Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by Nobody: 10:56am On Dec 22, 2015 |
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Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by baralatie(m): 10:57am On Dec 22, 2015 |
olokfor:
Former presidential aide Reno Omokri writes open letter to the minister of Information. Read below
Dear Honourable Minister Lai Mohammed, Greetings and congratulations on your recent and well deserved appointment as Nigeria's Minister of Information. You may recall that we met on the set of 'Politics Today' in May of 2011 soon after I was interviewed by Deji Bademosi and just before you were interviewed.
The purpose of my letter to you today is in response to your statement made on Monday the 21st of December, 2015 in which you accused former President Goodluck Jonathan, whom I served as one of three spokesmen, of being responsible for the current excruciating fuel scarcity now subsisting in Nigeria.
Your exact words were "What I will be telling Nigerians is that what we met on ground is such that we are paying for the sins of the last administration.....One of the reasons for the fuel scarcity was the inability of the last government to make adequate provision for fuel subsidy". My candid take on your message to Nigerians is that it is an abdication of responsibility on your part and does not project you and the government you represent as being responsible. Government, as you very well know, is a continuum. One government takes over from where the other stopped and to say that an action in December of 2015 (six months after ex President Jonathan handed over to the incumbent on May 29th, 2015, ) is the fault of the last President, is to confer super human powers on Jonathan.
To prove to you that it is wrong to blame the former President, I will quote the words of the incumbent President. A month ago, President Buhari, while speaking to the Nigerian community in the Iranian capital, Tehran, said “I believe if you are in touch back at home, you would have been told that already there is some improvement in power". Those were the words of President Muhammadu Buhari in Tehran on November 25th, 2015. You, Honourable Minister, also boasted about the improvement in power back in August 2015, when you attributed the improvement to the 'body language' of the 'new sheriff' in town. You may recall that you said "I say it anywhere I go that even though we have not added one single megawatt to power, there has been improvement.
My colleagues in the PDP will say no; that’s not true. But I maintain that this improvement is as a result of the kind of integrity that President Buhari has brought to leadership." Now, you and I know that despite what you said about the President's "body language", there is absolutely no way that any action or inaction of President Muhammadu Buhari could have led to an improvement in power.
All the new power stations that have come on stream this year were either built or completed by Jonathan. Absolutely all of them were conceived, funded, built and commissioned by Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Presidents, the same party that you said had destroyed Nigeria. On October 19th, 2013, then President Jonathan completed and commissioned the 530 Megawatts Omotosho Power station Phase 2 begun by his predecessor.
On February 20th, 2015, he commissioned the 750 MW Olorunsogo II Power Station in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State. On March 24th, 2015, Jonathan also commissioned the Phase I 504MW (Simple Cycle Gas) Alaoji Power Plant at Umuobasi-Ukwu, Abia State. Former President Jonathan was also the leader who successfully privatized major chunks of our power generation and distribution infrastructure. He also created the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading PLC.
So concerned was President Jonathan to know the state of electricity provision that I had to do regular, sometimes weekly, polls and surveys on Twitter to get the public's feedback on the state of power in their locales. Yet, despite all these, President Buhari and you, Honourable Minister, were not shy at taking credit for the improvement in electricity in far away Tehran and Lagos at various times this year. One wonders why the same "integrity" you credited for automatically improving power cannot provide fuel?
Don't you think it is a bit rich to blame ex President Jonathan for the current fuel subsidy especially given the fact that leading lights of your party resisted and rejected the ex President's move to do away with fuel subsidy by deregulating the down stream sector of the petroleum sector? Indeed Honourable Minister, you may recall that as the National Publicity Secretary of the then Action Congress of Nigeria, you released a statement condemning the then government's plans to deregulate the petroleum industry and remove fuel subsidy and also said that the removal of fuel subsidy was "a threat to Nigeria's unity".
