The 7th edition of the Presidential Media Chat
which was held last night includes the burning issue of the missing school
girls. 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 Boko Haram 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.
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'.
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: President Jonathan said it’s 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 monies 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 Sunday
* “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.”
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