EX-PRESIDENT JONATHAN DOES NOT DESERVE ANY APOLOGY AS PROCLAIMED BY UNSERIOUS DINO MELAYE – JONATHAN IS THE REASON WHY WE HAVE A DICTATOR TODAY AS A PRESIDENT
December 17, 2020 | News
With regards to the recent video of Dino Melaye, rendering a supposed apology to former President Goodluck Jonathan during a book launch for the way he was supposedly treated and voted out of Government by the majority of Nigerians, which many have continued to ignorantly broadcast online,
EX-PRESIDENT JONATHAN DOES NOT DESERVE ANY APOLOGY AS PROCLAIMED BY UNSERIOUS DINO MELAYE – JONATHAN IS THE REASON WHY WE HAVE A DICTATOR TODAY AS A PRESIDENT
With regards to the recent video of Dino Melaye, rendering a supposed apology to former President Goodluck Jonathan during a book launch for the way he was supposedly treated and voted out of Government by the majority of Nigerians, which many have continued to ignorantly broadcast online, let me reiterate here that former President Jonathan does not deserve any sort of apology from any Nigerian or for any reason for that matter, especially if such an apology is coming from someone like Dino Melaye supposedly on behalf of the group of other Nigerians.
Perhaps, Nigerians need to be reminded that, it was as a result of the gross misgovernance of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan that the majority of Nigerians voted in President Muhammadu Buhari because they needed a change from the Jonathan administration. Nigerians were tired of Jonathan’s misgovernance that they opted for the only worst choice they had at the elections by voting in Buhari. And that opportunity was given to President Buhari, who today, has ended up becoming a dictator and a thorn in the flesh of the Nigerian people. In other words, it was Jonathan’s maladministration and misgovernance that made it possible for President Buhari to be given the opportunity to enter Aso Rock, which many Nigerians are regretting today. Except for those who seriously benefitting from the present Buhari Government either as appointees, party affiliates, close associates, his fellow kinsmen, fronts and allies. These set of persons will never see anything wrong with, or say anything bad about President Buhari administration that has left Nigeria on the verge of becoming a totally failed State.
And today, President Buhari remains the worst thing that has ever happened to this country’s political history. Buhari has so-failed this country to the extent that the nation’s security situation has not only moved from bad to worse, but is practically non-existent. Who would ever thought that a retired Military General like President Buhari, would be in Government while Boko Haram terrorists would abduct over 300 males school children from his own Katsina State, while he was on a visit the same day? And up till now, President Buhari have not thought it necessary to visit and show empathy with the parents/families of these children, neither has he done anything, like sacking the obviously incompetent Service Chiefs, to suggest that he is serious about addressing this insecurity situation in the country. In other words, Jonathan should be blamed for bringing Nigeria to the present deplorable state we all are in.
As for Dino Melaye, every right-thinking Nigerian should know that Dino Melaye is nothing but a joker, a clown, a comedian, and an unserious individual who, right from his School Union days, used his thuggish, illicit and bullish ways to become a billionaire. And whenever Dino Melaye is not being patronized, or not in the good books of the Government and ruling party of the day, he runs to the other side where he hopes to be favoured. Dino Melaye has never been really interested in the good of anyone, including his people in Kogi west Senatorial District. All Dino Melaye cares about and goes after, is his personal interests, and to enrich his pockets to acquire more and more luxurious material things like expensive wristwatches, state-of-the-art cars, designers’ clothes, etc. All of which he likes showing off on social media with arrogance and pride. Dino Melaye should never be used as an example for anything good, let alone be given a microphone to speak at a public event. Anyone who broadcast anything from Dino Melaye, is obviously doing so out of complete ignorance.
The only reason Dino Melaye was against former President Goodluck Jonathan then, was because he was not directly benefitting from that administration as he would have wanted to, and nothing else. Agreed that Jonathan might be seen as a simple man, and the only good thing about his Government then was that it was more of a democratic government that allowed freedom of expression than what we have under Buhari. But the fact still remains that under Jonathan, a lot of things actually went really bad and wrong in the nation’s economy and political structure. Yes, under Jonathan people were not arrested indiscriminately and detained, and people’s rights were not brazenly violated like we have today under President Buhari’s dictatorial government. But Jonathan practically surrounded himself with militants as Advisers, most of whom eventually became billionaires under his government. And there was so much loopholes and clandestine channels under Jonathan’s Government that encouraged the unrestrained high-profile corruption and pilfering of our collective wealth with reckless abandon and impunity.