Sir, you would agree with me that it is only honourable to take the bitter with the sweet. I am reminded of my 10 year old daughter's comments to me every time I accuse her of watching too much television. She quotes a line from the Disney movie, 'A Bug's Life' in which Hopper says to Atta "First rule of leadership: Everything is your fault". If my daughter at 10 is aware of this rule, shouldn't a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who also happens to be over 60 years of age, and who also happens to be the official spokesperson of the current administration know this rule?
A bad workman may blame his tools, but it takes an irresponsible workman to blame his predecessor! When Jonathan became President on May 6th, 2010, he met a comatose railway network. He did not blame his predecessors. Rather, he went to work. Within two years, he successfully rehabilitated a significant portion of our national railway infrastructure and had restored intra and inter city routes for the first time decades.
He made it possible for Nigerians to travel from Lagos to Kano for less than $10 (₦1600). There were services from Port Harcourt to Enugu, Makurdi to Port Harcourt and Gombe-Kafanchan-Kaduna to mention but a few. For the first time in decades, there was a direct rail transport from Tin Can Island Port in Lagos all the way to Kano with stops along the way. Jonathan successfully built the brand new standard gauge 187 kilometer Abuja-Kaduna railway which will make it possible to live in Kaduna and work in Abuja.
Within Lagos, he introduced air conditioned fast Diesel Multiple Unit trains, the first of its type in Nigeria. I quite remember that when I wrote about these accomplishments, members and sympathizes of your party publicly labeled me a liar. I remained a liar in the eyes of the Nigerian public until my recent surprise vindication by the new Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, who said while on a familiarization tour of the Nigerian Railway Corporation as follows “in fact, I think we have a problem; most people don’t believe that the railway transport is functioning in Nigeria. I didn’t even know, until I started this tour, I never knew that the railway was functioning, it was even from his (MD’s) speech that I learnt that there are some coaches or services that go to Kano or Port Harcourt or elsewhere. So we need to make people become more aware that the narrow gauge is working, and that people can still use it to travel around that country."
Now, Honourable Minister Lai Mohammed, who do we blame for this remarkable progress in our rail sector? Let me end this letter to you with a quote from best selling author, Dr. Steve Maraboli: "It’s time to care; it’s time to take responsibility; it’s time to lead; it’s time for a change; it’s time to be true to our greatest self; it’s time to stop blaming others."
Thank you and be assured of my continued loyalty and support to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
http://www.metronaija.com/2015/12/jonathan-is-not-to-blame-reno-omokri.html
cc: lalasticlala 1 Like |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by Nobody: 10:57am On Dec 22, 2015 |
Lovely response to a clueless, senseless minister 11 Likes |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by MsGlobalwonder(f): 10:57am On Dec 22, 2015 |
richidinho: shey they OCCUPIED NIGERIA in Lagos then
when Subsidy was about to be removed in 2011
unu never chi chom chin ![grin](https://www.nairaland.com/faces/grin.png) when are we occupying Nigeria sef? This scarcity never tire una? ![lipsrsealed](https://www.nairaland.com/faces/lipsrsealed.png) lool 4 Likes |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by Nobody: 10:58am On Dec 22, 2015 |
Dasuki will finger you too soon and then we'll see if you can still write lengthy Dear Abbey letters. 1 Like |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by refreshrate: 10:58am On Dec 22, 2015 |
Why anyone would even bother to reply Lai with his high level liability (is that what what they call people who lie a lot?) is beyond me 4 Likes |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by Nobody: 10:59am On Dec 22, 2015 |
. |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by IAMTHEHERO: 11:00am On Dec 22, 2015 |
With this response, RENO OMOKRI has made LAI MOHAMMED a complete "fooooool" 8 Likes |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by allthingsgood: 11:01am On Dec 22, 2015 |
So the bottom line of what Reno is syaing is: Dont blame us for the past disasters, but praise us for all current improvement.
