President Goodluck Jonathan slams 'richest Presidents in Africa' report, demands retraction&apology
President Goodluck Jonathan has slammed a recent post by RichestLifestyle.com listing him as the 6th richest president in Africa with an estimated net worth of $100 million.
Speaking through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, GEJ affirmed that the write up is another attempt to unjustifiably portray the President as a corrupt leader and incite public disaffection against him.
“There has been no significant variation in the totality of his personal assets as contained in his last declaration to the Nigerian Code of Conduct Bureau in 2011 which, as can be verified, was a very, very far cry from the $100 million figure now being bandied about by Richest Lifestyle.com and other irresponsible, copy-cat publications.
“The clear and unacceptable imputation of the claim that President Jonathan is now worth about $100 Million is that the President has corruptly enriched himself while in office which is certainly not the case.
“We therefore demand a retraction and an unreserved apology from Richest Lifestyle. com and all those who have reproduced the offensive article.
“Otherwise, they should be prepared to substantiate their libelous claims against the President in courts of law within and outside Nigeria.”
President Jonathan named the 6th richest African president
Nigerian Flag designer, Taiwo Akinkunmi gets National honour, placed on lifetime salary
President Goodluck Jonathan lauds Corps member who contributed N10,000 to his re-election campaign
Excerpts from the letter sent via his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.
“Your gracious gesture is particularly gratifying, coming as it does from one of our nation’s vibrant and gifted youth who are our successor generation and for whom our Administration is unequivocally committed to providing the requisite environment to optimally realize their tremendous creative and productive potentials.
“As I carry on with the task of positively transforming our country for its God-ordained greatness and prosperity, I will continue to count on the goodwill as well as the practical and prayerful support of committed patriots like you.” He concluded.
Here’s what the corps member wrote after his donation
“Nigerians are behind you. We see your good works in power, transportation, education, housing, ICT, sports, electoral reforms, observation of the principle of federal character and the creation of investment opportunities. The insurgents who are trying to destabilize your Administration are enemies of peace and progress. You will surely defeat them.”
GEJ orders that #BringBackGoodluck2015 banners be taken down
There’s something I really don’t get here. The President never knew about the banners? Interesting!!! According to reports, President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered that the #BringBackGoodluck2015 banners hung at different locations in Abuja be taken down.
Needless to say the #BringBackGoodluck2015 hashtag has not only be found offensive by Nigerians but members of the international community have also expressed their disgust. He released a statement via his aide, Dr Reuben Abati.
“President Jonathan wholly shares the widely expressed view that the signs which were put up without his knowledge or approval are a highly insensitive parody of the #BringBackOurGirls hash tag.
While President Jonathan appreciates the enthusiastic show of support for his administration by a broad range of stakeholders, he condemns the #BringBackJonathan2015 signs which appear to make light of the very serious national and global concern for the abducted Chibok girls.
The President assures all Nigerians and the international community that his administration remains fully engaged with efforts to rescue the abducted girls and that he will not knowingly promote any actions that will fly in the face of the seriousness of their plight and the anguish of their families.”
Washington Post condemns President Goodluck Jonathan over #BringBackGoodluck2015 slogan
In an article titled “This may be the most inappropriate political hashtag of the year”, Washigton Post writer Ishaan Tharor has slammed Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan as well as his campaigners over his new political slogan; #BringBackGoodluck2015.
As the 2015 General Elections draw near, supporters have started hanging banners bearing the new hashtag in some streets in Abuja to campaign for the re-election of the incumbent President. The hashtag has been perceived to be a mockery of the #BringBackOurGirls cause which was introduced to campaign for the release of over 200 missing Chibok girls kidnapped by members of Islamic sect, Boko Haram months ago.
Excerpts from The Washington post:
“Banners emerged in the capital Abuja over the weekend showing Jonathan alongside a new slogan: #BringBackGoodluck2015. The campaign appears to be the work of supporters of the president, keen for his reelection in presidential polls next February.
While #BringBackOurGirls was just a brief cause celebre in the West — a passing moment to get morally exercised and then move on — it had a deeper meaning in Nigeria. It echoed the larger frustrations of a society that has little faith in its political leadership, is fed up with endemic corruption and wants genuine reform and better governance. Jonathan blamed activists espousing the hashtag for “politicizing” the crisis.
Boko Haram is a fanatical, murderous outfit, but its insurgency gained sway in a region that has been historically marginalized and neglected by Nigeria’s central government. Jonathan’s seeming indifference toward the missing girls hardly helped. In the early stages of the protests, his wife even reportedly had a number of #BringBackOurGirls activists detained.
In this context, the new campaign slogan is particularly galling. Jonathan has not brought back the girls, yet his campaign expects Nigeria to bring him back to power. One wonders if it will spawn more rich satire among Nigerians on social media. After all, there’s plenty of precedent.”
President Goodluck Jonathan launches new 2-in-1 national e-ID card. (Photos)
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has launched a new 2-in-1 national e-ID card. The card functions as an ID card and an ATM card. The unveiling took place today August 28th at the Aso rock Villa in Abuja. 13 million Nigerians will get the e-ID card while another 100million will get them later.