In fact, if the collective wealth of this nation and the Niger Delta region, which were stolen and misappropriated under Jonathan, were judiciously used by his then Government to develop the sensitive sectors of the economy like power supply and good roads; I am certain that majority of Nigerians would have overwhelmingly voted Jonathan back into Office. But that was not the case. Jonathan could not even address the all-important East-West Road linking most of the States in the South-South region. But President Buhari, though selfishly, has been able to connect Nigeria via road and rail, with the Republic of Niger - his allegedly new found love. So, if Buhari could achieve this, even when it is not in the interest of Nigeria, what excuse does Jonathan have to not have addressed the major infrastructural challenges in the Niger Delta areas?
Under President Jonathan, the oil city of Warri and environs were reduced to a ghost city of oil and gas economic activities. Though, the Shell (SPDC) Oil and Gas Assets Divestment started under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, but it was going on well because Obasanjo ensured that the original buyers of some of these Divested Assets like OML 31, were left to be managed/operated by the owners like Seplat. But under Jonathan, all the Divested Assets/Interests of Shell (SPDC) were taken from the hands of the original owners/buyers and donated to the NPDC/NNPC in a supposed Management Joint Venture. And it was alleged then that Jonathan, and his Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke did this so as to enable them to have unrestrained access to oil and gas funds for their re-election agenda. But they forgot that nobody stays in Government forever. And today, the mess they created in the nation’s oil and gas sector has left many South-Southerners and their States at a disadvantaged position. I saw all of this warning signals and danger at that time, and I was the only one in the wilderness crying out and warning of the impending doom. But nobody cared enough to listen or take the necessary action.
If Jonathan had not allowed his political ambition and personal interests to becloud his sense of reasoning, he would have relocated NNPC subsidiaries’ Headquarters like the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to the Niger Delta areas. As well as relocate the Headquarters’ of all the other oil and gas companies from Lagos and Abuja to the Niger Delta areas. But it never happened.
Jonathan also allowed former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to kill about eight (8) of the Banks owned by South-South persons like Oceanic Bank, Intercontinental Bank, etc. Sanusi, as the then CBN Governor, with his reforms, strategically targeted banks owned by people he had branded his enemies. Then there was the evident undertone of some powerful interests in the country’s Banking sector under Sanusi’s reign as CBN Governor with his reforms. All of this happened under Jonathan’s watch.
Succinctly, I repeat that former President Goodluck Jonathan does not deserve or worth any apology from anyone. If Dino Melaye likes, let him render his own personal apology to Jonathan, but certainly not on behalf of anyone else. All I can see here is Dino Melaye is already preparing/watering the grounds to be in the good books of those, which include Jonathan, whom are already eying the Presidency come 2023. That is the sort of person Dino Melaye is – one who only does things to foster and project his own selfish interest. But as for Jonathan, the only good thing about his reign in Office was that he was not a dictator like we have today with President Buhari.
Zik Gbemre.
December 17, 2020
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
With regards to the recent video of Dino Melaye, rendering a supposed apology to former President Goodluck Jonathan during a book launch for the way he was supposedly treated and voted out of Government by the majority of Nigerians, which many have continued to ignorantly broadcast online, let me reiterate here that former President Jonathan does not deserve any sort of apology from any Nigerian or for any reason for that matter, especially if such an apology is coming from someone like Dino Melaye supposedly on behalf of the group of other Nigerians.
Perhaps, Nigerians need to be reminded that, it was as a result of the gross misgovernance of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan that the majority of Nigerians voted in President Muhammadu Buhari because they needed a change from the Jonathan administration. Nigerians were tired of Jonathan’s misgovernance that they opted for the only worst choice they had at the elections by voting in Buhari. And that opportunity was given to President Buhari, who today, has ended up becoming a dictator and a thorn in the flesh of the Nigerian people. In other words, it was Jonathan’s maladministration and misgovernance that made it possible for President Buhari to be given the opportunity to enter Aso Rock, which many Nigerians are regretting today. Except for those who seriously benefitting from the present Buhari Government either as appointees, party affiliates, close associates, his fellow kinsmen, fronts and allies. These set of persons will never see anything wrong with, or say anything bad about President Buhari administration that has left Nigeria on the verge of becoming a totally failed State.
And today, President Buhari remains the worst thing that has ever happened to this country’s political history. Buhari has so-failed this country to the extent that the nation’s security situation has not only moved from bad to worse, but is practically non-existent. Who would ever thought that a retired Military General like President Buhari, would be in Government while Boko Haram terrorists would abduct over 300 males school children from his own Katsina State, while he was on a visit the same day? And up till now, President Buhari have not thought it necessary to visit and show empathy with the parents/families of these children, neither has he done anything, like sacking the obviously incompetent Service Chiefs, to suggest that he is serious about addressing this insecurity situation in the country. In other words, Jonathan should be blamed for bringing Nigeria to the present deplorable state we all are in.