This sounds to me like the peak of irresponsibility! Reno should please shut up and hide his silly head is shame. Useless clueless bunch of thieves! 1 Like 2 Shares |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by tzoracle: 11:01am On Dec 22, 2015 |
Epic reply
The work of a spokesman Even if you want to lie make it believable Even if reno is lying the way the write up is articulated I would just believe it
My point Lai mohammed should make his lais more believable
ORACLE- 4 Likes |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by Bollinger(m): 11:02am On Dec 22, 2015 |
CharlesPhc: Interesting...!!!
John Maxwell once said "Everything rises or falls on leadership"
APC #acceptresponsibilty otherwise, the revolution you promised Nigerians some months back would start on you I think you misunderstood what john maxwell said. Every leader since independence is to blame for where we are as a nation. All this didn't just start today. The only way you can blame this present administration is if everything was groovy in the past and all of a sudden things went bad. As far as i can remember, things have always been terrible in Nigeria since independence, so blaming Buhari is nonsensical. Nigerians never rate performances on how good things were; it is always rated on how bad compared to the last administration. Depending on which administration was/is in power. Understand and accept the root cause of your problems and maybe you can start to change things around. 2 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by BABANGBALI: 11:02am On Dec 22, 2015 |
if you think i will waste my time to read this epistle you 've got another think coming |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by IFELEKE(m): 11:03am On Dec 22, 2015 |
Well, Reno is right, APC should stop this blame game already and focus on how to re-jig the economy. Majority of the people shouting now also contributed to the mess we are presently in now. What the president needs now is to recover our looted funds without making an issue out of it and re-invest accordingly, Nigeria cannot continue to run on this blame game ride... |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by leofab(f): 11:03am On Dec 22, 2015 |
M |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by oshyno(m): 11:04am On Dec 22, 2015 |
VOICEOFJUSTICE: them sack plenty workers for my company on friday. chai see as people dey cry. wetin them family go chop? Bubu, Oshawole, Asinbanjo, pls u guys have to do something o. no work and the small one wey person get them dey sack them commot. to find job no easy. no be amrobbery them go go do so? ![embarassed](https://www.nairaland.com/faces/embarassed.png) My brother our company too did same. I was teling my senior brother in another big company of d situation the dude was just yarning dust giving me inspirational quotes. Telling to switch to other companies b4 they sack me. 4 my mind I was like bros are u ok. How on earth am I to go to "other" company go look for job when they are downsizing too. Naso I just dey look d guy like em head no correct. Na slap the manager go slap u if u carry yeye CV dey disturb am. No job eeee. Anytin wey u dey do now u better hold am tight. 1 Like |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by scachy(m): 11:04am On Dec 22, 2015 |
bugzbunny: Op......body language has since CHANGED to body odour Hahahah ![grin](https://www.nairaland.com/faces/grin.png) |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by allthingsgood: 11:04am On Dec 22, 2015 |
CharlesPhc: Interesting...!!!
John Maxwell once said "Everything rises or falls on leadership"
APC #acceptresponsibilty otherwise, the revolution you promised Nigerians some months back would start on you Your comment is ridiculous. How do u ask a new administration to accept the liability of the past ![](/faces/huh.png) Why didnt Jonathan accept the liability for Obj's blunders and massacre of the niger delta people? Each govt has its own policy and u shldnt be judging the new administration based on the impunity of the last one 1 Like |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by oglalasioux(m): 11:04am On Dec 22, 2015 |
Speaking from both sides of his mouth. When Jonathan was in power they never stopped putting the blames of Jonathan's failures on past regimes. I'm not saying Lai Mohammed is being fair to Jonathan but our leaders have the streak of having a fall guy. Pure African mentality; blame someone else for your laziness. 1 Like |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by horlabiyi(m): 11:08am On Dec 22, 2015 |
Patiently waiting for the honourable minister to respond. |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by Andykruiz(m): 11:10am On Dec 22, 2015 |
Wow! Epic reply by Reno Omokri **standing ovation**.
