Thursday, February 19, 2015 8:27 pm
Jonathan meets the Yoruba elders. Second right is General Adeyinka Adebayo
Under Pressure President Goodluck Jonathan forged ahead on Thursday, trying to win more votes for his re-election contest with opposition All Progressives Congress candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.
In Lagos today, Jonathan met members of Yoruba Council of Elders, led by Maj. General Adeyinka Adebayo(retired), whose son, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, is a leading member of the APC
He thanked them for supporting his government and asked them for support during the election.
“We have not reached where we want but we have gone far,’’ Jonathan said.
The President of YCE, Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo (rtd.) commended the Jonathan administration for “offering good leadership to the country”.
“Your Excellency, our great President, we don’t need to waste any time today. We have introduced ourselves to you.
Jonathan with Yoruba women
“We know you very well and we know the elders on the high table. We are pleased that we are here today to see you face to face and to thank God for what you are doing for the country and we hope all will be well for the country.
“We do not need to talk too much. Our clock is going on. We want to talk about what we want for the country and the future.
“What we want is good leadership with peace and love for the generation of our great country and for good leadership for a great country in future.’’
Jonathan had earlier appealed to politicians to do all they could to preserve the country’s unity.
According to him, there has to be a country before any one nurses aspiration to be in governance
“No matter what we want to do, that is those of us who are aspiring to run this country or even at the state level, first and foremost, you must have a country.
“If we don’t have a country, there will be no office to hold; whether it is the office of the President or office of the Vice President or office of the minister or whatever office, there must be Nigeria first.
“My position is that let us all collectively defend and protect this country and that is why I always feel bad when people make statements that expose Nigeria as if it is the worst country on earth.
“We are not that bad.
“Yes, we have issues in this country. Even issues of security, like this Boko Haram, because we are managing a very delicate situation.
“Sometimes people define Nigeria by the Boko Haram.
“Nigeria cannot be defined based on Boko Haram alone. There is terror all over the world.
“We have unfair share of the terror. But luckily with what is happening now, I tell people that in the next two to three weeks, this story will change.
“Because we have got the equipment that we can withstand the excesses of the Boko Haram.
“That is why these few days, you will see that the movement, we don’t want to say much, is going on gradually.
“My belief is that in the next three weeks or so if we don’t completely take over all our territories, we would have handled the Boko Haram to the extent that it will no longer be a problem to the elections that will come up.’’
The president said that his administration had put measures in place to improve the lots of Nigerians and make the future brighter.
He said that in spite of the challenges in the country, food prices had remained stable while the health sector received a great boost.
Jonathan said that the administration had eradicated polio and that WHO would declare the country polio free by the end of the year.
He said the administration showed leadership by pulling all the states together to battle the Ebola virus disease outbreak.
The president said that his administration would carry the people along in all its programmes and would commence a quarterly meeting with the six geo-political zones, if re-elected to further move the grassroots forward.
The YCE is made up of men above 60 years and women above 50 years from the Yoruba race and cuts across religious, professional and political divides.
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18 Comments
no body asked you anything fool
Fa-fa-fa-foul!! We must collect our $200 billion from Jonathan & Co and put it to work for the Nigerian people. This by voting massively for Buhari.
Back of the envelope calculations puts it at about $200billion that have been stolen, shared or misappropriated in the past 4 years – through grand theft of oil, unmerited sale of oil, unauthorized subsidy payments, depletion of natural reserve, un-collected revenues through loopholes.
One Aspect. President Jonathan have personally supervised the grand theft, through two contracts financed with tax payers money, since January 2012 (possibly fall of 2011) of 400,000 barrels of oil per day by those he hand-picked to safeguard the supply lines against theft. According to Soludo: “First, you (Finance Minister, Okonjo-Iweala) admit that ‘oil theft’ has reduced oil output from the average 2.3 – 2.4 million barrels per day to 1.95 mpd (meaning that at least 350,000 to 450,000 barrels per day are being ‘stolen’). On the average of 400,000 per day and the oil prices over the past four years, it comes to about $60bn ‘stolen’ in just four years.
– This is done through two 2 contracts that Jonathan signed to rebel leaders from his tribe.
