Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, in an insightful interwiew with Punch addresses varying national issues, including boko haram, the missing Chibok girls, President Jonathan’s 2nd term ambition, among other sundry matters…
Q: How confident are you that Nigeria will win the current war against terror?
A: I am very confident that Nigeria will win the war against terror because it is not something that we can live with. Terror is evil and a country or a government cannot elect to live with evil. Terrorism is an assault against our common humanity and no government or country can afford to tolerate the kind of crimes against humanity and the kind of assault against human freedom that terrorism represents.
That is why the position of the President is that no matter how long it takes, whatever it takes, the war against terror must be won. This is because if we don’t win the war against terror, it will be difficult for us to achieve our development objectives.
Q: Why has emergency rule failed to stop violence in the affected states, especially in Borno?
A: That is not true. The declaration of a state of emergency has been most useful. It is important to understand what a state of emergency is. Under emergency rule, the security forces are given greater scope to be able to deal with a threat situation. Certain restrictions under the constitution will be lifted so that the security forces will have greater latitude to be able to cover the entire territory.
President Jonathan has declared a state of emergency about three times now in the affected areas. By the second time the declaration was made, the scope of the terror reduced. Normalcy returned to the greater part of Adamawa and Yobe states. At a time, all three states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa were in turmoil almost on a weekly basis. But that reduced because the security forces went in more vigorously and aggressively to the extent that the curfew that had been imposed by the state governments was eventually Iifted and all the markets and offices that had been shut were reopened.
The unfortunate thing is that by April this year, the insurgents came back. It was like they retreated and regrouped. By that time, they had been restricted to only a part of Borno State from where they would come out, make incursions, and then disappear. Even with what we are witnessing now, government is again confronting them.
In the last one month, there have been reports of their intelligence chiefs being captured. There have been reports of their armouries being uncovered and many of their operatives being arrested. All these are parts of the operation to get the abducted Chibok girls back and break the hold of terrorists on the limited areas where they are still operating.
So it will not be fair to say that the state of emergency is not succeeding. The state of emergency has helped to deepen government operations, and convey a strong signal to the terrorists about government’s determination.
Q: What is your reaction to the claim by the APC that the $1bn loan the President is seeking to fight Boko Haram is actually meant for 2015 election campaign?
A: The APC is misinformed, mischievous and that statement by the party is totally irresponsible. After the April 14 abduction of the girls, one of the first things the President did was to summon an expanded National Security Council meeting to which the governors were invited. He also subsequently called a Council of State meeting. At both meetings, the resolution by all the parties present was that the issue of terror is beyond politics and that it requires a bipartisan approach, that nobody should play politics with it because human lives are involved.
During the press briefing after one of those meetings, one of the APC governors was one of the spokespersons. He himself made it clear that that was what they agreed on. But after that meeting, what did the APC do? They went back to begin to play politics with the abduction of the girls and with terrorism. That is why I say that they are dishonest by playing politics with something that requires collective action and support. What government requires in its efforts is support and solidarity, not the kind of politics that APC is bringing into it.
The second leg of it is that the National Assembly is made up of people from every political party. The message that is out there from the National Assembly is that as a body, the assembly stands solidly behind President Jonathan in the prosecution of the war against terror.
On this issue of the $1bn which is to be used to further strengthen the security forces, the National Assembly has also said that the objective of the Federal Government is consistent with its own resolution that whatever is necessary must be provided to strengthen the fight against terror. That National Assembly is made up of every political party. And it agrees in principle that the war against terror must be prosecuted vigorously.
So if the APC secretariat is saying a different thing, to the best of my knowledge, that is not the position of the National Assembly which has the oversight responsibility to approve the loan.
Q: Talking about the abducted Chibok girls, they have been in captivity for over 100 days. How long will their parents continue to wait for them to be reunited with their children?
A: President Jonathan met recently with the parents of the abducted girls, the girls that managed to escape as well as opinion and community leaders from the affected area. The President made it very clear to the parents that government is working very hard and security forces are also working very hard to ensure that the girls are brought back home.
Government’s priority is however not haste. Government’s priority is to ensure that these girls are brought back home safely. If there is anything that may jeopardise the operation, or result in the massacre of those girls, government will rather tread on the side of caution until it is able to make sure that those girls can be rescued safely.
The thing to note is that these same terrorists have boasted that if there is any kind of assault on them in a way they feel uncomfortable with, they will not hesitate to massacre the girls. We all want the girls back home safely; there is no question about that.
Q: Why did the President meet the parents of the abducted girls inside Aso Rock instead of Chibok?
A: Why not?
Q: People have even criticised the meeting of the president with Chibok people as mere photo opportunity. Is that not so?