APC still playing opposition even while in power. I get the feeling for the next four years they'll only complete the projects GEJ started (if them go fit), blame his government, go on with-hunts and apportion more blames |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by MICHEALADEX(m): 11:11am On Dec 22, 2015 |
I disagree with him, fuel subsidy as not been paid since last year August and for the marketers who took loans in $ wiLl now have to pay more in naira for debts owe them by federal government who will now to be paid when the naira as sunk. So won't they collect their money before naira fall futher? |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by onunwa21(m): 11:13am On Dec 22, 2015 |
Mr. Lia is a Liar |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by gunners160(m): 11:14am On Dec 22, 2015 |
oshyno:
My brother our company too did same. I was teling my senior brother in another big company of d situation the dude was just yarning dust giving me inspirational quotes. Telling to switch to other companies b4 they sack me. 4 my mind I was like bros are u ok. How on earth am I to go to "other" company go look for job when they are downsizing too. Naso I just dey look d guy like em head no correct. Na slap the manager go slap u if u carry yeye CV dey disturb am. No job eeee. Anytin wey u dey do now u better hold am tight. menh,d situation in Nigeria don bad reach dis? |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by Boss13: 11:14am On Dec 22, 2015 |
Beautiful response from Reno. I enjoyed reading it. The administration must wake up and work. It appears that the previous administration looted the country, but it should not ground the country. Nigerians were not expecting the treasury to be intact. The best the administration can do is to work hard and quit the blame game. We are tired. |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by 9jatatafo(m): 11:16am On Dec 22, 2015 |
It's high time APC call Lai Mohammed to order. APC shouldn't forget that the same Cain used in beating PDP will used to beat them come next election for telling us big fat and borgous lies |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by CORRECTMAN78(m): 11:17am On Dec 22, 2015 |
APC know best how to savage than to salvage. |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by anytexy: 11:17am On Dec 22, 2015 |
Chai! Where are Apc Zombies? Perfect response. The naked truth. |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by chuckd112: 11:21am On Dec 22, 2015 |
When will this Liar man stop the blame game and accept that is now in power and should begin to take full responsibility of their actions and inactions. Nice piece though. |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by Oladimejy(m): 11:21am On Dec 22, 2015 |
sandrajazmin: Lai mohammed has always been a Liar! Whoeva believes him is a dumb ass And must be kept in a zoo. Afterall who buari help? Buhari the minister of tourism Mtcheeeewwww Jonathan was also minister of tourism and god-father of corruption 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by cozykozy: 11:23am On Dec 22, 2015 |
olokfor:
Former presidential aide Reno Omokri writes open letter to the minister of Information. Read below
Dear Honourable Minister Lai Mohammed, Greetings and congratulations on your recent and well deserved appointment as Nigeria's Minister of Information. You may recall that we met on the set of 'Politics Today' in May of 2011 soon after I was interviewed by Deji Bademosi and just before you were interviewed.
The purpose of my letter to you today is in response to your statement made on Monday the 21st of December, 2015 in which you accused former President Goodluck Jonathan, whom I served as one of three spokesmen, of being responsible for the current excruciating fuel scarcity now subsisting in Nigeria.
Your exact words were "What I will be telling Nigerians is that what we met on ground is such that we are paying for the sins of the last administration.....One of the reasons for the fuel scarcity was the inability of the last government to make adequate provision for fuel subsidy". My candid take on your message to Nigerians is that it is an abdication of responsibility on your part and does not project you and the government you represent as being responsible. Government, as you very well know, is a continuum. One government takes over from where the other stopped and to say that an action in December of 2015 (six months after ex President Jonathan handed over to the incumbent on May 29th, 2015, ) is the fault of the last President, is to confer super human powers on Jonathan.
To prove to you that it is wrong to blame the former President, I will quote the words of the incumbent President. A month ago, President Buhari, while speaking to the Nigerian community in the Iranian capital, Tehran, said “I believe if you are in touch back at home, you would have been told that already there is some improvement in power". Those were the words of President Muhammadu Buhari in Tehran on November 25th, 2015. You, Honourable Minister, also boasted about the improvement in power back in August 2015, when you attributed the improvement to the 'body language' of the 'new sheriff' in town. You may recall that you said "I say it anywhere I go that even though we have not added one single megawatt to power, there has been improvement.
