Outrage as Tinubu dodges questions on plans for Nigeria at Chatham House

 

Obiora Ifoh, Abuja with agency report

The Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Monday dodged most of the questions from the audience after his speech at Chatham House, thereby attracting negative reactions among some Nigerians.

Tinubu, who was at the United Kingdom’s elite foreign and policy think-tank institution, spoke about his plans for security, economy, and foreign policy for Nigeria and other issues if elected president on February 25, 2023.

Asked about how he intended to address challenges facing the country, Asiwaju directed some members of his delegation to respond to the questions.

He said the decision to assign questions to the team members was a sign of teamwork.

In a video circulating on Twitter, Tinubu was heard saying: “I have an unbreakable team. To demonstrate that, I would choose the first question assigned to Dele Alake, and the second assigned to Nasir El-Rufai, and the third question to Ben Ayade.”

Rather than answer questions bordering on the economy, health and Nigeria’s multidimensional security challenges, Mr Tinubu instead assigned them to members of his entourage

For instance he assigned the question on oil theft to one of his campaign spokespersons, Dele Alake; the question on security he assigned to Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna; and the question on youth development and inclusion to Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River.

Also, a former commissioner of finance in Lagos, Wale Edun, was asked to answer the question on job creation; current House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila answered question on defence, and incumbent Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, took the question on youth inclusion in politics and governance.

But reacting to the development, some Nigerians on social media expressed their disappointment with Tinubu for dodging the questions posed before him.

Also the Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organization has mocked Tinubu for his display of vacuity at the Chatham House, United Kingdom Monday.

Spokesperson of Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organization, Kola Ologbondiyan in a statement said, “Nigerians including supporters of the APC Presidential Candidate were thoroughly embarrassed to watch Asiwaju Tinubu who earlier showboated with a scripted speech went blank on the world stage in tragic display of emptiness and inability to personally address questions that were put to him on economy, security and other challenges facing our nation.

“Our Campaign finds it very appalling that a candidate aspiring to be the President of a nation as complex as Nigeria exhibited an embarrassing inability to coordinate his own thought process to the extent that he could not personally think through issues and address them but had to direct questions put to him including those on his health and policies to others to answer.

“Asiwaju Tinubu has confirmed to Nigerians and the world that he has no business contesting the 2023 Presidential election; that he is grossly incompetent, completely unprepared for leadership and intends to transfer the onerous task of leading our nation to proxies and a cabal who did not seek votes from Nigerians.

“Of course, Nigerians cannot afford to have a President who cannot take responsibility to lead but intend to shift burden to others apparently to find scapegoats to blame for his inevitable failures.

“The APC Presidential Candidate ended up becoming a butt of international joke as he could not provide any lead on the critical issues of economy, security, youth development and foreign policies, despite notes passed to him at the event by his handlers.

“Nigerians can recall that the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign had earlier cautioned Asiwaju Tinubu and his handlers not to embarrass our nation by exhibiting his constant gaffes on the International Stage at Chatham House.

“Our Campaign counsels Asiwaju Tinubu’s handlers to stop embarrassing him by always pushing him to make public appearances, even when they are aware of his many incompetence. What Nigerians expect is for the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign to apologize to the nation and stop embarrassing their principal with poorly scripted appearances.

“Now that the APC Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Tinubu has confirmed his unpreparedness and lack of capacity on the world stage, we urge that he should immediately collapse his campaign, stop wasting resources, go home and rest.

“In any case, Nigerians are resolute in their support for the PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who has continued to exhibit, unparalleled capacity and preparedness for leadership as also witnessed in his Arise TV Town Hall meeting on Sunday where he personally took questions and professionally outlined his policy programmes which touched on realistic solutions to the challenges brought to our nation by the failed All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.”

Similarly, some of the reactions on Twitter include:

@VictorIsreal, tweeted “Omo! They asked Tinubu questions and he directed El-Rufai and Ayade to answer the questions. He said he believes in teamwork. Imagine asking Peter Obi a question on national TV and he directs Kenneth Okonkwo to answer it. That’s how ridiculous It sounded. Nigerians open your eyes.”.

Another user @FemiOyedun1, said the APC candidate would never win the election, “For every question directed to the APC presidential candidate at the Chatham House. Dele Alake, El Rufai, and Ben Ayade are the ones answering, he even eyes Sanwoolu to answer a certain question. He said it was teamwork. By God’s grace, Bola Tinubu won’t be Nigeria’s president.”

