Jonathan blames past govts for insecurity, corruption @ Lagos President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday in Lagos blamed past governments for the insecurity and corruption in the country. Addressing a mammoth crowd in Lagos where he flagged off his presidential campaign, Jonathan, who apparently was referring to the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), queried rhetorically: “When he was head of state, did he buy one rifle for the army? “You don’t equip the military overnight. They did not equip the military. They are now blaming us.” The president, who addressed the crowd on three key areas of security, corruption and allegation of weak government, said more people have been convicted for corruption during his administration than the previous ones. Jonathan contended that his predecessors were fighting corruption in an archaic way, adding that his government was fighting corruption with information technology that has incapacitated its perpetrators. Citing the fertilizer scam as an example, Jonathan said that before he came to power, less than 10 per cent of subsidised fertilizers were getting to farmers, but with the establishment of the electronic wallet, rural farmers now get fertilizers directly. He said those who were hoarding fuel and compelling motorists to sleep at fuel stations for two days before they could buy fuel have been incapacitated by his administration’s fight against corruption. Speaking on the allegation of weak government, the president said he would not fight corruption by crating suspects the way it was done in London in 1984, which earned Nigeria the stigma of a pariah state. He said he would not throw suspects into prison for 300 years, but would follow the due process in fighting corruption. In an apparent indictment of the War Against Indiscipline (WAI), introduced by the Buhari/Idiagbon regime in 1984, Jonathan said he would not enforce discipline in a way that compelled him as a post-graduate student to stand in a queue “a whole night to buy two tins of milk”. Addressing the allegation of lack of planning, the president said his administration has brought down the nation’s import bill because it was focused. “We have almost doubled power generation, can you do that without planning? We have regular supply of fuel, can you do that without planning?” The president said his administration has supported the private sector to create jobs, and that the task force handling the scheme ensured that two million jobs were created annually. That, he said, could not be achieved without planning. He said that when he came to power, 12 states of the federation did not have federal universities, adding that his administration had not only established federal universities in all the states, but also started the Almajirai education scheme which some states in the North were keying into. In another apparent reference to Buhari’s administration, Jonathan said Nigerian “women would either vote to go back to the kitchen or liberate themselves. When he was head of state, there was not one woman in his cabinet”. Speaking on the alleged endorsement of the APC by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), Jonathan said that MEND was headed by Okah, a man who is serving a prison term in South Africa for killing Nigerians, adding that such an organisation cannot support his administration. On the report of the National Conference, the president said he could not present it to the current National Assembly because of the way it was constituted. Calling on Nigerians to elect the type of people to the National Assembly who would ensure the implementation of the report of the National Conference, he assured that his administration would present the report to the incoming National Assembly. The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu, used the occasion of the flagging off of the party’s presidential campaign to present the party’s flags to its governorship candidates for the February 14 elections. Jonathan had earlier called on the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, before attending the rally.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 14:00:48 +0000
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