Powered by MasterCard, the Nigerian National Identity Management Commission and Access bank, the new e-ID card can be used to transact and receive payments and can also be used to verify one’s identification.
Opinion: Dear Jonathan, sack Ebola, not the doctors | By: Garba Shehu
Last week’s sack of 16,000 Resident Doctors by the Federal Government is careless, unscrupulous and clearly an indefensible action. It could turn out to be a social catastrophe that will worsen a medical system in severe crisis.
As said by the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, this action can only worsen the abysmal doctor-patient ratio, which stands at 1:6,300 today, which is among the continent’s worst examples of the dearth of medical manpower. It similarly highlights the ill-health of the health sector and lays bare the increasing alienation of government of the country from its subjects.
Our doctors are not all saints but they certainly are no prostitutes as some in government will like to us to believe. In which case it is better we seek to end the epidemic diseases rather than ending doctors’ careers.
In this country, governments have for a long time withdrawn their responsibility for healthcare and education to the common people and have left the field open for persons seeking profits. That accounts for why Doctors have continued their strike into the second month and a façade of normalcy appears to pervade the environment.
People here stay alive because God cares. No one looks after the patients.
The National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD went on strike to mainly press the government to implement agreements earlier reached. Other issues are secondary to this. It is only in this country that government will consciously enter into agreement with labour unions without the intention to implement them.
They just walk away from doing its part without any qualms. This had been the bone of contention between the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU. A government so bereft of credibility could only convince the university teachers to go back to classrooms after the Central Bank published a statement indicating that money expected as part of the agreement was on account.
The Nigerian health structure has grown largely in spite of the government. Successive administrations have failed to catch up with the growing needs of rapid population growth, modernization, research and the changes in medical science. Governments get away with doing little or nothing because we have a two-tiered system that permits for-profit hospitals existing side-by-side with public facilities.
Given this situation, the private hospitals have offered succor to families who can afford to pay their often exorbitant charges. The well-off get treated with top-notch medical practices and medicines and the poor Nigerians gets far less or no care at all. Some government hospitals are no more than a place to die under a roof.
When you talk to them, there are many of our countrymen who are afraid to go before doctors and hospitals and they double-up abroad at the slightest sign of sickness. I am told that between a half and two-thirds aboard every Egypt Air Flight out of Kano, five times a week is made up of medical tourists trooping to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India for treatment.
But the private sector cannot provide affordable healthcare neither can it fulfill the needs of the population from their government. That is why they have the NHIS in the UK and Medicare in the United States.
While governments continue to fail in both the provision of adequate healthcare and a competent regulatory regime over the blossoming for-profit healthcare system, overall deterioration of the system has come to a point where many of the so-called private healthcare facilities have become no more than medical and diagnostic shops.
Without a government policy to audit their services, private hospitals are known to prescribe unnecessary investigations, procedures and medicines. Making profits is not a bad thing by itself. No business can exist if it is not profit-making. The problem as we have here is that this is not governed by ethics and morality.
In the United States, six hospitals have so far this year been fined millions of Dollars for conspiring with diagnostic centres and recommending needless procedures. These include Kentucky Hospital, fined 41Million Dollars for prescribing an unnecessary procedure.
Since our governments are unprepared to rise to the challenges of providing modern and competent healthcare services to the ordinary citizens, the least they owe to us is to wake up to their duty of surveillance, enforcement and regulation so as to save us costs and life as well. They must throw a spotlight over this dark side of the country’s healthcare segment.
To do this, a good starting point is to call back the sacked doctors, sit down with them and listen to their grievances. There is nothing to gain from the sack of thousands of doctors. This country is still to recover from the exodus of doctors following the proscription of the NMA and NARD by the military regime in 1985.
Treated with decency and respect, our doctors are reasonable and would act with reason and patriotism especially in view of Ebola and other epidemics such as cholera that are making new in-roads.
Our doctors are not all saints but they certainly are no prostitutes as some in government will like to us to believe. In which case it is better we seek to end the epidemic diseases rather than ending doctors’ careers.
Credit: www.premiumtimesng.com
Ebola Virus: "60% of the transmission was spread during burial ceremonies."- President Goodluck Jonathan.
It’s sad how the carelessness of one person (a foreigner) has put the lives of citizens of another country in jeopardy. Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan during the annual Interfaith Conference in Abuja today revealed that 60% of the EVD transmission was spread during burial ceremonies.
“As a government, we promise that we will do everything humanly possible to contain the Ebola virus. On Wednesday, I will meet with governor of the states, and they must come with their commissioners of Health along. We must make sure that every state is prepared, where they lack, the federal government will support them.”
“My conversation with the WHO DG, Dr Margaret Chan was revealing, she said 60 per cent of the transmission was spread during burials. That is why in my announcement, I’ve been saying that people should be careful about burials. Some people like burial ceremonies. This is not the time for burial ceremony, somebody is dead, he is dead, leave him there. This is not the best time for those ceremonies.”
“If he is dead, he is already dead, Sawyer that brought this Ebola to Nigeria; his sister died of Ebola. And he started acting somehow, his country asked him not to leave the country, let them observe him, but the crazy man decided to leave and found his way here.” He said in a statement.