@Ifedapo Daniel, noted that the ex-Lagos governor is a major disaster, Nigerians must avoid in 2023.
“Bola Tinubu is the biggest disaster Nigerians must avoid in 2023! He was being asked questions at the Chatham House, his proxies were the ones answering! How did we get here? At this point, if you’re planning to vote for APC, thunder must strike you down oo!”, he tweeted.

Another user, Princeujay, said “Dele Alake, El-Rufai, and Ben Ayade had to borrow Tinubu their brains to answer questions at the Chatham House in London. National humiliation and shame to APC to have a brain-dead man as a Presidential candidate”.

Also the appearance of Tinubu at the Royal Institute of International Affairs also known as Chatham House, on Monday in London triggered protest by some Nigerians resident in the United Kingdom (UK).

Tinubu was in Chatham House to speak to Nigerians in the Diaspora on why he should be elected in 2023.

The aggrieved protesters chanted and raised placards that read, “Bobo Chicago”, Bobo Chicago, “go and seek your health and leave us alone”, “Bulababa Baba Boyer”.

In a video posted on Twitter by Reno Omokri, former media aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, the protesters are seen marching through the street, calling Tinubu’s name, and making references to him with derogatory words.

Earlier, Tinubu spoke on a wide range of issues including security, economy and foreign policy, ahead of Nigeria’s presidential election in February next year.

Tinubu who has been addressing various stakeholders in Nigeria at various town hall meetings, travelled to the United Kingdom to share his thoughts and campaign plans at Chatham House -a globally admired and respected platform for intellectual engagement on different issues of contemporary interest to people around the world.

Asiwaju, who addressed the distinguished Chatham House audience for the second time having first done it in 2011, said Nigeria’s role in Africa as a big brother which has continued to be a beacon of hope to the continent and the ECOWAS sub-region through now entrenched democratic ideals, having run an unbroken democracy for over two decades.

He said when he becomes Nigeria’s president, his administration will continue to provide quality leadership to the sub-region, to ensure democratic ideals are formed in nations of the ECOWAS region.

In his address titled “Nigeria’s 2023 elections: Security, economic and foreign policy imperatives” said that as President, Nigeria will epitomise values of democracy during elections anywhere in Africa by ensuring that democratic ideals are followed and all forms of electoral violence rejected, allowing only the will of the people to prevail.

“Every election, wherever it is held, is important to the people or entity directly concerned. It is also important to the global democracy community as well. Equally, there are also countries whose elections, on account of their weight and influence, carry wider implications way beyond their immediate geographical boundaries. Nigeria is one of such countries.

“I stand firmly against all forms of electoral violence and intimidation. Having spent most of my career in the political opposition, I have long fought against electoral malpractice and any attempts to extinguish the legitimate choice of voters. I will continue to do so.

“And I urge all my fellow contestants in this election to do the same. Let the sovereign will of the people decide the path of our nation. And let this election be determined by voters making their choice freely rather than the domineering intimidation of the troublesome few.

“For one, as Africa’s most populous country and the continent’s largest economy, it is generally acknowledged that the fortunes of the African continent and indeed the Black race is tied directly to the health of Nigeria.

“Also the Nigerian elections of 2023 are coming up at a time when the country’s immediate geographical neighbourhood of West and Central Africa is undergoing serious political turmoil that has manifested itself in the incursion of the military to power in a number of countries. In spite of the legitimate concerns being expressed by observers, Nigerians are resolutely committed to democracy, regardless of their political differences.

“Nigeria shares direct land borders with four sister African countries with whose peoples Nigerians also share historical and cultural affinities,” Tinubu said.

“This effectively means that the relationship between Nigeria and its immediate neighbours is much more than just a geographical expression.

“To be fully secure at home, Nigeria has always believed it must be the brothers’ keeper. It was out of this understanding that Africa’s premier regional economic community, ECOWAS, was established in 1975. Uniquely, ECOWAS had embedded in its mandate, the promotion of regional economic integration as a good in its own right and in addition undertook sub-regional peace and security.

“I am convinced, as I am sure most of us are, that the broad principles that enabled successive Nigerian governments to interface development and security, and establish an organic link between national security and economic development with regional peace and prosperity is both impeccable and remains relevant. It is an approach which I commit myself to upholding and advancing.”

His address was intermittently punctuated by loud applause by the impressive gathering.

On issue of security, which has continued to be a challenge at home despite the remarkable progress achieved by the current APC-led administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, Tinubu promised to tackle the situation the country is facing heads on, so that Nigeria can also effectively provide security supports for its neighbouring nations.

He said, “The challenges which have manifested themselves with regard to our national and regional development and security trajectories are very well-known to all of us here: radical extremist violence, terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, human trafficking, trafficking in weapons, trafficking in drugs, climate change and resource driven conflicts etc.

Mostly manifesting initially as national problems, these challenges evolved over time into trans-border and multinational challenges.

“We see the thousands of people who have been internally displaced at home or forced into refugee camps abroad. With farming activities disrupted, we have seen shortages of basic food items and food price inflation that are further undermining human security.

“To respond meaningfully to the discontents and to redress the many dislocations arising from them, we must begin by reminding ourselves of that old dictum: Foreign policy is but a continuation of domestic policy.

“As a first step, we must recalibrate domestic policy in order to revamp the foundation on which our quest to pursue human security rests.”

He reiterated that effective energy generation and distribution will help build the economy of the nation, promising to improve the framework already in place to boost the generation and distribution of energy across the country.

He also said the nation under his watch would place emphasis on the use of technology to improve the agricultural sector for better production and contribution to the nation’s economy.

“The present administration has invested heavily in agriculture, providing loans and expanding the country’s total acreage of cultivated land. We will build on this, but our focus will be on using technology and expertise to accelerate growth and development by providing the critical infrastructure necessary to achieve the commodity transformations in the agriculture value chain.

“Roads, rail, access to ports, and storage infrastructure are what we require to radically transform the agriculture sector and increase its value to the nation. Providing these will be the areas of our focus so that the full potential of our agro economy can be achieved, and we can reap the benefits in jobs, improved economic opportunities and increased prosperity.

“Fixing the perennial riddle of energy supply is another priority. There is no version of the world where Nigeria’s ambitions for itself can be achieved without solving the problem of how to provide energy to homes and businesses across the country. It is time to recognise that the centralised approach to energy policy and infrastructure is not an optimal arrangement and is unlikely to improve by mere tinkering around the sides.

“The Federal government as regulator and operator, and price fixer is a broken model and one that we fully intend to fix if elected.

“We have privatised power distribution in Nigeria and generation to a certain degree. What we need to do, going forward, is to improve the enabling environment and further reform the legal and regulatory framework to attract more private investments in the sector as we have experienced in the telecom industry.”

He promised to engage the private sector to better drive economic development across the country.

“My belief that the private sector is the fulcrum of economic progress is evident and documented. However, fundamental flaws with the basic design of our national economy imperil the private sector from playing the role it ought to and adding the value it is capable of. In this instance, the government must act as a catalyst. We shall do this on all fronts. We will address the conflict between monetary and fiscal policies. Budgeting will be based on the projected spending levels needed to push real annual growth rate above 7 per cent while reducing the unemployment rate so that we can double the economy in ten years.”

Introducing the APC presidential candidate, the chairman of the event who is also the Managing Director, Ethics, Risk and Resilience of Chatham House and Director Africa Programme, Dr. Alex Vines OBE, described Tinubu as a former governor of Lagos and prominent politician who is no stranger to the House.

He also joked that “he has US visa,” apparently referring to the fake news being bandied by political opponents that Asíwájú was denied US visa.

Responding to a question on his age and identity, Tinubu said his birthday remains March 29, 1952 and his age and other records are with Chicago State University he attended and Mobil Oil that he worked with and left as Treasurer.

Taking another question on youth development, he said the youths are part of today and the future of the country who the nation needs to invest in for tomorrow.

He also singled out Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu, a youth who he said is running the state that is the 5th largest economy in Africa and who is actualising the legacies he left behind as governor.

Demonstrating his team spirit, he invited Governors Nasir el-Rufai and Ben Ayade, former Lagos Information Commissioner Dele Alake and APC National Woman Leader Dr Beta Edu to respond to questions that fell within their areas of core competence.

Tinubu was accompanied to the lecture by House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, Governors El-Rufai (Kaduna), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (Kano), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Sanwo-olu (Lagos), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Ayade (Cross Rivers), Abubakar Badaru, (Jigawa) and David Umahi (Ebonyi) as well as former governor of Ekiti, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and his former Edo State counterpart, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

There were also members of APC National Working Committee particularly the Woman Leader Edu and her deputy, Hajiya Zainab Ibrahim, as well as former deputy governor of Lagos, Chief Femi Pedro, former Lagos Commissioner for Information Alake, his former Finance counterpart, Mr. Olawale Edun, Senator Tokunbo Abiru, Senator Fatai Buhari and Senator Adeola Olamilekan.

Others at the event included Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi, former deputy governor of Ogun State, Chief Segun Adesegun, Hadiza Bala-Usman and popular Lagos chieftain, Alhaji Mutiu Are.

After the lecture, the APC candidate had an interaction with the APC UK chapter.