A: That is not true. The meeting has been adjudged to be fruitful and useful. It provided an opportunity for interaction, empathy, reassurance and understanding.
Q:It has been argued that the President is only trying to address the Chibok issue now in order to be able to make his second term bid public. What is your take on this?
A: I don’t see any connection. You must be making that up, and I dare say wrongly.
Q: Why hasn’t the government come out to tell Nigerians that it is at its wits’ end concerning the Chibok girls?
A: The government is doing everything within its powers to ensure that the girls are brought back safely. The emphasis is on the word, safely. We remain committed to pursuing the war against terror till the end, to make this country safer for everyone who lives within it.
Q: Why did the president refuse to give former President Olusegun Obasanjo the go ahead to negotiate the release of the Chibok girls?
A: President Jonathan and the Federal Government have always made it clear that we welcome all efforts to get to the root of the threat of terrorism and resolve it. President Jonathan has consistently called for collective action, both local and global. The Police Force has also provided a reward sum of N50m for anyone who can offer useful information, and that offer is without prejudice.
Q: When the President eventually declares for second term, will he not campaign in places like Borno State that he has refused to visit?
A: That is a leading question. What are you driving at?
Q: What would the President list as his achievements to merit second term?
A: I have already talked about the achievements of his performance-driven administration in various sectors of the economy: transport, infrastructure, education, economy, job creation, oil and gas, agriculture, trade and investment, foreign relations, governance and so on. President Jonathan promised Nigerians in 2011 that he will transform their lives positively and move this country ahead. He has kept that promise, he is still keeping it and he has chosen to remain focused on service delivery. He has not yet made any categorical statement about 2015, other than that when the time comes, he will do so.
Q: Some Nigerians see the Ekiti and Osun states elections as too militarised, so is then right to describe it as free and fair?
A: What do you mean by too militarised? The military do not conduct elections. They only complement the other security agencies, particularly the police in preventing a breakdown of law and order. Their role is strictly complementary, nothing more than that. And you’d agree that the governorship elections were peacefully conducted. It was a credible and transparent process. But of course, you should expect those whose bad politics is pushing them into the vortex of incremental irrelevance to complain about everything.
Q: It is believed that once anyone with EFCC case visits Aso Rock to describe people there as wonderful, that may be the end of such cases with Femi Fani Kayode in mind. What is your take on this?
A: Your question is pointless. I am not aware that the EFCC has withdrawn any case against anyone on the basis of their paying a visit to Aso Villa. You should get your facts right.
Q: What will you say to Nigerians who felt bad that it took the intervention of 17-year- old Malala Yousafzai for their President to agree to meet with the parents of the Chibok girls?
A: There have been attempts to misinterpret what Malala said. When Malala met with the President, she said she had met with some of the parents of the girls and some of the girls who escaped and that they told her that they would like to meet with the President. She said she told them that she would convey their concern to the President. And the President said he had always been looking for an opportunity to meet with them. He said if they were ready to meet with him today (that day) or at any time, he would be glad.
When Malala addressed the press, she said this was what she told the President and Mr. President said he was ready to meet with them. So, it is not that it took Malala’s visit for the President to receive the parents. Before her visit, the President had sent delegations to Chibok to meet with the parents, they said they were not ready to meet with government.
First, it was the Taminu Turaki Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Conflicts in the North East, the parents refused to meet with that group.
Then the Presidential Fact-Finding Committee was in Chibok about two or three times, the parents said they were not ready to meet the members. In the report submitted by the committee, they reflected this. Of course, this was within days or weeks of the abduction, so you can understand that the parents were still very angry, maybe they felt government was blameable.
So it was not as if Malala came to the President to tell him that it was a good idea that he should meet with the parents. So, to think that it was Malala that made that meeting to hold will be giving her a credit that is over-exaggerated.
Q: Many Nigerians, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, are of the view that the President was late in addressing the issue of the Chibok girls. What is your reaction to that?
A: President Jonathan started addressing the Chibok matter immediately it happened. The girls were abducted on April 14, between that time and April 18, the President had called about three meetings of the Security Council. He gave express instructions to service chiefs. How else would he have addressed it? Within that period, he summoned an expanded meeting of the Council of State. He also summoned a meeting of the major stakeholders in Borno State. The governor, commissioner of police, divisional police officer, community leaders and the school principal were there. And since then, he has personally monitored the operations in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief, and has made available to the security the encouragement and the resources they need to strengthen their operations. He has initiated a Safe Schools Initiative, a Presidential Initiative for the North East and Terror Victims’ Support Fund. He has also mobilised international solidarity on the threat of terror using all available platforms.
