happen. So, it was just a question of, will it happen or not? Since ThisDay speculated it, we knew anything could happen, but, before then, no. It could have gone either way anyway.
How does it feel settling down to work with President Muhammadu Buhari in this capacity?
It is a rare opportunity. Out of 170 million people you have been called to work for your country, it is a rare opportunity, and I will say it feels good. I have left positions that are eminent. I have been the Editor-in-Chief of a national newspaper, President, Nigerian Guild of Editors. I was satisfied in those positions, but then, coming to serve your country can’t be compared with anything. So that is why I left those positions to come and serve because I believe in the President. If it was another administration led by someone that I don’t believe in, I wouldn’t come, but I came because I had always believed in President Buhari.
Were you prepared for this assignment irrespective of the fact that you have occupied other positions?
If you had spent 29 years in journalism like I have done, then you are prepared for a lot of things including this assignment. If that is the question, yes, I have a background that prepared me for this assignment. But if your question means did I think it was going to come, I will say no, I didn’t think it was going to come. My mind didn’t go to it and I have always supported President Buhari since he was a military Head of State. I had admired him. In fact, the day he was overthrown was one of the worst days of my life. I felt very sad for Nigeria; very sad for him and his family, very sad about everything. I didn’t think that government should have been toppled. If that government had lasted, Nigeria wouldn’t have been where it is today. So, when he attempted to come through the ballot box since 2003, I had always supported him and, even when it seemed like he stood no chance, I still believed he was the best candidate. In 2011, I had always said we needed a correlation in order to get PDP out. So when that correlation came through the emergence of All Progressives Congress, APC, I felt there was a good chance in 2015 and it has happened. But to think that I was going to work for him, no, it didn’t cross my mind.
What are the attributes that really drew you to the President?
The first one is his simplicity. I just love his simplicity. He is a very simple man. Then I like the fact that he is very straight forward. I like people who know where they stand with anybody. It is either yes or no. When he says yes, it is yes; when he says no, it is no. Then, of course, integrity, to me, counts a lot. The fact that every man can testify that he is a man of integrity gets me because I love integrity and then transparency and accountability. A country like Nigeria where anything goes and then you see a man that has chosen to be transparent and accountable. Look at all the positions he has held in this country, yet he remains a simple man. I love that kind of person. Why can’t I support him? Why can’t I point Nigeria to that kind of person? He is good for our county? So that is why I did it.
But many Nigerians don’t really share these ideas. Some will be quick to dismiss all these, saying that beyond the facade, you may discover many others things when you dig deep.
Well, if they say that, they have a right to their own opinion but then we want to see the evidence to justify that. You don’t need to look far. Just look at the positions the President has held: governor of North-Eastern State, which is now six states: Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa and Taraba. Then he went on to become the Minister of Petroleum Resources and held that position for three and a half years. Can you hold such position and not have oil blocks? If anybody thinks President Buhari has an oil block, let him show it to us? After that, he became Head of State and he was there for 20 months; after that, he was Chairman, Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF, and we know all the achievements he made in that position and then today President. Not many Nigerians have this kind of pedigree and who are not going to be stinkingly rich. I am not saying President Buhari is a poor man, but then I don’t think he is stinkingly rich when he held all those positions. He should be stinkingly rich and it is only a very rare Nigerian that will not be stinkingly rich after holding those positions.
You said when he was toppled you were truly sad. Now he has another opportunity! What do you crave for? Or do you say he has changed from who he used to be and perhaps may not realize those things that he would have truly accomplished if his government then had continued?
Whether he has changed, yes, I would say he has changed in some areas and, in some areas, he remains the same. You know that age tempers a man. Age has tempered him but for good. Remember, after he was inaugurated, some officials of the former administration were about travelling out and the security officials and agencies were stopping them and, you will recall that a statement was issued that they shouldn’t be stopped. That shows you that the man is really temperate now rather the old Buhari. The military man would have packed all of them immediately he was inaugurated and they would be heading for jail and then you would be sifting the weeds from the shaft there after. So, that already shows that he is a different man, a more mature person, a more reflective person, a more contemplative person and that can only come with age. Again, you would see what played out in the National Assembly. You know he is a man who wants to respect the Constitution. That shows he is already different from the soldier that ruled this country.
