Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and
Publicity, was a guest on Channels TV, where he spoke on the controversy
surrounding President Muhammadu Buhari’s health, efforts to get
Nigeria out of recession and other issues of national interest. Read excerpts below:
The president travelled and one is curious because he left earlier
than scheduled, contrary to what the president said in the letter that
he transmitted to the National Assembly and the press
release issued by
your office. Two days after he left, there were negative reports about
his health. What is the true state of the president’s health?
The true state of the president’s health is that he is not ill. I have
been in touch with the president and the people around him today, just
as I was also, yesterday. The president is not ill, the president is
fine. Don’t forget, the statement we issued said he was going on holiday
and during that holiday, he will do medical checkups. The sequence is
very important. Holiday first; medical checkup second but Nigerians want
to turn the sequence as medical checkup first instead of holiday first.
It’s a holiday. He is 74. Even if you are not 74, you need to check
your health. So, there is nothing wrong with the president. He is hale
and hearty.
A lot of Nigerians are wondering that the
president has severally gone to seek medical attention overseas. What is
your take on that?
When you say severally, you make it appear
as if it is every other month. It’s been twice. Severally could be two
and above but it’s just two.
Even if it is two, one will be
wondering why the president will be seeking medical attention overseas.
Does it mean the Aso Rock medical facilities and any other medical
institution in Nigeria cannot attend to the president’s medical
concerns?
You also have what is called medical history, where
you consult people who are used to you, your constitution and your
health. They have your medical history. Before he became president, he
had been using those same set of people. So, it stands to reason that
the same people continue to attend to him.
Does he use the medical facilities in the Aso Rock villa?
I can’t say, because when the president is at home, I have never
seen him fall sick, but he has a personal physician who attends to him. I
will not be able to say categorically whether he uses the Aso Rock
facility or not.
At a time, he went to visit the Ear Nose and
Throat (ENT) specialist in London and some doctors said we have very
qualified ENT specialists in Nigeria who can effectively handle the
issue. Don’t you think he should stay at home in order not to encourage
medical tourism?
It‘s the same issue of changing the order of
our statement. When he went out then, we said he was taking a vacation
and during that vacation, he will use the opportunity to see ENT
doctors. He had been attended to in Nigeria then, and he was going to
ask for another opinion where they will look at him again. He was
originally attended to in this country. It was in the statement we
issued.
You attend cabinet meetings. There are some openings
in the cabinet such as the late Minister of State for Labour and
Productivity, James Ocholi, and Mrs Amina Mohammed. Will the president
be rejigging his cabinet?
I only know of the late Ocholi. Mrs
Amina Mohammed will not be out of the cabinet until March 2nd. On the
issue of the president re-jigging his cabinet, it is his prerogative.
So, he will do it if he wishes to do it. He has appointed them. He
assembled that cabinet. The prerogative is also his own if he wishes to
rejig it.
Do you think he needs to rejig it?
I am not in a position to answer that question.
But you advise him, don’t you?
Yes, I advise him on media and publicity
But don’t you hear people talk about his cabinet in the media?
Yes, people have a right to say what they are saying but they will
have their say, and the president will have his way because the
president is the one that has been elected and he is the one that
assembled that cabinet.
Are you in touch with what is happening in the grassroots, in the local areas about the suffering of many Nigerians?
Very much so; I tell you. There are days I decide in the evenings to
visit the president at home, after office hours. One day, I went to
see him and we were talking and I said ‘Mr. President, people are going
through tough times’. And he told me ‘I know. I know. I have people come
visit me here even from my own constituency and they tell me what they
are passing through’. So, it’s not as if he does not know, he knows.
And what is he doing about it?
What he is doing is governance; good governance, which will
translate to better life for the people. It’s not going to be by sudden
flight. It’s not a magic wand that he will wave; rather, it is by
policies that will yield over time, and lead to the improvement in the
lives of the people.
A lot of things have changed since the
president took power two years ago in terms of purchasing power. People
are asking ‘Is the APC government really living up to the billing
compared to the promises the party made at the poll?
Things
are going to change again, and change for the better before the end of
this year. That is inexorable. The change will be very evident.
Does the president have a map to get Nigeria out of recession?
Definitely. That goes without saying. For instance, all the
prognosis have shown that Nigeria will likely exit recession this year.
