presidency:
As you read this piece, President Muhammadu Buhari and his team are in the French capital, attending the Paris Peace Forum, a gathering of about 30 Presidents and head of governments from around the world. The Nigerian leader is among the few that were asked to deliver a speech.

On Wednesday afternoon, we had been at the Palais Elysee, the seat of the French government, where President Buhari paid an official visit to President Emmanuel Macron, who himself had been in Abuja in 2018. Impressive is a mild word to use for the spectacle.

Earlier that Wednesday, President Buhari had been at the Shangri-La Hotel, to give a keynote address at the Nigeria International Partnership Forum, put together for Nigerian and French investing community. It was a roll call of the brightest and best in the Nigerian business firmament, including Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, Chairman BUA Group and head, France-Nigeria Business Council, Mr Tony Elumelu, Chairman Heirs Holdings and UBA, Alhaji Mohammed Indimi, Chairman, Oriental Energy Resources, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, Chairman/Editor-in-Chief, ThisDay Group and Arise News Channels, among many others.

Now, the narrative that some people have labored to paint over the years, either out of hatred, or cheap political reasons, is that nothing was happening in the country, other than wanton killings and massive insecurity. They trumpet and magnify insecurity to the exclusion of any other thing. Yes, Nigeria battles grave security challenges like many other countries, particularly in the Sahel region, but then, many other good things are happening, while evildoers are also being given a pounding by agencies of state.

Mr President spoke to the galaxy of Nigerian and French business people and investors, to a massive applause. And what did he say?

The government in Nigeria was on the right path to achieving multi-sectoral progress. It has re-assessed and updated the national security strategy, which has contributed to success in fighting insurgents and terrorists, and also countering violent extremism.

Still firing from the hips, Mr President told his audience that there was a link between modern infrastructure and the overall economic development of a nation, “hence the massive infrastructural expansion programme we have been executing in various sectors.”

He gave examples such as railways, seaports, roads, renewable energy, housing, and many others.

Petroleum is the cash cow of the Nigerian economy, which is now being heavily diversified. But for more than two decades, the enabling law for the industry crawled through the legislature. Till the Buhari administration gave it a fillip, and out came the Petroleum Industry Act, the liberalizing force of the oil industry, with incentives as tax holidays, zero interest loans, development plan for host communities, and easy repatriation of profits, among others.

On agriculture, President Buhari spoke about the Anchor Borrowers Programme, which gives loans and technical support to small holder farmers, leading to expansion of rice mills from 10 in 2014, to 40 today. The result is that we no longer import rice enormously, and now save billions of dollars, which can be utilized for other things.

Fertilizer blending plants were about only five in 2014, today we have 46, with the result that the commodity is widely available and accessible to farmers, at modest costs.

Many other facts and figures did the President adduce to justify the fact that good things were happening in Nigeria, and investments were not only safe, but also generating handsome returns. And that makes one to challenge those engaged in the paroxysm of ‘nothing is happening in the country’ to countermand or controvert any of the stated developments.

Has security not been jigged up in a way that bandits, terrorists, insurgents have been put on the back foot? Are evildoers not being daily sent to God to answer for their crimes? Is the country not being cleaned up, and it is just a matter of time before the sanitation is completed?

Don’t they see the infrastructure? Roads, bridges, airports, pipelines, awesome projects like the Second Niger Bridge, Bodo-Bonny road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway, Loko-Oweto Bridge, AKK gas pipelines, Lagos-Ibadan rail project that is up and running, other rail projects under construction round the country, brand new airports in Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, new runway and terminal building in Enugu, and many others. Which will the wailers, caterwauling all their lives point to, and deny its existence? Yet they keep repeating like broken gramophone records that nothing was happening in the country.

The truth is that no single government will solve all the challenges of a country in its life span. It will do its level best, and yield space for others to continue. Muhammadu Buhari has touched Nigeria in diverse ways. Our armed forces have been equipped, trained and motivated like never before. The economy has successfully been diversified, after more than five decades of lip service. Corruption is being robustly fought, stealing is something to be abhorred. And Nigeria is being rebuilt. Projects, projects everywhere, with a good number of them slated for commissioning next year.

The apostles of ‘nothing is happening, except insecurity’ should look for other music to sing, and for other dance steps. Honest Nigerians can see and feel the good things happening. It was unfolded to Nigerian and international investors in Paris on Wednesday. Those who have consigned themselves perpetually to the complaint counters should wake up. The market is over. It is time to go home, and do something better.

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

obembet:
Only fool take APC, Buhari, and thier supporters serious.