Even when pictures and reports of these efforts are in the public domain, people just refuse to believe, maybe for political reasons. When I listen to discussion programmes on radio or television, for example, I am alarmed by the level of wilful ignorance that some people display. I always wonder why they repeat lies. That is the kind of mental indolence that I am confronted with daily. Well, I guess, it is a matter of occupational hazard.
Q: What will be your reaction to the claim that the President is turning Nigeria into a one-party state by allegedly instigating impeachment of the opposition governors?
A: That is not true. When people say this, they raise questions about the level of their own intelligence. The process of impeaching a sitting governor is a constitutional process. The people who are in the various Houses of Assembly are not babies.
I will not join anybody to say that a whole state legislature can be tele-guided by anybody. The President does not have powers to dictate that any governor should be impeached. The framers of the constitution had taken great care to make sure that the process of impeachment is not something that can be taken lightly and abused; there are checks and balances in the process.
Q: People say the President is behind the impeachment of Nyako in Adamawa State.
A: Go and check the composition of the state House of Assembly. More than 50 per cent of the lawmakers defected to the APC with Nyako, so he had the majority with him. So how did he lose them in less than six months that the same people who followed him to the APC turned around and impeached him?
Does the President have powers over APC legislators? So it is not an allegation that should be taken seriously at all. And in any case, how does all that translate into the creation of a one-party state? Have you checked the number of political parties on the INEC list?
Q: Do you believe that the President is still popular as he was during the 2011 election?
A: The President remains very popular and I do not see any other politician at this moment that is more popular than him. The public opinion polls have consistently rated him high and positively. When you interact with Nigerians who vote, not those who have been paid by the APC to mislead, misinform and misdirect people, they will tell you that President Jonathan is still the best man for the job. The President is a leader that is highly respected and regarded by Nigerians. Nigerians remain supportive of him.
The only caveat they put is that he is surrounded by bad people but my own opinion is that he is surrounded by very good people with some of the best credentials in the world.
Q: Why is this government spending so much money on image laundering abroad when there are pressing needs?
A: I read the report that the government engaged Levick with $1.2m. If you convert that into Naira, find out what that is when you said government is spending so much money on image laundering. The truth of the matter is that the best PR that this government is committed to is not image laundering on the pages of newspapers or on television. It is the PR of performance that is our narrative.
What President Jonathan’s administration has done speaks for itself. Under this administration, there has been expansion of the scope of human freedom. Nowhere else do people criticise their government like this. Nobody has been harassed. Under this government, elections have been free and fair. The thing about image laundering is not an issue. Even if government has a consultant, what does it matter? Coca Cola is a very popular brand in the world, it is still advertising. You don’t hide your light under the bushel, you allow it to shine to the whole world.
Have you not heard about the opposition figures going to Washington, New York, London to hire PR consultants to run down the government and their country? Those are the people who say they want President Jonathan and PDP out of power and they are actively working against the interest of the country, hiring people abroad to destroy the country with bad messages. Under such circumstances, if the government now hires a counter agency to project the true story, then you will turn around and blame government. The people you should be blaming are the APC people trying to destroy this country with wrong and malicious, heavily funded bad messaging. They are the ones you should be questioning, not President Jonathan.
Q: Why did the President fail to congratulate Lamido Sanusi on his appointment as Emir of Kano?
A: I don’t know the point you are trying to make here. The Emir of Kano is a traditional position. I don’t see any issue there.
And are you even sure that the President has not congratulated him?
Q: There were reports that the President moved to ensure he did not emerge as the Emir.
A: The President has no such powers. Traditional rulers are given staff of office by state governors. It is not a big deal. Few days before the Emir of Kano ascended the throne, the Emir of Gombe was named and coronated. Nobody has taken the President to task for not travelling to that Emir’s palace to congratulate him. People are just trying to politicise the appointment of the Emir of Kano. So many first class traditional rulers ascended the thrones of their forefathers across the country and we did not issue statement or make a song and dance out of their ascension to a traditional stool.
The attempt to politicise the Emir of Kano’s stool and the Presidency is pointless. You can see that the Emir himself is not joining anybody to play that kind of politics. Since he assumed office, he and the President had met and it was a happy occasion. People just make trouble, where there is no trouble. His being the Emir of Kano is totally different from his being the CBN governor.
When the President suspended him as the CBN governor, he directed that further investigation be carried out on the allegation of financial recklessness levelled against him. What has become of that investigation?
That question should be directed to the Financial Reporting Council. I don’t know if the council is still carrying out its investigations. If they are still doing so, when they conclude the exercise, they will make it public. But of course, you should separate these things. The office of the CBN governor is not the same as the office of the Emir of Kano. One cannot serve as a cover for the other.