*Opposition is built on lies, propaganda.
The Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on New Media, Bemigho Reno Omokri, in this one-of a kind interview with Vanguard's Abiodun Alade, pooh-poohs what he terms the propaganda and lies of the opposition to downplay the great achievements of the Jonathan administration.
On President Jonathan and his achievements
President Goodluck Jonathan is the best president Nigeria has ever had and I am backing this with facts. I am not moved by opinion, I am moved by facts. Let me corroborate my stand with five facts. Number one, according to the United Nations record, Nigeria life expectancy was 47.5 years in 2009, a year before President Jonathan took over. As at today, according to the same United Nations Human Development Index, which is released annually, Nigeria average life expectancy is now 52 years. Since record has been kept, this is the largest life expectancy in Nigeria.
When President Jonathan took over power, the World Bank listed Nigeria as a low income country, but, today, Nigeria is a middle income nation.
In 2010, Nigeria was the second largest economy in Africa but it is the largest economy in Africa today.
Also, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute which undertakes research on global hunger index annually, Nigeria is improving. Prior to President Jonathan assuming office, the country has been sliding on the global hunger index but since he took over Nigeria has been improving. In 2005, our index was 16.1 but in 2013 it reduced to 15 and this year it is 14.1.
On the final score, President Jonathan, during his declaration speech, said he is proud there is no political prisoner in Nigeria; as a matter of fact, Nigeria has become so free under President Jonathan that those in exile were able to return home. Some chose to attack him, others chose to support him but the obvious thing is that there is no consequence because we have a God- fearing and philosopher king as president.
On Boko Haram and Insecurity
The issue with insecurity can best be answered by the military. But I will say that never in the world has a conventional army been used to destroy terrorists. Nigeria has had high success in peace-keeping all over the world because we have been meeting with conventional war. Terrorism is a new threat and we have to develop special forces to deal with this threat and, to the best of my knowledge, that is going on at a very advanced stage and, very soon, we will see the effect of that. I am very confident that in no distant time, Nigeria will overcome the Boko Haram insurgency. Our soldiers are already being trained in special operations so we will, in the near future, bid farewell to insecurity occasioned by Boko Haram in the country.
Impact of largest economy on the citizens
It is an opinion to say that the transformation of the economy is not impacting on the lives of Nigerians. There are seven billion opinions on earth and if you are going to live by that, you will be an unstable person. Facts support the notion that the economic progression Nigeria has made under President Jonathan is trickling down to the citizens. For the first time in the history of this country, we have 14 million farmers registered with the ministry of agriculture. They received fertilizers and seeds directly from the ministry. Of the 14 million, two million are women. It has never been done anywhere in the world; other nations like South Africa and India are coming to learn how we did it. Now we are talking of 14 million farmers which is clear evidence that Nigerians are benefiting from the economic progress made under President Goodluck Jonathan.
The per capital income of Nigeria, which was 1090 dollars in 2009, is 1800 dollars today. Today, you can take a train from Ido terminus in Lagos and be in Kano at the cost of N2,250. You can charge your laptop on that train. You can move within Lagos with air-conditioned fast trains. These are facts but obviously, the opposition will not want to paint the president in his true colour because they are desperate for power.
President Jonathan has ensured that every state that did not have a university now has one, he has ensured that almajiris who did not have school before now have 150 schools of which he planned to build 400. This is a man who has impacted on the lives of the everyday average Nigerians.
In the rural areas, there is a conditional grant given to women that attend post-natal care in health centres. Over 80, 000 graduates have been able to find internship through the Graduate Internship Scheme. 4, 000 Nigerian youths have been given grant of between two million and ten million naira to start up businesses which have empowered and employed tens of thousands of people through the YOUWIN (Youth with Innovation Nigeria) scheme. These are brilliant initiatives that have never be done before to impact the lives of Nigerians.
Sadly, some people with no record to show will speak negative of the president. For 34 years, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has been left dormant but today, it is witnessing one of the fastest constructions on earth- Julius Berger starting from the Lagos side and RCC starting from the Ibadan side which will ensure they meet at a point to complete the work on time. Where has that been done before in Nigeria?
It used to take nine hours to travel from Lagos to Benin but President Jonathan ensured that the Benin- Ore Road was reconstructed not repaired. Today, that same journey takes three hours and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Prof. Okonjo Iweala, took that journey herself to verify it. So President Jonathan is impacting on the lives of everyday Nigerians.
Corruption and the president's body language
Let us look at facts and not opinion. In this country, one of the greatest avenues of corruption is the procurement of fertilizer for farmers but today, the Jonathan administration has addressed that and ensured that farmers get fertilizer directly from the source. There is no middleman, thus the country is able to save over two billion dollars annually which was in the past frittered away.
Over 50, 000 ghost workers have been weeded out of the civil service, the FG is saving over three hundred and fifty billion naira annually by that singular act. These 50, 000 have been there over the years.
This administration is not interested in show trial where you arrest people, do a trial with the media having sensational stories but in fairness, how many people that went through this show trial are in jail? You fight corruption at the root and weed it out.
I can state categorically that there is no anti-corruption president like Jonathan but being a philosopher king, he will not dance to the gallery; he will fight corruption accordingly. The opposition has saturated the media with negative information.
-Reno Omokri also assured that Nigerians will start getting factual information about government activities.
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