World Bank has said it, IMF has said it and even before these
institutions, the government itself has said it.
One of the
reasons why Nigeria may exit recession is the oil price, which is not
determined by the decisions and policies of the federal government.
Don’t you agree with that?
What was the reason that got us
into recession in the first place?
Oil price. So, if oil price got us
into recession and oil price gets us out of recession, then what are we
complaining about?
People will say one of the reasons why we
entered into recession is because of the slow decision of the Buhari
government. For example, it took over six months before President Buhari
could set up his cabinet.
You can’t continue to beat that dead
horse. It’s been said by economists, by former president, Olusegun
Obasanjo, and by so many people, that Nigeria was primed for recession.
That recession was inevitable the way Nigeria had been run two, three,
four years prior to the time we went into recession. Nigeria was just
primed for it, there was no way it would not have happened.
Are you saying the APC government was just waiting for it to happen?
APC was just unfortunate to be on the scene when it happened. It was bound to happen.
Some people have said the APC does not look like a party that is
ready to govern. The party spent a year complaining about how bad things
were…
It’s a matter of opinion. We must talk about how bad
things were, and going forward, we will still talk about it because
there is always a nexus between the past and the present. So, it is
something that we will continue to talk about. We will not talk about
it as if we are moaning or bemoaning our fate. No. We will talk about
it as a signpost for Nigerians to see why we got to where we are, but
moving forward, we will get out of it.
Speaking in terms of
the Nigerian economy, people are wondering what exactly are the major
ideas of the Buhari government to get Nigeria out of recession?
It would have been self-dependence and it is still self-dependence.
Even when oil price rises again, Nigeria under President Muhammadu
Buhari will not fall into that false sense of security of thinking that
everything is alright because oil price is high. No. President
Muhammadu Buhari is building a new economy founded on solid structures.
Agric, Mines and Steel development, and many other things, and going
forward, even if oil price hits $120 or $150 bpd, we will not take our
eyes off that ball. There must be an alternative for Nigeria’s economy,
apart from oil.
What concerns some Nigerians is the high
foreign exchange rate and particularly the value of the naira to the
dollar. It is alleged that there are different rates for different kinds
of people, and some people profit from it. Do you have any knowledge
this?
I wouldn’t know about that. You know that in every
system, there are people that subvert the system. However tight that
system is, some people know how to subvert it. I wouldn’t say for sure
that it happens. All I will say is that disparity between naira to the
dollar may continue until we begin to earn foreign exchange.
The way it
is now, how do you defend your currency against the dollar and other
foreign currencies? What do we sell? What do we export? The only thing
we sold used to be oil. Now, oil crashed, nothing else fetches us
foreign exchange. Unless we begin to earn foreign exchange through other
commodities and products, then the situation will remain the same.
What is the president’s stance on restoring peace in the Niger Delta?
The president has said it a number of times that dialogue is still
the way forward. On Christmas day, he still said it when he received
people in government and outside Abuja and environs, who came to the
villa to greet him. He even appealed to the Niger Deltans to let peace
reign so that Nigeria can move forward. Many options are on the table,
no doubt, because for government, there will always be many options,
but the number one option for the president is peace and dialogue.
Has he dropped the military option?
A: I said it. I said there will always be many options for the government but the number one is peace and dialogue.
The president once said he needs genuine leaders from that region. Has he found them?
A lot is going on now. Remember that Vice- President, Yemi Osinbajo
was in that region last week. A lot is going on behind the scenes and
very soon, we will see the fruits from those initiatives.
Was President Buhari invited to the Trump inauguration?
It is the height of ignorance to expect a sitting president at the
inauguration of an American president. It is never done. They don’t
invite heads of governments. They don’t invite foreign presidents. We
have never seen one there. What they do is that they invite the
ambassadors of the countries to attend.
Did you see any foreign leader
at the inauguration? Did you see any at Obama’s inauguration? It is
ignorance to say a president was not invited. They don’t invite sitting
presidents.
Did the president as the Commander-in- Chief of
the Armed Forces get the permission of the National Assembly before
deploying troops to Gambia?
I think that was also put in
proper perspective by the Senate president. He read a part of the law
which allowed the president to do what he did and then come back for
assent from the Senate. So, the president acted strictly within the law.
Buhari Is Building A New Economy Founded On Solid Structures – Adesina
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