If he was a person that didn’t want to respect the Constitution, he would have interfered in the selection or the election of the leadership of the two chambers, but he left them and said anybody that emerged, he will work with. What he didn’t know is that not everybody was going to respect the rules and we saw what played out. In terms of whether he is a changed man, yes, he is a changed man. He is a true democrat now. There are so many things that have come up in just six weeks of the administration that show you that this is a man that respects the Constitution and will continue to respect it. So, he is a changed man in those areas, but then there are some areas like accountability, transparency, integrity; of course you know that he will never change in those areas and that is the reason he was elected. Imagine a man who was a military leader 30 years earlier getting elected just on the basis of integrity, transparency and accountability; you know that kind of man will never change that.
Some persons argue that if this man doesn’t exercise his authority, things might still go wrong because a leader is a leader. Being the President of Nigeria, he is the leader of the party in all ramifications. There is a proverb in my place that an elder doesn’t sit idly while the goat dies in tethers. He can’t be sitting while things are going wrong.
If you also permit me to quote another proverb or a saying that a tiger doesn’t proclaim its tigress. A tiger doesn’t need to come out and say ‘I am a tiger’. When he does that, go and check properly, he can be a cat, but when you see a tiger, you know it is a tiger. So, he doesn’t need to ride over everybody before they know that he is a leader and indeed he is a leader. He has the traits, the characteristics and all the potentials. He has everything it takes to be a leader. He doesn’t need to throw his weight around before everyone knows he is a leader.
Let me take you back a little to the issue of allowing the last government officials to travel. Does that mean that he has hands on probity, assuming there was something to probe?
He has said it that money in billions of dollars will be recovered. But you know the world is too small a place for anybody to hide if you are running from justice. The world is too small a place to hide. You will be fished out. So, there is no need that you say they should not be heading for jail if eventually the law goes after them. Very few countries can they hide in and how long will they hide? So, it doesn’t mean that anybody that has ill gotten wealth will not regurgitate it. They will. Remember when he went to Germany for the G7 summit, he met with President Obama and Obama told him to just give us information on where the loot is hidden and we will help you recover it and the government has been working on that. So, that shows that looters will never go free.
Is he going backwards? I mean where is he going to start to probe?
He can’t afford to go too deep into the past or else it will be destructive for his administration. There are some things you can’t close your eyes to while you don’t want to shine the torchlight into the dark recesses of our past; immediate past where things are evident. The Yoruba have a saying that the corpse we buried, the leg is sticking out and, if you bury a corpse and the leg is sticking out, you can’t pretend. When there are trails all over of the monies in billions and trillions, then a responsible government can’t close its eyes to that.
Let’s look at insecurity. In the last two weeks, the bombings have increased. People have expressed fear that the government’s efforts in the past one month and two weeks haven’t really paid off because I know that the President, immediately he was sworn-in, travelled to places and there was this assurance. But then it does appear much hasn’t been done in that direction?
Let me draw an analogy. One day, the world woke up to hear that Osama bin Laden had been killed by the US Navy Seals. But did you know how long it took to plan that operation? It took 24 months of painstaking planning. Drills, simulations, all that happened until they got him. I am not saying it is going to take 24 months before this government breaks the back of Boko Haram. I am just telling you that planning needs to be carefully done and that is what is being done. In his very first week in office, he went to Niger, Chad and why did he go? Because of this Boko Haram thing and one major reason he went to G7 is because of the Boko Haram issue because the leaders of G7 said ‘come and let us know what we can do to help’. After that, the leaders of Chad, Niger, Benin Republic, Defence Minister of Cameroon also came here under the Lake Chad Basin Commission. They are planning. Before the end of this month, after he comes back from America, he is going to Cameroon and why is he going there? Still on Boko Haram and you know there is a multinational task force they are contributing to and Nigeria has released 21 million dollars for the joint task force. That is money Nigeria can use in other areas but it has invested 21 million dollars in that joint task force. That shows seriousness and I think July 21 has been picked as a date for that force to swing into action. Nobody can fairly accuse this government of not doing anything about Boko Haram. It is doing a lot and, eventually, we will see the end of insurgency.
Let’s also look at the appointments so far made by the Buhari government. The government has been accused of lopsiding the appointments. It has been people from the North. That’s the impression out there.
Those people from the North, are they Nigerians? So, if they are Nigerians, they have the right to be appointed and then I am sure there could be up to 500 appointments still ahead. Federal Boards that just got dissolved alone had 601 appointments. They are going to be filled. The cabinet is going to be constituted. Other persons and aides are going to be appointed. As at the time they began to talk, only nine appointments had been made and they said eight northerners and one southerner. They forget that some of those appointments are statutory, the next in rank. They just have to be the ones that will take those positions and some of those again are security chiefs. Security is an area where you take the very best. It is not something you subject to emotional considerations or other primordial sentiments. Take the very best who can deliver particularly at a critical time like this. So those who have started counting, I think it is premature. There about 500 appointments left to be made and, when those appointments are made, that is when they can begin to analysis. Doing it after nine appointments, I think that is hasty and fault-line in our country. Nigerians are too suspicious of leadership, other ethnic groups, too suspicious of many things. If we are less suspicious, then this wouldn’t have come up yet.
There are still these feelings from the members of the public that President Buhari and his political allies in the South-West, people like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, have fallen apart; that, in fact, the President has disappointed the South-West that massively voted for him at the polls. How do you address this sentiment?
I am glad that you used the word “these feelings” which is different from reality. Just a couple of days ago, Bola Tinubu himself came out to say there was no rift between him and the President. I think things that are unfolding are part of our political experience, political development. You will see that in the next dispensation, most of the things that happened now will not happen because the actors would have learnt. If the President in the next dispensation wants to leave the leadership of the chambers of National Assembly to elect their own leaders as President Buhari has done, the party will need to play its own part. Everybody involved will play his or her own part so that what has happened now will not happen again. It is part of the learning curve, but for anybody to say the West is disappointed, it is not true. A lot of people who voted for President Buhari in the West have been loyal to him. Even those who didn’t vote for him are beginning to see that he is a leader worthy of their support and they are giving their support.
Do you really believe in the Presidency of Mr. Buhari to radically move this country away from what it used to be, judging from the fact that he is an old man now? Won’t his age really affect him?
You have heard the saying that old wines are tastier. Buhari is like a wine that gets better with age. I said this earlier and, I repeat again, he gets better with age; sound, sober, contemplative, not rash. You see what is happening now, Boards have been dissolved. There are terminations and new appointments. You know he could have done that in the very first week and then he could have made mistakes, but this is the sixth week and he is doing all those things and I think, at the end of it, all Nigerians will be glad that they elected him. I don’t foresee failure; no, it will not happen, but it will demand that Nigerians will give him support and work with him but I believe in the change that was promised to this country.
Just before current appointments, you were a practising journalist and, ordinarily, you would have been worried that this government, after six weeks, hasn’t appointed even the Chief of Staff. We are talking about the time it has taken, yet no Chief of Staff, let alone Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, and then Ministers. But I remember, before now, they repeatedly said they will hit the ground running after inauguration. What has happened?
One thing is clear, it is constitutional to have a cabinet because the Constitution says there must be a Federal Executive Council and Ministers must be appointed from at least one state each. I said earlier that the President respects the Constitution. So, that shows you that he is going to constitute a cabinet. Now, you can’t compare one administration with another.
Obasanjo appointed his Ministers in July. Yar’Adua also in July, but that is not a reason for any other government not to appoint earlier than July or even later than July. Each government responds to the situation and circumstances in which it finds itself. What this administration met on ground is an Augean stable and it needs to be cleaned up. I can tell you that Nigeria was left in a mess by the last administration and it needs some clean up and, without a clean up, you continue to build on a wobbly foundation and, one day, that structure will come down. So, why don’t you then take your time to lay a fresh foundation and build up on that foundation that is what President Buhari is doing.
The cabinet has not come but it will come and, when it comes, it will be building on a freshly laid foundation. You see that in the past few weeks, he has been taking briefings from Permanent Secretaries in different ministries. When the Permanent Secretaries conclude their own, chief executives of parastatals and agencies will also come to brief, so that we have a complete picture of what is happening in government and then, after that, anything can happen. When the Ministers themselves come, they will be glad that they are coming into a system that is cleaned up for them. If they had come immediately, this house cleaning won’t have been done because they would have occupied space and continued in the old fashion. So, let Nigerians, who trusted this President and gave him their mandate, continue to trust him that he is working for them and he is doing the best for them.
