“I can’t see GEJ losing this election; It’s not possible.” He is like Jesus Christ. He’s bearing the burden of of everybody”
Those are the words of Doyin Okupe while commenting on the state of the nation. According to him, the efforts of the government in fighting the Boko Haram insurgency as well as power were being hindered by many factors from various angles.
Despite the present situation in the country, even now that nation is preparing for the 2015 elections, Okupe has said, it’s impossible for Jonathan to lose.
Goodluck’s strengths in managing many serious challenges in Nigeria and that of campaigning for a second term in government, he noted, is the beauty of executive to multitask-which we are seeing in Mr. president. Like the numerous challenges on the issues of power and security.
Okupe also noted that Nigeria has been “under-powered” for many years, citing the Ikeja Lagos state, which electrical infrastructures has been on the ground for over 35 years now.
He admitted that “power is a problem”, which was why the government was working to improve generation and distribution, through the power reform.
He also noted that the equipment were expensive which had caused the private owners to borrow billions of dollars. “We are not there yet but we are certainly on an irreversible road to better power supply,” he further insisted.
Asked why the government did not first work on changing equipment before increasing generation, which also costs money, Okupe said that there was a limit the government could do as power was controlled 100% by the private sector.
“In the power situation, we are not there yet. We are definitely on a road that cannot change,” he emphasized, hinting that the government is working on huge dam projects to allow the private owners work effectively on distribution.
He also claimed that government efforts were being sabotaged by politicians who sponsor vandals to attack gas pipelines.
“We noted that there were 10 NIPP projects which were performing below 50 per cent”, he disclosed, alleging that some persons were making sure they underperformed so as to make the government appear incompetent.
He, however, added that the rate of sabotage had reduced in the past year.
On the state of security in Nigeria’s North East region, Okupe commended the government’s efforts, noting that all aspects of the war against terror, including funding, administration were being worked upon.
“Today, the Nigerian Army is in total and perfect control,” of North East, he added.
On the recent comments made by Governor of Borno State, Okupe said the governor “never fails to amaze me”, adding that majority of problems of insurgency was situated in his state but he was traveling to Lagos, London and other nations, to discuss insurgency but failed to meet the President on the matter.
Okupe argued that Boko Haram was a “multinational, international insurgency arrangement in Nigeria” as the group had links with ISIS, Al Qaeda, and other international terrorist groups.
He also said he did not know about the identity of the sponsors as he was not working with security.
He also claimed that there were huge political considerations in the fight against Boko Haram, making an example of General Buhari, who Okupe said had polled over 12 million votes in the North in the last election.
Okupe alleged that Buhari had said any attack on Boko Haram was an attack on the North and that Buhari’s recent condemnation of Boko Haram was as a result of his fourth bid to become Nigeria’s president.
#BringBackOurGirls Not Time Bound
He described as an emotional tragedy, the abduction of the 219 schoolgirls by Boko Haram, but added that it is a tragedy that we must bear with fortitude,” noting that issues such as rape, murder and other atrocities were common in war.
“Chibok girls are a major thorn in the flesh of the administration,” he explained, stating that “If it was possible to get them yesterday I know that this government would have done it”.
He also called for caution in the rescue mission, noting that “any mistake will lead to their death” and that there’s no time limit for returning the girls alive.
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