My colleagues in the PDP will say no; that’s not true. But I maintain that this improvement is as a result of the kind of integrity that President Buhari has brought to leadership." Now, you and I know that despite what you said about the President's "body language", there is absolutely no way that any action or inaction of President Muhammadu Buhari could have led to an improvement in power.
All the new power stations that have come on stream this year were either built or completed by Jonathan. Absolutely all of them were conceived, funded, built and commissioned by Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Presidents, the same party that you said had destroyed Nigeria. On October 19th, 2013, then President Jonathan completed and commissioned the 530 Megawatts Omotosho Power station Phase 2 begun by his predecessor.
On February 20th, 2015, he commissioned the 750 MW Olorunsogo II Power Station in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State. On March 24th, 2015, Jonathan also commissioned the Phase I 504MW (Simple Cycle Gas) Alaoji Power Plant at Umuobasi-Ukwu, Abia State. Former President Jonathan was also the leader who successfully privatized major chunks of our power generation and distribution infrastructure. He also created the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading PLC.
So concerned was President Jonathan to know the state of electricity provision that I had to do regular, sometimes weekly, polls and surveys on Twitter to get the public's feedback on the state of power in their locales. Yet, despite all these, President Buhari and you, Honourable Minister, were not shy at taking credit for the improvement in electricity in far away Tehran and Lagos at various times this year. One wonders why the same "integrity" you credited for automatically improving power cannot provide fuel?
Don't you think it is a bit rich to blame ex President Jonathan for the current fuel subsidy especially given the fact that leading lights of your party resisted and rejected the ex President's move to do away with fuel subsidy by deregulating the down stream sector of the petroleum sector? Indeed Honourable Minister, you may recall that as the National Publicity Secretary of the then Action Congress of Nigeria, you released a statement condemning the then government's plans to deregulate the petroleum industry and remove fuel subsidy and also said that the removal of fuel subsidy was "a threat to Nigeria's unity".
Sir, you would agree with me that it is only honourable to take the bitter with the sweet. I am reminded of my 10 year old daughter's comments to me every time I accuse her of watching too much television. She quotes a line from the Disney movie, 'A Bug's Life' in which Hopper says to Atta "First rule of leadership: Everything is your fault". If my daughter at 10 is aware of this rule, shouldn't a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who also happens to be over 60 years of age, and who also happens to be the official spokesperson of the current administration know this rule?
A bad workman may blame his tools, but it takes an irresponsible workman to blame his predecessor! When Jonathan became President on May 6th, 2010, he met a comatose railway network. He did not blame his predecessors. Rather, he went to work. Within two years, he successfully rehabilitated a significant portion of our national railway infrastructure and had restored intra and inter city routes for the first time decades.
He made it possible for Nigerians to travel from Lagos to Kano for less than $10 (₦1600). There were services from Port Harcourt to Enugu, Makurdi to Port Harcourt and Gombe-Kafanchan-Kaduna to mention but a few. For the first time in decades, there was a direct rail transport from Tin Can Island Port in Lagos all the way to Kano with stops along the way. Jonathan successfully built the brand new standard gauge 187 kilometer Abuja-Kaduna railway which will make it possible to live in Kaduna and work in Abuja.
Within Lagos, he introduced air conditioned fast Diesel Multiple Unit trains, the first of its type in Nigeria. I quite remember that when I wrote about these accomplishments, members and sympathizes of your party publicly labeled me a liar. I remained a liar in the eyes of the Nigerian public until my recent surprise vindication by the new Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, who said while on a familiarization tour of the Nigerian Railway Corporation as follows “in fact, I think we have a problem; most people don’t believe that the railway transport is functioning in Nigeria. I didn’t even know, until I started this tour, I never knew that the railway was functioning, it was even from his (MD’s) speech that I learnt that there are some coaches or services that go to Kano or Port Harcourt or elsewhere. So we need to make people become more aware that the narrow gauge is working, and that people can still use it to travel around that country."
Now, Honourable Minister Lai Mohammed, who do we blame for this remarkable progress in our rail sector? Let me end this letter to you with a quote from best selling author, Dr. Steve Maraboli: "It’s time to care; it’s time to take responsibility; it’s time to lead; it’s time for a change; it’s time to be true to our greatest self; it’s time to stop blaming others."
Thank you and be assured of my continued loyalty and support to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
http://www.metronaija.com/2015/12/jonathan-is-not-to-blame-reno-omokri.html
cc: lalasticlala lai muhamed on drink kunu nd gbanga...he cm openhimmulk bus pig cmdey talk rubbish for mouth...w jonathan e responsible so na jonastldey administration |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by flyingdutchman(m): 11:23am On Dec 22, 2015 |
PEOPLE LIKE YOU WALK BLINDLY INTO PITS. I PITY YOU mideactive: Wat's dis omokri sayin,he should consider y n wher e made d statement.Lai's words is very simply n direct.he was ask a quetion of which he has2 answer,do we expect him 2 lie.Oga jona is yet2 deny d fact dat his govt had oustanding debts 2 pay d marketers.wat's d fuse here?I'm nt an advocate 4 a single party,but pdp should step up thr game.if Pmb manages2 perform wit dis current price of crude,pdp is domed.n I forsee him performing |
Re: Jonathan Is Not To Blame, Reno Omokri Replies Lai Mohammed by BraniacX(m): 11:25am On Dec 22, 2015 |
olokfor:
Former presidential aide Reno Omokri writes open letter to the minister of Information. Read below
Dear Honourable Minister Lai Mohammed, Greetings and congratulations on your recent and well deserved appointment as Nigeria's Minister of Information. You may recall that we met on the set of 'Politics Today' in May of 2011 soon after I was interviewed by Deji Bademosi and just before you were interviewed.
The purpose of my letter to you today is in response to your statement made on Monday the 21st of December, 2015 in which you accused former President Goodluck Jonathan, whom I served as one of three spokesmen, of being responsible for the current excruciating fuel scarcity now subsisting in Nigeria.
Your exact words were "What I will be telling Nigerians is that what we met on ground is such that we are paying for the sins of the last administration.....One of the reasons for the fuel scarcity was the inability of the last government to make adequate provision for fuel subsidy". My candid take on your message to Nigerians is that it is an abdication of responsibility on your part and does not project you and the government you represent as being responsible. Government, as you very well know, is a continuum. One government takes over from where the other stopped and to say that an action in December of 2015 (six months after ex President Jonathan handed over to the incumbent on May 29th, 2015, ) is the fault of the last President, is to confer super human powers on Jonathan.
To prove to you that it is wrong to blame the former President, I will quote the words of the incumbent President. A month ago, President Buhari, while speaking to the Nigerian community in the Iranian capital, Tehran, said “I believe if you are in touch back at home, you would have been told that already there is some improvement in power". Those were the words of President Muhammadu Buhari in Tehran on November 25th, 2015. You, Honourable Minister, also boasted about the improvement in power back in August 2015, when you attributed the improvement to the 'body language' of the 'new sheriff' in town. You may recall that you said "I say it anywhere I go that even though we have not added one single megawatt to power, there has been improvement.
My colleagues in the PDP will say no; that’s not true. But I maintain that this improvement is as a result of the kind of integrity that President Buhari has brought to leadership." Now, you and I know that despite what you said about the President's "body language", there is absolutely no way that any action or inaction of President Muhammadu Buhari could have led to an improvement in power.
All the new power stations that have come on stream this year were either built or completed by Jonathan. Absolutely all of them were conceived, funded, built and commissioned by Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Presidents, the same party that you said had destroyed Nigeria. On October 19th, 2013, then President Jonathan completed and commissioned the 530 Megawatts Omotosho Power station Phase 2 begun by his predecessor.
