PRESS RELEASE JULY 22, 2015
SIR SHRIDATH (SONNY) RAMPHAL, FORMER COMMONWEALTH SECRETARY-GENERAL, TO ARRIVE IN NIGERIA ON SUNDAY FOR ABUJA EPA PARLEY.
FORMER
COMMONWEALTH SECRETARY-GENERAL Sir Shridath “Sonny” Ramphal, is
visiting Nigeria next week at the invitation of Africa Today, the
leading pan-African newsmagazine.
Sir
Ramphal will be the special guest of honour at the international
conference on the EU-ECOWAS Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)
organised by Africa Today in partnership with the Bank of Industry,
which will take place at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel from Tuesday, July 28, to Wednesday, July 29. As
part of his visit to Nigeria, his historic memoirs, Glimpses of a
Global Life, will also be formally presented and launched for the first
time in Africa before a distinguished gathering of Commonwealth, African
and European Union ambassadors in Nigeria.
The
publisher of Africa Today and chief host of the conference, Mr Kayode
Soyinka, told journalists in Abuja that “Sir Ramphal is a great friend
of Nigeria and he has many old friends here in Nigeria, including former
President Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Emeka Anyaoku who took over from
him as Secretary-General. I am pleased that he has accepted our
invitation to come. His choice as special guest of honour could not be
better as the participants would benefit from his deep knowledge of the
EPA especially as it affects the developing world and Africa in
particular”.
Soyinka noted that as a
great friend of Nigeria and Africa Sir Ramphal, while he was
secretary-general of the Commonwealth championed many laudable causes
including the anti-apartheid cause especially with his Commonwealth
Eminent Persons Group (EPG) which Nigeria’s former president Olusegun
Obasanjo and Australia’s former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser
co-chaired. "His coming to Nigeria, and also the arrival of Sir Ronald
Sanders who is contesting to be the next Secretary-General for the EPA
conference, is a reflection of the international community's acceptance
of Nigeria as a thriving democracy, especially with the transparent way
in which our president Muhammadu Buhari was recently elected," Soyinka
added.
This is Sir Ramphal's first
visit to Nigeria since leaving Marlborough House, the Commonwealth
Secretariat, in London, as its Secretary-General in 1990. In 1975, he
became the second Secretary-General of the Commonwealth serving for 15
years before handing over to Nigeria’s Chief Emeka Anyaoku in 1990.
During
his tenure, the Commonwealth undertook work on global issues such as
the reduction of trade protectionism, addressing the vulnerability of
small states and climate change. His work at the Secretariat greatly
helped the Commonwealth evolve from an association of countries with a
common British heritage into one with a global outlook and a
forward-looking agenda.
His presence at
the Abuja conference will be instructive. It was during his tenure as
Secretary-General that the first Lome Convention was held. It was the
Lome Convention that later became the Lome-Cotonue agreement which has
now transformed to the EPA. As Secretary-General he was involved with
issues of international trade at the highest level. Following his stint
at the Commonwealth Secretariat he was appointed by the heads of
government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as their Chief
Negotiator for international economic negotiations, with Europe, the
Americas and globally.
Sir Ramphal has
also provided intellectual leadership in trade and development, and the
strengthening of multilateralism. Even in retirement, Sir Ramphal is
still active having established an institute, The Ramphal Institute,
which has done extensive work on the EPA including adopting the
techniques of using expert groups to make recommendations to governments
often with a heavy emphasis on development and economic issues. His
reminisce on trade diplomacy will be insightful at the Abuja EPA
conference.
An international diplomat
of note - he is widely considered the Caribbean's leading international
statesman - Ramphal, before becoming the Commonwealth’s Secretary
General, was previously Guyana’s foreign minister, from 1972 to 1975. In
the 1980s he served on five independent international commissions - the
Brandt Commission on International Development, the Palme Commission on
Disarmament and Security Issues, the Brundtland Commission on
Environment and Development, the Commission on Humanitarian Issues, and
the South Commission. He was also co-chair with Sweden's Prime Minister,
Ingvar Carlsson, of the Independent Commission on Global Governance,
which reported on issues of international development, international
security, globalization and global governance.
