The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, Gani Adams, on Thursday challenged the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, on claim that life had become better under Buhari’s watch.
He insisted that government’s claim were only in theory with nothing on the ground to support.
Adams’s position also found resonance in Prof Akin Onigbinde’s position as he described the statistics on Buhari’s achievements as “the reality that we cannot see.”
They all shared their thoughts at the 2nd annual lecture of Freedom Online, held in Ikeja, Lagos.
While Adesina and Adams were guests of honour, Onigbinde, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, was the keynote speaker at the event which had the Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, as guest speaker.
In his presentation, Adesina highlighted the achievements of the Buhari’s administration since 2015, with statistics to buttress his position.
He said only those who chose to be deliberately blind would not acknowledge government’s achievements.
According to the Presidential aide, under Buhari’s leadership in 2017, Nigeria’s agricultural export grew by 180.7 per cent; while raw materials export in the same year rose by 150.2 per cent.
He said: “Before we export, it means that, to a large extent, we have satisfied domestic demand.”
Speaking further, he said: “How about the stock market in 2017? The Nigerian stock market ended as one of the best performing in the world. Five million new taxpayers were added since 2016,”
He noted also that government spent N2.7tn on infrastructure, between 2016 and 2017 government which was unprecedented in Nigeria’s history.
Furthermore, Adesina told the audience that rice importation had reduced by 90 per cent, saving the country billions of dollars on a daily basis.
He insisted that it was only those playing politics that would claim not to have seen or felt the impact of government’s achievements, saying; “If you choose to be wilfully blind, even if they put something in your face you won’t be able to see it,” the presidential spokesman said.
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In his own comments, Prof. Onigbinde, reacting to Adesina’s presentation, said, “I welcome my friend, Adesina, telling us the reality we cannot see; we are not wearing glasses, these are things I encounter on a daily basis. I have heard about the Metro Rice in Ogun State, I saw it only on television; it is not in Daleko Market and the rice is also not in Kuto.
“I live in Bodija, I can’t see this rice. But Femi is my brother, he has a duty to direct our gaze to what we cannot see and we begin to see things in our imagination.”
The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land, also disagreed with Adesina’s postulations.
He said, “You made a very good analysis, but by the time we check it, I know you are a very honest person and you are telling us the truth, but with this analysis, I think the grass-roots people should feel the government; they should feel the impact of government by all means.
“I am a regular traveller; I’ve travelled to about 46 countries and I know what is happening in the developed world and when you see most of their economic analysts, they won’t tell you what they are doing theoretically but you will see what is happening.”
“When my brother, Mr Femi Adesina was making the analysis, it got to a point, I was so shocked because I know the background of my brother, Femi Adesina, as a brilliant journalist. When he was at The Sun Newspaper, you’d love to read his articles and for trying to package their government, I was not surprised.”
“But I want you to pass this message to the President because I remember when President Goodluck Jonathan was in power, he said when they are in that Villa, it’s just like being in a prison or a cage; they don’t know what is happening at the grass roots. But coming to this event, we need to pass this information that you can tell Mr President that Nigerians are suffering. Ebi n pa awon ara ilu (the people are hungry).”
In his lecture, Gov. Fayemi, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Investment and Trade, Mr Akin Oyebode, focused on healthcare and education saying Nigeria must be committed in investing in those sectors.
“No economy can develop without a healthy and competent workforce. Therefore, education and health care are critical social investments required to develop our nation. This is why we must continue to expand the health insurance and ensure that the poorest people get coverage,” he said.