On February 20th, 2015, he commissioned the 750 MW Olorunsogo II Power Station in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State. On March 24th, 2015, Jonathan also commissioned the Phase I 504MW (Simple Cycle Gas) Alaoji Power Plant at Umuobasi-Ukwu, Abia State. Former President Jonathan was also the leader who successfully privatized major chunks of our power generation and distribution infrastructure. He also created the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading PLC.
So concerned was President Jonathan to know the state of electricity provision that I had to do regular, sometimes weekly, polls and surveys on Twitter to get the public's feedback on the state of power in their locales. Yet, despite all these, President Buhari and you, Honourable Minister, were not shy at taking credit for the improvement in electricity in far away Tehran and Lagos at various times this year. One wonders why the same "integrity" you credited for automatically improving power cannot provide fuel?
Don't you think it is a bit rich to blame ex President Jonathan for the current fuel subsidy especially given the fact that leading lights of your party resisted and rejected the ex President's move to do away with fuel subsidy by deregulating the down stream sector of the petroleum sector? Indeed Honourable Minister, you may recall that as the National Publicity Secretary of the then Action Congress of Nigeria, you released a statement condemning the then government's plans to deregulate the petroleum industry and remove fuel subsidy and also said that the removal of fuel subsidy was "a threat to Nigeria's unity".
Sir, you would agree with me that it is only honourable to take the bitter with the sweet. I am reminded of my 10 year old daughter's comments to me every time I accuse her of watching too much television. She quotes a line from the Disney movie, 'A Bug's Life' in which Hopper says to Atta "First rule of leadership: Everything is your fault". If my daughter at 10 is aware of this rule, shouldn't a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who also happens to be over 60 years of age, and who also happens to be the official spokesperson of the current administration know this rule?
A bad workman may blame his tools, but it takes an irresponsible workman to blame his predecessor! When Jonathan became President on May 6th, 2010, he met a comatose railway network. He did not blame his predecessors. Rather, he went to work. Within two years, he successfully rehabilitated a significant portion of our national railway infrastructure and had restored intra and inter city routes for the first time decades.
He made it possible for Nigerians to travel from Lagos to Kano for less than $10 (₦1600). There were services from Port Harcourt to Enugu, Makurdi to Port Harcourt and Gombe-Kafanchan-Kaduna to mention but a few. For the first time in decades, there was a direct rail transport from Tin Can Island Port in Lagos all the way to Kano with stops along the way. Jonathan successfully built the brand new standard gauge 187 kilometer Abuja-Kaduna railway which will make it possible to live in Kaduna and work in Abuja.
Within Lagos, he introduced air conditioned fast Diesel Multiple Unit trains, the first of its type in Nigeria. I quite remember that when I wrote about these accomplishments, members and sympathizes of your party publicly labeled me a liar. I remained a liar in the eyes of the Nigerian public until my recent surprise vindication by the new Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, who said while on a familiarization tour of the Nigerian Railway Corporation as follows “in fact, I think we have a problem; most people don’t believe that the railway transport is functioning in Nigeria. I didn’t even know, until I started this tour, I never knew that the railway was functioning, it was even from his (MD’s) speech that I learnt that there are some coaches or services that go to Kano or Port Harcourt or elsewhere. So we need to make people become more aware that the narrow gauge is working, and that people can still use it to travel around that country."
Now, Honourable Minister Lai Mohammed, who do we blame for this remarkable progress in our rail sector? Let me end this letter to you with a quote from best selling author, Dr. Steve Maraboli: "It’s time to care; it’s time to take responsibility; it’s time to lead; it’s time for a change; it’s time to be true to our greatest self; it’s time to stop blaming others."
Thank you and be assured of my continued loyalty and support to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
http://www.metronaija.com/2015/12/jonathan-is-not-to-blame-reno-omokri.html
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