Some people in the South-East aren’t happy at the appointments of Service Chiefs because they feel that none of their sons was there. If we are talking of engaging the best hands, couldn’t you have found some of the best hands in the South-East?
Mark the word of Mr. President, all the Service Chiefs he appointed he never met anyone of them except the Chief of Army Staff that he met casually in Chad. He was the Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force. So, all of them got appointed based on their service records. Now, are we going to say that we will subject efficiency to ethnic and regional balances? I am not saying that it is not constitutional. There is federal character in our Constitution, but there are some areas where you can’t sacrifice efficiency for ethnic or regional balancing. Get the very best that can do the job particularly at a time of crisis like we have in security. So, I don’t think it would have been proper shopping for people to fill positions as critical as Service Chiefs if they aren’t the very best we can get.
The President is going to the U.S. Let me say it is the mother of all visits. What should Nigerians expect from that trip?
Three key things are going to be on the table in America. They are more than three but these three will be key. First is the fight against insecurity. Nigeria is going to be asking for America’s assistance in terms of intelligence and in terms of equipment. If this succeeds and we get all that we want of course, we know it is going to make an impact on the war against insurgency; so that would be a key achievement of that trip. Again, something that would be on the table in America is the anti-corruption war. If we have money outside in billions of dollars, you know what that means in Naira. That is more than an annual budget.
If we recover that money, it is to the benefit of our country. Then the third thing will be the Nigerian economy. America used to buy 30 percent of Nigeria’s oil. Now, it is less than five percent because they discovered Shale oil and gas. So, in what way can America boost our economy? This will be a major thing and, at the end of it all, this will be to the benefit of Nigerians and, of course, a visit to America, like you said, is the mother of all visits and the fact that the American President has invited our President shows that they believe in what is happening in Nigeria. Don’t forget that the same Obama came to neighbouring Ghana and never came to Nigeria. The fact that he invited the Nigerian President shows that the acceptability rate of Nigeria has gone up in the international community.
Femi Adesina, special adviser on Media and Publicity to the president
It has been more than 30 days since the new administration was inaugurated. How do you assess it?
Well, I think that is a little bit unfair because you know how I will assess the administration since I work with the President. But then to be fair and impartial, I will say, yes, the President is on the right course, maybe because there are also some facts that are previously unknown, but I just know that the President is laying a foundation for a new Nigeria. If he can continue on the wind of change that he rode on to office and continue building on the same foundation, definitely change will come. But he is laying a completely new foundation and, when that foundation is fully laid and the country continues, you will see that change is truly here.
When you were announced to be the Special Adviser, how did you feel? Did you see it coming or you never expected it?
I was announced May 31, but if you remember, on May 20, ThisDay had speculated the story. The moment ThisDay speculated it, anything could happen. So, it was just a question of, will it happen or not? Since ThisDay speculated it, we knew anything could happen, but, before then, no. It could have gone either way anyway.
How does it feel settling down to work with President Muhammadu Buhari in this capacity?
It is a rare opportunity. Out of 170 million people you have been called to work for your country, it is a rare opportunity, and I will say it feels good. I have left positions that are eminent. I have been the Editor-in-Chief of a national newspaper, President, Nigerian Guild of Editors. I was satisfied in those positions, but then, coming to serve your country can’t be compared with anything. So that is why I left those positions to come and serve because I believe in the President. If it was another administration led by someone that I don’t believe in, I wouldn’t come, but I came because I had always believed in President Buhari.
Were you prepared for this assignment irrespective of the fact that you have occupied other positions?
If you had spent 29 years in journalism like I have done, then you are prepared for a lot of things including this assignment. If that is the question, yes, I have a background that prepared me for this assignment. But if your question means did I think it was going to come, I will say no, I didn’t think it was going to come. My mind didn’t go to it and I have always supported President Buhari since he was a military Head of State. I had admired him. In fact, the day he was overthrown was one of the worst days of my life. I felt very sad for Nigeria; very sad for him and his family, very sad about everything. I didn’t think that government should have been toppled. If that government had lasted, Nigeria wouldn’t have been where it is today. So, when he attempted to come through the ballot box since 2003, I had always supported him and, even when it seemed like he stood no chance, I still believed he was the best candidate. In 2011, I had always said we needed a correlation in order to get PDP out. So when that correlation came through the emergence of All Progressives Congress, APC, I felt there was a good chance in 2015 and it has happened. But to think that I was going to work for him, no, it didn’t cross my mind.
What are the attributes that really drew you to the President?
The first one is his simplicity. I just love his simplicity. He is a very simple man. Then I like the fact that he is very straight forward. I like people who know where they stand with anybody. It is either yes or no. When he says yes, it is yes; when he says no, it is no. Then, of course, integrity, to me, counts a lot. The fact that every man can testify that he is a man of integrity gets me because I love integrity and then transparency and accountability. A country like Nigeria where anything goes and then you see a man that has chosen to be transparent and accountable. Look at all the positions he has held in this country, yet he remains a simple man. I love that kind of person. Why can’t I support him? Why can’t I point Nigeria to that kind of person? He is good for our county? So that is why I did it.
But many Nigerians don’t really share these ideas. Some will be quick to dismiss all these, saying that beyond the facade, you may discover many others things when you dig deep.
Well, if they say that, they have a right to their own opinion but then we want to see the evidence to justify that. You don’t need to look far. Just look at the positions the President has held: governor of North-Eastern State, which is now six states: Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa and Taraba. Then he went on to become the Minister of Petroleum Resources and held that position for three and a half years. Can you hold such position and not have oil blocks? If anybody thinks President Buhari has an oil block, let him show it to us? After that, he became Head of State and he was there for 20 months; after that, he was Chairman, Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF, and we know all the achievements he made in that position and then today President. Not many Nigerians have this kind of pedigree and who are not going to be stinkingly rich. I am not saying President Buhari is a poor man, but then I don’t think he is stinkingly rich when he held all those positions. He should be stinkingly rich and it is only a very rare Nigerian that will not be stinkingly rich after holding those positions.
You said when he was toppled you were truly sad. Now he has another opportunity! What do you crave for? Or do you say he has changed from who he used to be and perhaps may not realize those things that he would have truly accomplished if his government then had continued?
Whether he has changed, yes, I would say he has changed in some areas and, in some areas, he remains the same. You know that age tempers a man. Age has tempered him but for good. Remember, after he was inaugurated, some officials of the former administration were about travelling out and the security officials and agencies were stopping them and, you will recall that a statement was issued that they shouldn’t be stopped. That shows you that the man is really temperate now rather the old Buhari. The military man would have packed all of them immediately he was inaugurated and they would be heading for jail and then you would be sifting the weeds from the shaft there after. So, that already shows that he is a different man, a more mature person, a more reflective person, a more contemplative person and that can only come with age. Again, you would see what played out in the National Assembly. You know he is a man who wants to respect the Constitution. That shows he is already different from the soldier that ruled this country.
If he was a person that didn’t want to respect the Constitution, he would have interfered in the selection or the election of the leadership of the two chambers, but he left them and said anybody that emerged, he will work with. What he didn’t know is that not everybody was going to respect the rules and we saw what played out. In terms of whether he is a changed man, yes, he is a changed man. He is a true democrat now. There are so many things that have come up in just six weeks of the administration that show you that this is a man that respects the Constitution and will continue to respect it. So, he is a changed man in those areas, but then there are some areas like accountability, transparency, integrity; of course you know that he will never change in those areas and that is the reason he was elected. Imagine a man who was a military leader 30 years earlier getting elected just on the basis of integrity, transparency and accountability; you know that kind of man will never change that.
Some persons argue that if this man doesn’t exercise his authority, things might still go wrong because a leader is a leader. Being the President of Nigeria, he is the leader of the party in all ramifications. There is a proverb in my place that an elder doesn’t sit idly while the goat dies in tethers. He can’t be sitting while things are going wrong.
If you also permit me to quote another proverb or a saying that a tiger doesn’t proclaim its tigress. A tiger doesn’t need to come out and say ‘I am a tiger’. When he does that, go and check properly, he can be a cat, but when you see a tiger, you know it is a tiger. So, he doesn’t need to ride over everybody before they know that he is a leader and indeed he is a leader. He has the traits, the characteristics and all the potentials. He has everything it takes to be a leader. He doesn’t need to throw his weight around before everyone knows he is a leader.
Let me take you back a little to the issue of allowing the last government officials to travel. Does that mean that he has hands on probity, assuming there was something to probe?
He has said it that money in billions of dollars will be recovered. But you know the world is too small a place for anybody to hide if you are running from justice. The world is too small a place to hide. You will be fished out. So, there is no need that you say they should not be heading for jail if eventually the law goes after them. Very few countries can they hide in and how long will they hide? So, it doesn’t mean that anybody that has ill gotten wealth will not regurgitate it. They will. Remember when he went to Germany for the G7 summit, he met with President Obama and Obama told him to just give us information on where the loot is hidden and we will help you recover it and the government has been working on that. So, that shows that looters will never go free.
Is he going backwards? I mean where is he going to start to probe?
He can’t afford to go too deep into the past or else it will be destructive for his administration. There are some things you can’t close your eyes to while you don’t want to shine the torchlight into the dark recesses of our past; immediate past where things are evident. The Yoruba have a saying that the corpse we buried, the leg is sticking out and, if you bury a corpse and the leg is sticking out, you can’t pretend. When there are trails all over of the monies in billions and trillions, then a responsible government can’t close its eyes to that.
Let’s look at insecurity. In the last two weeks, the bombings have increased. People have expressed fear that the government’s efforts in the past one month and two weeks haven’t really paid off because I know that the President, immediately he was sworn-in, travelled to places and there was this assurance. But then it does appear much hasn’t been done in that direction?
Let me draw an analogy. One day, the world woke up to hear that Osama bin Laden had been killed by the US Navy Seals. But did you know how long it took to plan that operation? It took 24 months of painstaking planning. Drills, simulations, all that happened until they got him. I am not saying it is going to take 24 months before this government breaks the back of Boko Haram. I am just telling you that planning needs to be carefully done and that is what is being done. In his very first week in office, he went to Niger, Chad and why did he go? Because of this Boko Haram thing and one major reason he went to G7 is because of the Boko Haram issue because the leaders of G7 said ‘come and let us know what we can do to help’. After that, the leaders of Chad, Niger, Benin Republic, Defence Minister of Cameroon also came here under the Lake Chad Basin Commission. They are planning. Before the end of this month, after he comes back from America, he is going to Cameroon and why is he going there? Still on Boko Haram and you know there is a multinational task force they are contributing to and Nigeria has released 21 million dollars for the joint task force. That is money Nigeria can use in other areas but it has invested 21 million dollars in that joint task force. That shows seriousness and I think July 21 has been picked as a date for that force to swing into action. Nobody can fairly accuse this government of not doing anything about Boko Haram. It is doing a lot and, eventually, we will see the end of insurgency.
Let’s also look at the appointments so far made by the Buhari government. The government has been accused of lopsiding the appointments. It has been people from the North. That’s the impression out there.
Those people from the North, are they Nigerians? So, if they are Nigerians, they have the right to be appointed and then I am sure there could be up to 500 appointments still ahead. Federal Boards that just got dissolved alone had 601 appointments. They are going to be filled. The cabinet is going to be constituted. Other persons and aides are going to be appointed. As at the time they began to talk, only nine appointments had been made and they said eight northerners and one southerner. They forget that some of those appointments are statutory, the next in rank. They just have to be the ones that will take those positions and some of those again are security chiefs. Security is an area where you take the very best. It is not something you subject to emotional considerations or other primordial sentiments. Take the very best who can deliver particularly at a critical time like this. So those who have started counting, I think it is premature. There about 500 appointments left to be made and, when those appointments are made, that is when they can begin to analysis. Doing it after nine appointments, I think that is hasty and fault-line in our country. Nigerians are too suspicious of leadership, other ethnic groups, too suspicious of many things. If we are less suspicious, then this wouldn’t have come up yet.
There are still these feelings from the members of the public that President Buhari and his political allies in the South-West, people like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, have fallen apart; that, in fact, the President has disappointed the South-West that massively voted for him at the polls. How do you address this sentiment?
I am glad that you used the word “these feelings” which is different from reality. Just a couple of days ago, Bola Tinubu himself came out to say there was no rift between him and the President. I think things that are unfolding are part of our political experience, political development. You will see that in the next dispensation, most of the things that happened now will not happen because the actors would have learnt. If the President in the next dispensation wants to leave the leadership of the chambers of National Assembly to elect their own leaders as President Buhari has done, the party will need to play its own part. Everybody involved will play his or her own part so that what has happened now will not happen again. It is part of the learning curve, but for anybody to say the West is disappointed, it is not true. A lot of people who voted for President Buhari in the West have been loyal to him. Even those who didn’t vote for him are beginning to see that he is a leader worthy of their support and they are giving their support.
Do you really believe in the Presidency of Mr. Buhari to radically move this country away from what it used to be, judging from the fact that he is an old man now? Won’t his age really affect him?
You have heard the saying that old wines are tastier. Buhari is like a wine that gets better with age. I said this earlier and, I repeat again, he gets better with age; sound, sober, contemplative, not rash. You see what is happening now, Boards have been dissolved. There are terminations and new appointments. You know he could have done that in the very first week and then he could have made mistakes, but this is the sixth week and he is doing all those things and I think, at the end of it, all Nigerians will be glad that they elected him. I don’t foresee failure; no, it will not happen, but it will demand that Nigerians will give him support and work with him but I believe in the change that was promised to this country.
Just before current appointments, you were a practising journalist and, ordinarily, you would have been worried that this government, after six weeks, hasn’t appointed even the Chief of Staff. We are talking about the time it has taken, yet no Chief of Staff, let alone Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, and then Ministers. But I remember, before now, they repeatedly said they will hit the ground running after inauguration. What has happened?
One thing is clear, it is constitutional to have a cabinet because the Constitution says there must be a Federal Executive Council and Ministers must be appointed from at least one state each. I said earlier that the President respects the Constitution. So, that shows you that he is going to constitute a cabinet. Now, you can’t compare one administration with another.
Obasanjo appointed his Ministers in July. Yar’Adua also in July, but that is not a reason for any other government not to appoint earlier than July or even later than July. Each government responds to the situation and circumstances in which it finds itself. What this administration met on ground is an Augean stable and it needs to be cleaned up. I can tell you that Nigeria was left in a mess by the last administration and it needs some clean up and, without a clean up, you continue to build on a wobbly foundation and, one day, that structure will come down. So, why don’t you then take your time to lay a fresh foundation and build up on that foundation that is what President Buhari is doing.
The cabinet has not come but it will come and, when it comes, it will be building on a freshly laid foundation. You see that in the past few weeks, he has been taking briefings from Permanent Secretaries in different ministries. When the Permanent Secretaries conclude their own, chief executives of parastatals and agencies will also come to brief, so that we have a complete picture of what is happening in government and then, after that, anything can happen. When the Ministers themselves come, they will be glad that they are coming into a system that is cleaned up for them. If they had come immediately, this house cleaning won’t have been done because they would have occupied space and continued in the old fashion. So, let Nigerians, who trusted this President and gave him their mandate, continue to trust him that he is working for them and he is doing the best for them.
Some people in the South-East aren’t happy at the appointments of Service Chiefs because they feel that none of their sons was there. If we are talking of engaging the best hands, couldn’t you have found some of the best hands in the South-East?
Mark the word of Mr. President, all the Service Chiefs he appointed he never met anyone of them except the Chief of Army Staff that he met casually in Chad. He was the Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force. So, all of them got appointed based on their service records. Now, are we going to say that we will subject efficiency to ethnic and regional balances? I am not saying that it is not constitutional. There is federal character in our Constitution, but there are some areas where you can’t sacrifice efficiency for ethnic or regional balancing. Get the very best that can do the job particularly at a time of crisis like we have in security. So, I don’t think it would have been proper shopping for people to fill positions as critical as Service Chiefs if they aren’t the very best we can get.
The President is going to the U.S. Let me say it is the mother of all visits. What should Nigerians expect from that trip?
Three key things are going to be on the table in America. They are more than three but these three will be key. First is the fight against insecurity. Nigeria is going to be asking for America’s assistance in terms of intelligence and in terms of equipment. If this succeeds and we get all that we want of course, we know it is going to make an impact on the war against insurgency; so that would be a key achievement of that trip. Again, something that would be on the table in America is the anti-corruption war. If we have money outside in billions of dollars, you know what that means in Naira. That is more than an annual budget.
If we recover that money, it is to the benefit of our country. Then the third thing will be the Nigerian economy. America used to buy 30 percent of Nigeria’s oil. Now, it is less than five percent because they discovered Shale oil and gas. So, in what way can America boost our economy? This will be a major thing and, at the end of it all, this will be to the benefit of Nigerians and, of course, a visit to America, like you said, is the mother of all visits and the fact that the American President has invited our President shows that they believe in what is happening in Nigeria. Don’t forget that the same Obama came to neighbouring Ghana and never came to Nigeria. The fact that he invited the Nigerian President shows that the acceptability rate of Nigeria has gone up in the international community.