As for Dino Melaye, every right-thinking Nigerian should know that Dino Melaye is nothing but a joker, a clown, a comedian, and an unserious individual who, right from his School Union days, used his thuggish, illicit and bullish ways to become a billionaire. And whenever Dino Melaye is not being patronized, or not in the good books of the Government and ruling party of the day, he runs to the other side where he hopes to be favoured. Dino Melaye has never been really interested in the good of anyone, including his people in Kogi west Senatorial District. All Dino Melaye cares about and goes after, is his personal interests, and to enrich his pockets to acquire more and more luxurious material things like expensive wristwatches, state-of-the-art cars, designers’ clothes, etc. All of which he likes showing off on social media with arrogance and pride. Dino Melaye should never be used as an example for anything good, let alone be given a microphone to speak at a public event. Anyone who broadcast anything from Dino Melaye, is obviously doing so out of complete ignorance.
The only reason Dino Melaye was against former President Goodluck Jonathan then, was because he was not directly benefitting from that administration as he would have wanted to, and nothing else. Agreed that Jonathan might be seen as a simple man, and the only good thing about his Government then was that it was more of a democratic government that allowed freedom of expression than what we have under Buhari. But the fact still remains that under Jonathan, a lot of things actually went really bad and wrong in the nation’s economy and political structure. Yes, under Jonathan people were not arrested indiscriminately and detained, and people’s rights were not brazenly violated like we have today under President Buhari’s dictatorial government. But Jonathan practically surrounded himself with militants as Advisers, most of whom eventually became billionaires under his government. And there was so much loopholes and clandestine channels under Jonathan’s Government that encouraged the unrestrained high-profile corruption and pilfering of our collective wealth with reckless abandon and impunity.
In fact, if the collective wealth of this nation and the Niger Delta region, which were stolen and misappropriated under Jonathan, were judiciously used by his then Government to develop the sensitive sectors of the economy like power supply and good roads; I am certain that majority of Nigerians would have overwhelmingly voted Jonathan back into Office. But that was not the case. Jonathan could not even address the all-important East-West Road linking most of the States in the South-South region. But President Buhari, though selfishly, has been able to connect Nigeria via road and rail, with the Republic of Niger - his allegedly new found love. So, if Buhari could achieve this, even when it is not in the interest of Nigeria, what excuse does Jonathan have to not have addressed the major infrastructural challenges in the Niger Delta areas?
Under President Jonathan, the oil city of Warri and environs were reduced to a ghost city of oil and gas economic activities. Though, the Shell (SPDC) Oil and Gas Assets Divestment started under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, but it was going on well because Obasanjo ensured that the original buyers of some of these Divested Assets like OML 31, were left to be managed/operated by the owners like Seplat. But under Jonathan, all the Divested Assets/Interests of Shell (SPDC) were taken from the hands of the original owners/buyers and donated to the NPDC/NNPC in a supposed Management Joint Venture. And it was alleged then that Jonathan, and his Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke did this so as to enable them to have unrestrained access to oil and gas funds for their re-election agenda. But they forgot that nobody stays in Government forever. And today, the mess they created in the nation’s oil and gas sector has left many South-Southerners and their States at a disadvantaged position. I saw all of this warning signals and danger at that time, and I was the only one in the wilderness crying out and warning of the impending doom. But nobody cared enough to listen or take the necessary action.
If Jonathan had not allowed his political ambition and personal interests to becloud his sense of reasoning, he would have relocated NNPC subsidiaries’ Headquarters like the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to the Niger Delta areas. As well as relocate the Headquarters’ of all the other oil and gas companies from Lagos and Abuja to the Niger Delta areas. But it never happened.
Jonathan also allowed former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to kill about eight (8) of the Banks owned by South-South persons like Oceanic Bank, Intercontinental Bank, etc. Sanusi, as the then CBN Governor, with his reforms, strategically targeted banks owned by people he had branded his enemies. Then there was the evident undertone of some powerful interests in the country’s Banking sector under Sanusi’s reign as CBN Governor with his reforms. All of this happened under Jonathan’s watch.
Succinctly, I repeat that former President Goodluck Jonathan does not deserve or worth any apology from anyone. If Dino Melaye likes, let him render his own personal apology to Jonathan, but certainly not on behalf of anyone else. All I can see here is Dino Melaye is already preparing/watering the grounds to be in the good books of those, which include Jonathan, whom are already eying the Presidency come 2023. That is the sort of person Dino Melaye is – one who only does things to foster and project his own selfish interest. But as for Jonathan, the only good thing about his reign in Office was that he was not a dictator like we have today with President Buhari.
Zik Gbemre.
December 17, 2020
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes