The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has said that Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka was wrong in his assessment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s policies and conduct.

It said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke that the seed of division was planted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the run-up to the 2015 and 2019 elections.

“The highly respected Laureate’s piece is, therefore, a magnificent piece of fiction, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing but malicious discontent and discord.

“It is a bit surprising that the revered Nobel Laureate would jump on the train of coordinated verbal attacks on the President by individuals and groups that never saw anything good in him and who can, in fact, be described as members of the opposition PDP by association.

“Any lover of literature would thoroughly enjoy the piece by a literary giant of Professor Soyinka’s stature, which we see as nothing but a rehash of some of his collection of literary works written in his typical style.

“We believe that it is only in a work of fiction that one would be told that the policies of President Buhari are dividing the nation when in reality, he is correcting the skewed development and politics that PDP bequeathed to Nigerians in 2015.

“Was it not members of the former ruling party that threatened to make the country ungovernable in 2011 if then President Goodluck Jonathan does not respect some unwritten agreement to allow the North complete the expected two-term tenure of his late principal, Umaru Yar’Adua?

“We also saw how the party played up the faultlines of a deeply fractious country like ours by turning the 2015 Presidential election into a religious battle, even to the extent of procuring a British public relations firm, Cambridge Analytica, to push a negative narrative of a Buhari that will impose Sharia Law on all Nigerians if elected, aside from other invectives poured on the All Progressives Congress (APC) which was called janjaweed party and other ethnic slurs used for its political campaigns.

“That was when the seeds of ethnic and religious division, which PDP elements have continued to hold on to, were planted”, BMO said adding that the Buhari administration has since 2015 embarked on life-changing projects in all the geo-political zones.

“Incidentally, the cultural groups which all backed PDP in 2015 and 2019 against President Buhari are not known to make noise over projects in their domain, aside from the very trivial complaint by PANDEF recently over the government’s decision to name railway stations after some eminent Nigerians.

“This is because this administration has done more than its predecessors in many parts of the country. For instance, PDP did little in the South West in 16 years, but that region is witnessing strong federal presence in terms of road and rail projects. The same thing is happening in the South East and other parts of the country.

“We make bold to say these are not things you see in a country where the President has ‘policies and conducts’ that could be said to benefit one part of the country to the detriment of others. In fact, some individuals from northern Nigeria have accused him of doing more for the South.

“Even arguments of lopsided appointments that these groups tend to raise have been debunked by fact-checkers; and to show how keen President Buhari is about the country’s unity, he recently unveiled a logo for Nigeria’s 60th independence anniversary with the theme,’Together’.

The group urged all Nigerians to rally behind the President in his bid to deepen national unity.

 

Buhari Has Properly Justified Loans for Development

Meanwhile, the BMO has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for strongly justifying borrowings by his administration. President Buhari made the clarification while speaking at a virtual meeting with members of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC).

Buhari had said the loans  were channelled to fix critical infrastructural projects like roads, rail and power, while also addressing issues on fuel price, electricity tariff hike and agriculture

In a press statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO averred that the projects will play a huge role in Nigeria’s economic transformation process, where huge amounts of money taken in the past, without delivering on the jobs, has almost ground industrialisation and stagnated the economy.

“More than any other time in our history, we are all witnesses to an administration that is securing loans and truly applying them to infrastructural development with the intent of deploying these to turn the economy around and enable global competitiveness of Nigerian trade and services.

“The country’s failure to provide infrastructure for effective transportation had robbed the country of its well-deserved status, as well as the West African hub for air cargo transportation and trans-shipment of goods.

“The President’s explanation captures the need to address and redress our productivity vulnerabilities without which our economy would continue to stagnate while individuals will continue to exist in unmitigated misery.

“The president also narrated how the outbreak of COVID-19 led to the government’s policies which hiked electricity tariff and removed fuel subsidy”.

According to the group, President Buhari also spoke on the output of investments in agriculture, pointing out that it saved us from imminent food crisis during the pandemic and has reduced the level of joblessness and poverty in the country.

“His various strategies on the economy, politics and agriculture, has helped to reduce the incidence of poverty to a large extent in the country. This is a powerful testimony to President Buhari’s determination and capability to fulfil his promise to bring 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

“This is the time to set our political differences aside, join hands and do our best to protect our people. This is one other time Nigerians are called to rise and stand with this President who is structuring a long term success plan for the Nigerian economy, which is yet another evidence of governance with a human face, even in dire situations”, the statement added.