Group Cautions Buhari Ahead Of His Meeting With Obama
Ahead of Muhammadu Buhari’s meeting with his American
counterpart, Barack Obama, Project for Human Development (PHD), a civil
society organisation, has cautioned the Nigerian leader.
Members of PHD urged Buhari not to listen to the US government on
issues of gay rights in order to protect laws and values of Nigeria.
PM News reports that the call was made on July 19, Sunday, at a rally titled “Gay Marriage: Obama, Please Leave Nigeria Alone”, which was held in Lagos.
Jerry Okwuosa, the director-general of PHD, said that the aim of the rally was to hint the president that Nigerians are worried that Obama might ask him to decriminalize the same-sex prohibition law of Nigeria. According to him, promotion of gay rights is a part of America foreign policy.
“The US is now the major exporter of gay rights in the world. It has recently pressurized Uganda for a reverse of its anti-gay law. Under the influence of the US, Mozambique has recently decriminalized its anti-gay law. At the moment, US is putting pressure on Kenya to legalize gay marriage.
“President Obama is meeting with President Buhari tomorrow to discuss issues which include security, economy, Ebola and gay marriage legalisation in Nigeria. Fear is being entertained that Obama might trade off US assistance to President Buhari’s government with shooting down Goodluck Jonathan’s anti-gay law. We are however, urging President Buhari to reject such a trade-off,” he said.
Sonnie Ekwowusi, a director of PHD, stressed that homosexuality is not Nigeria culture; it is a taboo or abomination.
“Every society has its own values and should grow with those values. Nigeria has her own values and we must stick to our values and tradition. Laws are made in consonant with the values of the people. Every country is interested in protecting what it holds dear.”
Speaking on behalf of people taking part in a rally, Ekwowusi concluded:
“Our view is that homosexuality is an acquired habit that ought to be eradicated and not be transformed into an acceptable human conduct by law (in Nigeria). Our recommendation with regard to same sex marriage is absolute prohibition”.
It would be recalled that Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said that America would continue to pressurize Nigeria until it legalizes same-sex marriage.
Earlier this month, leading human rights organisations PEN America and PEN Nigeria urged President Buhari to take a cue from the US and cancel the same sex marriage prohibition Act of 2014.
Muhammadu Buhari and Barack Obama
PM News reports that the call was made on July 19, Sunday, at a rally titled “Gay Marriage: Obama, Please Leave Nigeria Alone”, which was held in Lagos.
Jerry Okwuosa, the director-general of PHD, said that the aim of the rally was to hint the president that Nigerians are worried that Obama might ask him to decriminalize the same-sex prohibition law of Nigeria. According to him, promotion of gay rights is a part of America foreign policy.
“The US is now the major exporter of gay rights in the world. It has recently pressurized Uganda for a reverse of its anti-gay law. Under the influence of the US, Mozambique has recently decriminalized its anti-gay law. At the moment, US is putting pressure on Kenya to legalize gay marriage.
“President Obama is meeting with President Buhari tomorrow to discuss issues which include security, economy, Ebola and gay marriage legalisation in Nigeria. Fear is being entertained that Obama might trade off US assistance to President Buhari’s government with shooting down Goodluck Jonathan’s anti-gay law. We are however, urging President Buhari to reject such a trade-off,” he said.
Sonnie Ekwowusi, a director of PHD, stressed that homosexuality is not Nigeria culture; it is a taboo or abomination.
“Every society has its own values and should grow with those values. Nigeria has her own values and we must stick to our values and tradition. Laws are made in consonant with the values of the people. Every country is interested in protecting what it holds dear.”
Speaking on behalf of people taking part in a rally, Ekwowusi concluded:
“Our view is that homosexuality is an acquired habit that ought to be eradicated and not be transformed into an acceptable human conduct by law (in Nigeria). Our recommendation with regard to same sex marriage is absolute prohibition”.
It would be recalled that Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said that America would continue to pressurize Nigeria until it legalizes same-sex marriage.
Earlier this month, leading human rights organisations PEN America and PEN Nigeria urged President Buhari to take a cue from the US and cancel the same sex marriage prohibition Act of 2014.
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