During his visit, the Africa launch of his memoirs, Glimpses of a Global Life, first published in 2014, will also be held.
END.
Kayode Soyinka
Publisher, THE AFRICA TODAY GROUP
12 Cumberland Avenue
London NW10 7QL.
Wednesday, 22 July 2015
PRNigeria News Release
DSS Releases Obuah, Jonathan’s CSO
Just a few hours after he was presented to the public live and hearty, the Department of State Security (DSS) on Tuesday night allowed Mr. Gordon Obuah, Chief Security Officer to former President Goodluck Jonathan to go home to his family.
DSS Releases Obuah, Jonathan’s CSO
Just a few hours after he was presented to the public live and hearty, the Department of State Security (DSS) on Tuesday night allowed Mr. Gordon Obuah, Chief Security Officer to former President Goodluck Jonathan to go home to his family.
Competent security sources informed PRNigeria that Obuah slept in his
house Tuesday night along with his family after a comprehensive
de-briefing by operatives of the Department.
"He was released around 10pm Tuesday's night," the security source disclosed.
A serving operative with the DSS, Obuah had on Tuesday afternoon expressed surprise at widespread insinuations that he had died while being interrogated.
PRNigeria reported Obuh as speaking with reporters at the headquarters of the DSS in Abuja saying “gentlemen of the press, let me use this opportunity to thank all Nigerians, members of my family and concerned citizens who have expressed very serious concerns for the past six days because of the prevailing situation between I and my office.
“This morning my attention was drawn to the fact that I have died in detention. This has caused serious anxiety within the public. I want to use this medium to tell Nigerians, members of my family and all concerned citizens that I’m healthy. I’m a staff of the Department of State Services and having completed my tour of duty as the chief security officer to the last President, the service feels that I should give account of my tenure.
“So far, there is no adverse situation and I’m optimistic that Nigerians will be informed in due course about the outcome of this exercise. Once again, I thank you immensely. I also want to use the opportunity to thank the DG for the way he has handled me from the time I came in to the present moment.
“Nigerians should be assured that the Department of State Service is a very responsible organization and I believe that nothing adverse will be done to my person if I have not done anything wrong. I thank you very much,” he said.
By PRNigeria
"He was released around 10pm Tuesday's night," the security source disclosed.
A serving operative with the DSS, Obuah had on Tuesday afternoon expressed surprise at widespread insinuations that he had died while being interrogated.
PRNigeria reported Obuh as speaking with reporters at the headquarters of the DSS in Abuja saying “gentlemen of the press, let me use this opportunity to thank all Nigerians, members of my family and concerned citizens who have expressed very serious concerns for the past six days because of the prevailing situation between I and my office.
“This morning my attention was drawn to the fact that I have died in detention. This has caused serious anxiety within the public. I want to use this medium to tell Nigerians, members of my family and all concerned citizens that I’m healthy. I’m a staff of the Department of State Services and having completed my tour of duty as the chief security officer to the last President, the service feels that I should give account of my tenure.
“So far, there is no adverse situation and I’m optimistic that Nigerians will be informed in due course about the outcome of this exercise. Once again, I thank you immensely. I also want to use the opportunity to thank the DG for the way he has handled me from the time I came in to the present moment.
“Nigerians should be assured that the Department of State Service is a very responsible organization and I believe that nothing adverse will be done to my person if I have not done anything wrong. I thank you very much,” he said.
By PRNigeria
Army Press Release
MORE ROADS OPENED FOR USE BY TROOPS
Sequel to the directive by the Chief of Army Staff Major General Tukur Yusufu Buratai, to troops in the 3 and 7 Divisions of the Nigerian Army, on the need to be more proactive in the fight against terrorism and insurgency, in compliance with the directive, additional roads have been cleared by troops for use by commuters.
The road linking Biu–Sabon Gari – Damboa in Borno State is now cleared of mines and insurgents for public usage. The public are encouraged to use the road as adequate security measures have been put in place for their safety.
MORE ROADS OPENED FOR USE BY TROOPS
Sequel to the directive by the Chief of Army Staff Major General Tukur Yusufu Buratai, to troops in the 3 and 7 Divisions of the Nigerian Army, on the need to be more proactive in the fight against terrorism and insurgency, in compliance with the directive, additional roads have been cleared by troops for use by commuters.
The road linking Biu–Sabon Gari – Damboa in Borno State is now cleared of mines and insurgents for public usage. The public are encouraged to use the road as adequate security measures have been put in place for their safety.
Similarly, efforts are on for the clearance and reopening of other roads in Borno and Yobe States.
You are please requested to disseminate this information to the public through your medium.
Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman
Acting Director Army Public Relations
You are please requested to disseminate this information to the public through your medium.
Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman
Acting Director Army Public Relations
Sunday, 19 July 2015
FAYOSE SPEAKS ON BUHARI LEADERSHIP
SIR, how do you see being a governor under President Muhammadu Buhari?
Elections have come and gone and, as I always say, President Muhammadu Buhari is the president of Nigeria, not by his own grace or by my own grace but by God’s grace. If I tell you that I wanted Buhari as president, I am a liar. I wanted Jonathan but God has given it to Buhari and so, we all have to submit to the will of God, the will of Allah, because He gives power to whosoever He willeth. So, I have congratulated Buhari; I wish him success and a good tenure. However, that does not remove the fact that if he is not doing it rightly we will not state our mind. It is a free society; there is no almighty governor; there is no almighty president. We are all governed by civility and by the constitution. It was in those days that somebody would just wake up and sack a state’s House of Assembly and start fumbling, like it was in the days of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Such things can’t happen again. So, we are moving forward to civility in Nigeria. We are moving forward to constitutionality and obeying the rule of law. The fact that Buhari became the president, nothing has changed, because he is going to govern Nigeria; Ekiti is just a unit of the country and Ekiti is a federating unit. We have our autonomy; he can’t come and govern my state. Everything that is federally connected, he has right to it but in my state, I am the chief executive. That is why they call me “Executive Governor”. If he wants to assist Ekiti people, it is not about Ayo Fayose. And I’m sure President Buhari is a man that will not want to dwell on pettiness or operate by it because Governor Fayose did not support him. When Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in power, the All Progressives Congress (APC) members, who were in the opposition, operated peacefully in their states. Jonathan did not say they should come to Ekiti and remove Kayode Fayemi from here. It is a system in which the people dictate who they want.
And that brings me to the fact that Ekiti is gone for good from the hands of APC. Even if Senator Bola Tinubu [the leader of APC] becomes the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, they will lose in Ekiti, because they are not on the ground here. The kind of politics I play is that wherein I tie myself to the people, not the people tying themselves to me. If you look at the processes of the botched impeachment, what happened aftermath, was a defence put up by the people, not even me. We, however, thank God. It was the Lord’s doing.
Buhari is the president, by God’s grace. We wish him well. But I must also state without mincing words that I don’t curry favours that I don’t need. I represent my people and my duty is to make sure that I cooperate with the Federal Government. When you say Federal Government, Buhari is the face. When you say Ekiti government, I am the face. We will cooperate, collaborate and work with the Federal Government and it will not end up as personal issues between the president and Fayose. That will mean pettiness. Buhari too needs opposition; the country needs a virile opposition for the system to survive. The people said PDP was not doing it well, they voted us out. Okay. PDP was not doing well, let us see what APC has to offer. But for me, they have not started well. This pace is too slow and they are playing to the gallery too much.
But the APC has been saying that President Buhari is performing well.