These are the 2 contracts by the Jonathan administration that is a major feed to the monster bedevilling Nigeria and turning it into a failed state, and a personal estate of King Jonathan, it was fall 2011 & 2012 time frame – widely reported by Wall Street Journal and major newspapers in Nigeria – just google it – I like the composition in the piece titled, Help, This Nigerian State Is Failing By Ayobami Oyalowo:
”In August, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) broke some disturbing news about Nigeria. It was reported that some ex-militants in the Niger Delta had been paid about N6.32billion within the past one year by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Yes, for the ‘noble’ service of providing security against vandals for the Corporation’s oil pipeline network. Imagine! The breakdown, as outlined by WSJ, is this:
Chief Government Ekpumopolo (alias Tompolo), Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, ‘General’ Ebikabowei Victor Ben (Boyloaf) and ‘General’ Ateke Tom were respectively paid N5.1 billion, N1.44 billion, N608 million and N608 million yearly by the state-owned NNPC, as ‘protection money’ to guard the pipelines they once attacked.
As if that was not enough an insult on the collective intelligence of Nigerians, earlier in the year the Federal Government awarded a contract worth $103.4million (over N15billion) to the Global West Vessel Specialist Limited (GWVSL) – a firm widely believed to be owned by Tompolo to supply 20 vessels for the use of the nation’s military authorities to secure the waterways. Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Ziadeke Akpobolokemi, had last year sent a memo titled, “Award of Contract for the Strategic Concessioning Partnership with NIMASA to Provide Platforms for Tracking Ships and Cargoes, Enforce Regulatory Compliance and Surveillance Of The Entire Nigerian Maritime Domain,” to President Goodluck Jonathan.
In considering the memo, President Goodluck Jonathan and Akpobolokemi chose GWVSL as the preferred company for the 10-year concession agreement, renewable for two terms of five years each. Jonathan, in a memo dated 9th November, 2011, with reference number PRES/99/MT/61, approved Akpobolokemi’s memo, which the Federal Executive Council rubber-stamped on 5th January, 2012. According to Akpobolokemi, GWVSL “will provide platforms for effective policing of Nigeria’s maritime domain and ensure compliance with international maritime conventions on vessels and ships voyaging the country’s waters”. NIMASA maintains that the concessionaire would help the Federal Government to enforce the sabotage law and collect levies on its behalf. This, in a country that still maintains a statutory Naval force, and without a track record for GWVSL?
From the above, the current occupant of the presidential villa showed where his loyalty lies…rather than train the military, he equipped criminals and vandals who had taken up arms against the state. No wonder so much arms and ammunition have found their way into Nigeria and our country has now become one gigantic human abattoir where someone is killed on an average of an hour, daily. Between January to May 2014 it has been estimated that over 1,500 people have been mindlessly cut down by terrorists and blood thirsty killers.
Lets all support a better Nigeria…Lets vote GEJ again for his good works#GEJbestpresidentever
GEJ remains the best president Nigeria has ever had#GEJ continues his good works till 2019
GEJ has achieved a lot in his tenure and we are voting him to stay as president till 2019!
Jonathan nothing do u.. we done package the victory for you.
I’ve said it time and time again, proper preparation brings proper result.
See how this baba dem dey smile wit our presido, dem kwn say sure tin in be. na dis elders go add more life bcuz say our presido don make dem apy die. make we vote am again and again. Goodluck is good for us.
It is your time GEJ so ride on for nothing can stop you come March 28.
That’s a right place to be, it is not about the youth but also the elder. Right place at the right time.
You GEJITES are so notorious: rushing to make comments in favour of your principal. Sorry: those Yoruba elders are not available to be purchased with stolen oil money. You can read in the story that they gave no commitment to the desperate GEJ, campaigning in extra-time. The Yoruba have made up their minds about 28 March: they are marching for Muhammadu Buhari and dumping Mr. Jonathan, to put derailed Nigeria back on track.
pls our elders let vote for GEJ
we need gej to continue his good work
GEJ is good for nigeria
GEJ you are the man we need to continue as president till 2019
well spoken my brother, in fact may God bless you for this comment. its what I tell many people, but they are quick to forget history.
Being a leader takes a lot more your surface characteristics, and a surface character can not be hidden for long, let us not be deceived by the fables GMB is selling, his passed records show other wise. history shouldn’t be allowed to repeat itself we have a chance to make it all happen let us be wise.
What you’re looking for in sokoto, is already available for you in your shokoto, vote GEJ now till 2019