Summary Of The Presidential Chat By Mr GEJ

The 7th Presidential Media Chat has come and gone again. Remember I wrote about 15 questions that Nigerians are expecting Mr President to answer. Well, some of them were part of the burning issues that was “addresses” last night.

Read summary below..and don’t forget to read his  comments too

President Jonathan said wherever the girls are, the military would get them. He said security personnel are working round the clock to rescue the girls and also pleaded with parents and guardians of the missing girls to cooperate with them to get the girls freed. He said no negotiation has taken place because no one or group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

On reports of them being married off, the president said "To who?". He said the Principal of the school told him that 53 of the girls have escaped from the kidnappers.

On people comparing the Niger Delta militants with Boko Haram men, he said the BH men are faceless and so makes it difficult to even have discussions with them. He said he first met Niger Delta warlords like Asari Dokubo in the state house in a meeting called by former Pres. Olusegun Obasanjo and the militant leaders were there to lay down their grieviances. He said Boko Haram men are terrorists as their ideology is different from that of the Niger Delta militants as those ones do not go about bombing market places and killing people. He said a lot more. 

On rumours of helicopters dropping food stuff for boko haram members, he said no one has come out with pictures to authenticate these claims. He said "One does not need network to take pictures" but no one has been able to take any picture showing helicopters dropping foodstuff'. Read more

On why his government hasn't dared to go to Sambisa Forest where Boko Haram men are believed to be staying, GeJ said “If I go there or send any of my ministers they will just kill you.”

On the Federal Governments directive of schools and Government offices to shut down during the World Economic Forum Africa which is to hold from Wednesday 7th to Friday 9th, he said the move was needful so as to control free flow of traffic. He said Nigeria is not the first place to do such and that when he was in Netherland for the Nuclear summit, some institutions were shut down during the course of the summit. He said that places like Davos where the World Economic summit takes place cannot close down institutions because every year the WEF takes place there and the place has been designed to host the world yearly. He said private enterprises were not compelled to close down but are only advised to close down so as to help traffic free flow.

On seeking international help for the security challenges Nigeria is facing, Pres. Jonathan said he has reached out to Pres. Obama twice on the matter and security personnel from America were sent down to Nigeria. He also said he has reached out to the Presidents of France, China and other neighboring countries such as  Cameroon, Ghana and Benin republic for assistance. On some Northern Governors visit to the US, he said it is not a Federal Government arrangement. He said he is always pained whenever he hears any Nigerian passes on as a result of the madness called Boko Haram.

On the Rebasing figures and unemployment, Pres. Jonathan said even with the Economy rebasing, Nigerian Government cannot employ everyone but would only create the best environment for the private sector to excel. He said it was a good thing for Nigeria to be hosting the WEF Africa and said according to the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, visitors for the WEF Africa have began to show interest in investing in Nigeria.

On the alleged missing $20b, Pres Jonathan said its now a phenomenon for any government in power in Nigeria to record a story of missing funds. He said with the money being claimed to be missing, such moneies would no doubt have adverse effect on the economy. He said if such amount of money is missing, America would know about it and said nobody should deceive themselves.

On Minister of Petroleum Dieziani Alison Madueke going to court to stop investigations on the N10b private jet scandal, Pres Jonathan said he is not aware she's gone to court. He said as a Minister, she has spent more of her time appearing before the parliament than doing her job and said it appears there is a case of parliamentary dictatorship by the members of the house of Representatives. He said they are all politicians and so would also bring politics into their activities. He said he does not see Dieziani as being corrupt and so cannot drop her as a Minister. According to him, there is nothing wrong in her hiring private jets and that other Ministers and politicians also hire private jets.

On his declaration to run again, he said he believes that is not what is important to Nigerians. He said security, food etc are the things on the minds of Nigerians and also said the PDP which is the "Champion, one with the cup" is waiting for the opposition to field their candidates so that the PDP would know who they are up against.

On claims that he said Boko Haram has infiltrated his cabinet, he said he never made such a comment, and that the way journalists twist words makes one wonder sometimes. He said what he said was that Boko Haram has infiltrated the Government which is made up of the Judiciary, Executive and the Parliamentary. He said he never said they have infiltrated his cabinet which is made up of the Vice President and the Ministers.

On the strike by Polytechnic lecturers, he said "we are handling it".

On the recommendations that would come out from the ongoing National CONFAB, he promised that whatever recommendations from the confab would not be stopped.

While ending the chat, Pres. Jonathan pleaded with the Parents and Guardians of the missing Chibok girls to come out with the identities of the missing girls. He said with the list from WAEC, its obvious that most of them, about 90% are Christians. He pleaded with the parents to cooperate with security agents.

Some of the comments he made

* “I don’t know where they are… there is no confirmation of the location of the schoolgirls, you are a journalist, you know more than me.”

* "If I exercise 40/50% of my powers, Nigerians would say I am a dictator. Some African leaders who used only 60 were condemned as dictators"

* “I assure you that we will get the girls out but we can only do it with the co-operation of their parents and guardians.”

* "Over 70% of what they call corruption in Nigeria, is mere common theft. The word corruption is being abused, it's just mere theft."

* “Even when I’m in church I am monitoring what is happening. Anytime I get reports of an attack somewhere… my face will change immediately… my expression will change. It used to happen every Sunda

* “Anytime I hear of any one Nigerian dies I feel pained… even if it’s a Boko Haram member – I am their president.

* “Pakistan terrorists have been fighting terrorism for over 10 years now so it’s not something that a 6 months State of Emergency can solve.”

* “The Petroleum Minister has appeared before the Parliament for over 200 days… in the Nigerian Parliament you’ll agree with me that there is more politics than work.”

* “People have been confusing corruption with stealing. If public officers steal money they term it under corruption….”

* "PDP is the champion. We are the ones holding the belt. We are waiting to see the challenger"

* "The popular Nollywood wasn't captured in the assessment of the economy as Africa's strongest'

* “If Sanusi hadn’t been suspended he would have come up with a different figure… If anyone steals $50 billion or $20 billion anywhere America will know, they will tell you where it is; it is their money.”

-LIB