Do you expect them to say that he is not performing well? You want them to say he is not performing when Boko Haram has virtually taken over the country now? Apart from other issues like the North/South dichotomy, religious sentiments and change in itself, one of the key reasons, in terms of policy and in terms of needs, why Nigerians voted for President Buhari is security. They want to be secure. Everybody was shouting “bring back our girls”, the APC was shouting that Jonathan had no capacity and that the moment Buhari comes in, within 30 days, Boko Haram will be inside the River Niger. Rather, Boko Haram is now spreading their tentacles and growing in confidence. Both opposition and the government must stay together to fight insurgency, but I need to remind them that they were the people politicising this thing. So, it has come to the fore. But it is a different ball game now: Governance and opposition. When they were in opposition, they could be using propaganda to deceive the people, bamboozle them and use the press to their advantage. But you cannot use propaganda to lead the people. Look at an instance: they came out to say that they had done a bailout. To whom did they give the bailout? Are they also bailing themselves out? Nobody has bailed Ekiti out. We have only got our legitimate allocation which is tax from NLNG. It was Ekiti’s basic entitlement under the allocation procedures. I got N2.1 billion and my wage bill is N2.6 billion. So, when you now say bailout, a bailout that cannot pay one month’s salary, how do you explain that? I said about a week ago that there’s no issue of bailout and I cannot be telling the APC-led government that that they are deceiving Nigerians and playing to the gallery. The so-called bailout issue is playing to the gallery. So, to me there’s no issue of bailout. When Jonathan was there, this tax from NLNG went straight to the federation account. Today, they are in power, they can say whatever they have to say. Jonathan is gone, they should leave Jonathan alone and face the act of governance. They said PDP cannot do it well; they are there now. They should, please, try their best for us and leave propaganda. Another thing is that the president and vice-president announced that they will forfeit 50 per cent of their salaries. That is also playing to the gallery.
People expect you to also do the same.
I can forfeit everything. I can forfeit everything, because salary is meaningless. The president should go a little bit further and forfeit other benefits he enjoys.
Benefits like what, for instance...?
For instance, all the benefits of the State House in Abuja and protocol. There are a lot of benefits that will accrue to the president in terms of travelling, in terms of sitting allowances and other allowances that are due the president. He must cut the cost, because the benefits are more far-reaching than salary. The president’s salary is N1.1 million. Is the president telling us that he has forfeited N550,000 to Nigerians to change our fortune? No. Even my own salary is about N700,000; I’m ready to give it out without complaining and I’m not going to announce it on the radio or television. And, interestingly, you cannot forfeit it by words of mouth, because there is nowhere you will post it anyway in the revenue mobilisation law. You can take it and use it to promote the cause of Nigerians, but don’t tell us you are ready to forfeit half of your salary and it’s a big deal. No, it’s not.
I’m ready to forfeit all of my own… the whole salary, not half, because we know the truth. We know where people in government make money. They should stop playing to the gallery. They should be able to take decisive steps to advance the cause of Nigerians beyond sentiment.
They’ve been there almost two months and they had about seven weeks before swearing-in. Yet, they’ve not been able to give us direction that they mean well. I’m speaking this way because I’m in the opposition, I’m not in their party.
SIR, how do you see being a governor under President Muhammadu Buhari?
Elections have come and gone and, as I always say, President Muhammadu Buhari is the president of Nigeria, not by his own grace or by my own grace but by God’s grace. If I tell you that I wanted Buhari as president, I am a liar. I wanted Jonathan but God has given it to Buhari and so, we all have to submit to the will of God, the will of Allah, because He gives power to whosoever He willeth. So, I have congratulated Buhari; I wish him success and a good tenure. However, that does not remove the fact that if he is not doing it rightly we will not state our mind. It is a free society; there is no almighty governor; there is no almighty president. We are all governed by civility and by the constitution. It was in those days that somebody would just wake up and sack a state’s House of Assembly and start fumbling, like it was in the days of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Such things can’t happen again. So, we are moving forward to civility in Nigeria. We are moving forward to constitutionality and obeying the rule of law. The fact that Buhari became the president, nothing has changed, because he is going to govern Nigeria; Ekiti is just a unit of the country and Ekiti is a federating unit. We have our autonomy; he can’t come and govern my state. Everything that is federally connected, he has right to it but in my state, I am the chief executive. That is why they call me “Executive Governor”. If he wants to assist Ekiti people, it is not about Ayo Fayose. And I’m sure President Buhari is a man that will not want to dwell on pettiness or operate by it because Governor Fayose did not support him. When Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in power, the All Progressives Congress (APC) members, who were in the opposition, operated peacefully in their states. Jonathan did not say they should come to Ekiti and remove Kayode Fayemi from here. It is a system in which the people dictate who they want.