Abeg when Manchester United go play Chelsea, I can't wait to see Chelsea cry like a baby

Lovenorth:
Buhari is the best president Nigeria ever had

lawallawal86:
u de lie even eatry no de use charcol cook beans go de use charcol

condralbedez:
Nonsense...This administration still remain the worst of it all,do you knw that a cup of beans now is 150 naira that's not the issue here,the real problem is how are you going to get gas to cook it.

MOTOPARK:
You sound like one suffering from dementia and lack knowledge of elementary Economics which resulted into not known what proper governance means.Education yourself and abstain from tribal statements

J3susFr3ak:


From the article: "Don’t they see the infrastructure? Roads, bridges, airports, pipelines, awesome projects like the Second Niger Bridge, Bodo-Bonny road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway, Loko-Oweto Bridge, AKK gas pipelines, Lagos-Ibadan rail project that is up and running, other rail projects under construction round the country, brand new airports in Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, new runway and terminal building in Enugu, and many others."

How many of these projects were given to foreign contractors versus local ones? (If any Chinese company is involved....expect an all-out Chinese work force). Are some of the projects also executed under fraudulent Lebanese Contractors as well (as is the case in most corrupt Abuja building projects) --then expect an inflated Infrastructural costs with most of the money going into the pockets of very corrupt FG personnel...while the common laborer you mention here receive "crumbs". So the larger populace with no connections to even get these crumbs should just say "Yes daddy...thank you?" For what! For having their great grand kids be in debt for the excesses of today? The real problem is the pork-barrel and brown envelopes that were exchanged in Abuja even before a single shovel dug the earth!

Now you are finally admitting that the Food Inflation issue is as a result of a general insecurity issue? Yes? And the main culprits here are the Fulani and Boko Haram Terrorists invading and destroying farms all over the place? So if the Governors are supposed to fully tackle this the way they should....why is the FG so against the realization of a functional State Police system then?

A Fully funded State Policing system is the way to go to tackle a lot of the insecurities today that sees armed Fulanis arrested in some states ...only to be assigned to and released in Abuja! Nonsesne!

Torylanez:


Your mumu de make my dog laugh �

So na north Dem de do garri , palm oil and co.?
Which food insecurity ? For where ?

You don't want infrastructures, u don't want development..
U want make government de share money for u like PDP did for u for 16yrs , no head no tail

That time don pass , if u like cry fire ... Nothing u fit do
Go find work to do Biko lol

J3susFr3ak:


In civilized societies the Public Tender for each major Government Contract is widely advertised including the requirements for each company competing for said contract. I really really doubt that the Buhari Government can say they were exactly transparent in how they went about awarding the contracts for these infrastructural projects. Why not advertise the names of all those who also competed for the same Contracts and why they did not "win" those contracts. If you beam your search light in all those procedural nonsense taking place in Abuja...you will find super filthy corruption and shady deals that stinks to high heaven!

And you mean to tell me that the massive attacks by Fulani Terrorists on farms and farmers in the North, Middle Belt and some parts of the South is not having a detrimental effect in the availability and high price of food in the country? Which la-la land do you currently live in? You selected food items that are commonly sourced from the South in a mischievous guise to put the whole blame on Southern traders? Are you for real? So if the price of yams increases ten times because of your Boko and Fulani Terrorists killing farmers....then the Palm oil trader who eats the same yam should sell his Palm oil at the same old price? How will he or she afford to buy and eat yams then? These incessant attacks have created a knock-on effect for scarcity and inflation to cascade in other sectors and sections of the country!

Your Buhari and his misguided Cow-centric nonsense policies has done grievously crude and rude damage to the country's food capacity production so far!

Left to him and his ilk...everything is just "MOOOOOOOOO....!!"

Unbelievable!

Torylanez:


So na Fulani cause the rise in garri , palm oil , beans , rice ?
Even meat and fishes ?

Lol when u hate and criticise for so long , you start to sound like a mad man....

Tell us how government determine the price of those food items

Torylanez:


U are a baboonic fool , you keep jumping from one argument to another ... You claim say na bridge people wan chop, as if people working on infrastructures aren't Nigerians

If they ask you to state a policy now , you will be foaming in the mouth ... Ever since Buhari don collect looting spoon from your fathers in 2015 , you have been dipped into confusion and daily ranting ... Even if u see better thing , u go call am bad

Before now wey infrastructures no de , wetin your father party de use the funds from 1999-2015 do ?

Keep taking mpuru-miri, make your brain cells de fry everyday

MOTOPARK:
You are nothing but a dementia fools, that is believe things at face value.your cripple father and blinded cousin that brought a fellow blind and haggard clueless leader that knows nothing about leadership to govern persons more educated than him and all your generations,thinks building of roads only the blind sees is what leadership and governance entails.

J3susFr3ak:


Do you know how many active and willing farmers are living as helpless IDPs at the moment? Do you know how many innocent farmers were murdered by your "brothers" whom you are desperately trying to cover their asses here?



A quote from this article with link here -- https://guardian.ng/news/armed-fulani-herdsmen-seize-taraba-communities/ :

"According to the communique: “Their houses and farmlands are currently being occupied by armed Fulani men who are not ready to leave.

“In the last three months, two more parishes; Isha and Tella, were destroyed in addition to attacks on villages in Gassol, Wukari, Donga, Ibi and Takum local councils.

“We call on government at all levels to tackle this problem once and for all so that farmers can return to their villages and continue with their farming activities. A situation whereby the people will miss another farming season is totally unacceptable,”

And this is just Taraba...not to talk of Benue and Plateau where a lot of food items are actively farmed and many many other areas across the farming Middle Belt where farmers cannot freely go to their ancestral villages anymore? Why? Because their Grand Terrorist in Aso Rock wanted to start a civil war in 2015...but surprise...he "won"--then needed to settle every filthy fulani terrorist from Niger, Chad, Mali and other hell on earth places--he had invited to fight his war. Is this not why there is great discontent and massive kidnappings up the core north as well?

You are just freaking clueless...or just doing a poor hatchet job trying to douse perfume on a dead stinking corpse!

Torylanez:


So fish wey de expensive na Fulani herdsmen too ? Lol
Your mumu get krokro !!

Your tears just de start o, e remain 2yrs o before Buhari commot
Then Osibanjo go resume duty with the Yorubanization Agenda

Since Buhari has finished Islamization and FULANIZATION agenda

Shey una de Ment' ?

condralbedez:
Nonsense...This administration still remain the worst of it all,do you knw that a cup of beans now is 150 naira that's not the issue here,the real problem is how are you going to get gas to cook it.

condralbedez:
Nonsense...This administration still remain the worst of it all,do you knw that a cup of beans now is 150 naira that's not the issue here,the real problem is how are you going to get gas to cook it.

condralbedez:
Nonsense...This administration still remain the worst of it all,do you knw that a cup of beans now is 150 naira that's not the issue here,the real problem is how are you going to get gas to cook it.

condralbedez:
Nonsense...This administration still remain the worst of it all,do you knw that a cup of beans now is 150 naira that's not the issue here,the real problem is how are you going to get gas to cook it.

condralbedez:
Nonsense...This administration still remain the worst of it all,do you knw that a cup of beans now is 150 naira that's not the issue here,the real problem is how are you going to get gas to cook it.

7lives:


Common wetin?, na those common men dey crash naira for market.
So you've not heard that each collapsed Osborne Towers subscriber, paid a whopping $500k to live in that vanity they called luxury apartments?.
You better wake up and smell the coffee, cursing Buhari on social media will not solve your problems o.
Meanwhile common man dey here dancing and drinking, beer bottles everywhere.
They all wear 30k aso ebi, some women are even decked in jewelries of over a million.
Common man indeed, you're on your own.
Find your way.

J3susFr3ak:


How many innocent farmers were killed and farmlands destroyed because of "fishermen"? How many thousands of innocent farmers were killed and farms destroyed because of Palm Oil tappers or Garri sellers? NONE!

But one sure thing is common: Buhari and Fulani Terrorists have killed tens and thousands of farmers and occupied countless farmlands by force crippling farming and food production in the process.

You have run out of excuses. Buhari is a failure already. His desperate efforts to steal indigenous lands to settle aliens will definitely FAIL. His cup and the radical Terrorists he has supported from Abuja is full....the blood of the innocent shed running over.

Tick Tock....the dead will take their own revenge!

Torylanez:


Buhari go still spend 2yrs , hunger go hook u for neck like bowtie
Osibanjo go take charge for another 8yrs

Never shall we go back to the years of the locust , stealing is not corruption crusaders ...

Your tears na our engine oil oh

J3susFr3ak:


These are the types of things Sani Abacha thought he had ultimate control over, including the criminals that were behind him urging him on....but like Nebuchadnezzar, where are they now?

So dude...I am not even a politician, does not belong to a political party and my life does not rely on any outcome of political favors. I do care about justice....equity....and truth. You have not only defended lies, but glaringly spouted more lies here! e.g. "there is no insecurity in the farms causing the current hardships" etc.,

What I am sure of is that people on NL and God himself are all witnesses to the current evils including things you have bragged and boasted on here...praising not just land thieves, but murderers in power. For their evil, they will never bear fruit or have the ability to bear a dynasty because of this Scripture: ""He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless." - Isaiah 40:29

Those who think they are wise, and are boastful will soon be brought down so low....even the grounds will burst and cave in on them as they fall into the abyss.