And that brings me to the fact that Ekiti is gone for good from the hands of APC. Even if Senator Bola Tinubu [the leader of APC] becomes the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, they will lose in Ekiti, because they are not on the ground here. The kind of politics I play is that wherein I tie myself to the people, not the people tying themselves to me. If you look at the processes of the botched impeachment, what happened aftermath, was a defence put up by the people, not even me. We, however, thank God. It was the Lord’s doing.
Buhari is the president, by God’s grace. We wish him well. But I must also state without mincing words that I don’t curry favours that I don’t need. I represent my people and my duty is to make sure that I cooperate with the Federal Government. When you say Federal Government, Buhari is the face. When you say Ekiti government, I am the face. We will cooperate, collaborate and work with the Federal Government and it will not end up as personal issues between the president and Fayose. That will mean pettiness. Buhari too needs opposition; the country needs a virile opposition for the system to survive. The people said PDP was not doing it well, they voted us out. Okay. PDP was not doing well, let us see what APC has to offer. But for me, they have not started well. This pace is too slow and they are playing to the gallery too much.
But the APC has been saying that President Buhari is performing well.
Do you expect them to say that he is not performing well? You want them to say he is not performing when Boko Haram has virtually taken over the country now? Apart from other issues like the North/South dichotomy, religious sentiments and change in itself, one of the key reasons, in terms of policy and in terms of needs, why Nigerians voted for President Buhari is security. They want to be secure. Everybody was shouting “bring back our girls”, the APC was shouting that Jonathan had no capacity and that the moment Buhari comes in, within 30 days, Boko Haram will be inside the River Niger. Rather, Boko Haram is now spreading their tentacles and growing in confidence. Both opposition and the government must stay together to fight insurgency, but I need to remind them that they were the people politicising this thing. So, it has come to the fore. But it is a different ball game now: Governance and opposition. When they were in opposition, they could be using propaganda to deceive the people, bamboozle them and use the press to their advantage. But you cannot use propaganda to lead the people. Look at an instance: they came out to say that they had done a bailout. To whom did they give the bailout? Are they also bailing themselves out? Nobody has bailed Ekiti out. We have only got our legitimate allocation which is tax from NLNG. It was Ekiti’s basic entitlement under the allocation procedures. I got N2.1 billion and my wage bill is N2.6 billion. So, when you now say bailout, a bailout that cannot pay one month’s salary, how do you explain that? I said about a week ago that there’s no issue of bailout and I cannot be telling the APC-led government that that they are deceiving Nigerians and playing to the gallery. The so-called bailout issue is playing to the gallery. So, to me there’s no issue of bailout. When Jonathan was there, this tax from NLNG went straight to the federation account. Today, they are in power, they can say whatever they have to say. Jonathan is gone, they should leave Jonathan alone and face the act of governance. They said PDP cannot do it well; they are there now. They should, please, try their best for us and leave propaganda. Another thing is that the president and vice-president announced that they will forfeit 50 per cent of their salaries. That is also playing to the gallery.
People expect you to also do the same.
I can forfeit everything. I can forfeit everything, because salary is meaningless. The president should go a little bit further and forfeit other benefits he enjoys.
Benefits like what, for instance...?
For instance, all the benefits of the State House in Abuja and protocol. There are a lot of benefits that will accrue to the president in terms of travelling, in terms of sitting allowances and other allowances that are due the president. He must cut the cost, because the benefits are more far-reaching than salary. The president’s salary is N1.1 million. Is the president telling us that he has forfeited N550,000 to Nigerians to change our fortune? No. Even my own salary is about N700,000; I’m ready to give it out without complaining and I’m not going to announce it on the radio or television. And, interestingly, you cannot forfeit it by words of mouth, because there is nowhere you will post it anyway in the revenue mobilisation law. You can take it and use it to promote the cause of Nigerians, but don’t tell us you are ready to forfeit half of your salary and it’s a big deal. No, it’s not.
I’m ready to forfeit all of my own… the whole salary, not half, because we know the truth. We know where people in government make money. They should stop playing to the gallery. They should be able to take decisive steps to advance the cause of Nigerians beyond sentiment.
They’ve been there almost two months and they had about seven weeks before swearing-in. Yet, they’ve not been able to give us direction that they mean well. I’m speaking this way because I’m in the opposition, I’m not in their party.
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