My attention has just been drawn to an attempt in a section of the social<\/p>\n
media to credit President Goodluck Jonathan with what he did not say about
\nmy book, \u2018Against The Run of Play\u2019, in order to discredit me.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, President Jonathan said: \u201cI have just read Segun Adeniyi\u2019s new
\nbook, \u2018Against the Run of Play\u2019 which has so far enjoyed tremendous
\nreviews in the media. My take on it is that the book as presented,
\ncontains many distorted claims on the 2015 presidential election by many
\nof the respondents. There will obviously be more books like that on this
\nsubject by concerned Nigerians.<\/p>\n
However, I believe that at the right time, the main characters in the
\nelection including myself will come out with a true account of what
\ntranspired either in major interviews or books.\u201d<\/p>\n
The respondents President Jonathan was referring to are the people who
\nspoke to me and whose claims he apparently disputes or disagrees with.
\nThis should be clear enough to those who did not choose to read his
\nstatement with a tendentious accent. But apparently, it is not.<\/p>\n
President Jonathan did not say I distorted his views and the fact that
\nothers may have presented him in ways he doesn\u2019t like cannot be taken as
\nan indictment of me or of my work.<\/p>\n
For the record, after my first conversation with President Jonathan, I
\nasked for his email address and promised to send him the raw text of our
\nconversation which he could then amend as appropriate. I sent it to him
\nthat very day. When I went for a second meeting, I took along a printed
\ncopy which we both went through line-by-line. Whatever he wanted to be
\nremoved, reworked or rephrased was done while in some areas he provided
\nfurther context to what he said.<\/p>\n
Incidentally, a few hours after our second conversation, President
\nJonathan called me that he felt uncomfortable about a certain response he
\ngave to a particular issue. He told me what to do and I reflected it
\nimmediately. I went into all that length because he is a man for whom I
\nhave tremendous respect and my intention was\/is not to embarrass him or
\nanybody. I just wanted his side of the story told in a way he is
\ncomfortable with.<\/p>\n
I went through this same process with former President Olusegun Obasanjo,
\nformer Senate President David Mark, APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola
\nTinubu, Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, former NGF Chairman and
\ncurrent Transportation Minister, Mr Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, former Niger
\nState Governor, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu and a few other principal actors
\nwho all have in their emails the raw text of our conversations.<\/p>\n
The reason I did that was so I would not misquote, misrepresent or distort
\nthe views of any of the people who spoke to me on trust.<\/p>\n
My intention was not to ambush or set up anyone. This is why I gave them
\nthe opportunity to go over what they told me again before putting it in
\nprint. Fortunately, none of them has come out to say I distorted their
\nviews. Besides, I left out so many things in my book so as to avoid
\nunnecessary controversies. For instance, President Obasanjo made some
\nstrong remarks about former Vice President Atiku Abubakar which I decided
\nto remove even after he (Obasanjo) had approved it for publication. I did
\nthe same to some of the things others told me that I believed could raise
\nunnecessary dust or distract from the story at hand.<\/p>\n
Therefore, I did not distort President Jonathan\u2019s view and he did not say
\nI did. Now that he has reaffirmed what he told me that he is writing his
\nown account, I will enjoin Nigerians to wait for his book. I hope others
\nwill join him in writing their own accounts so that we can have the
\ncomplete story of the 2015 presidential election. The more accounts and
\nthe more perspectives we have, the better for our education and learning.<\/p>\n
In the same vein, I will also implore all the key actors in the major
\nhistorical junctures of our national life to documenting their experiences
\nfor the present and for posterity.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, I am aware that hackers have succeeded in breaking the code to
\nthe online edition of my book and are already circulating the book online.
\nI have received it from different sources, even on WhatsApp.<\/p>\n
Though sad, it is a familiar story for me. In the case of my earlier book,
\n\u2018Power, Politics, and Death\u2019, it actually went viral on the day of the
\npresentation. So, that I enjoyed three days of grace this time is a bonus.<\/p>\n
While I feel pained losing the revenue that could have accrued to me from
\nonline sales, I wrote the book because I believe it is an important story
\nthat should be documented and widely read. I have a feeling this book will
\nbe widely read, though at my expense and that of my publishers.<\/p>\n
But I am comforted by the fact that we are succeeding in dispelling the
\nmyth that Nigerians do not read. Nigerians do read. It is our task to
\nwrite on what will interest them and present and package such in ways they
\nwill find appealing.<\/p>\n
That said, however, I am more worried for people in creative arts and
\nsciences, especially those in Nollywood, who are practically at the mercy
\nof hackers and pirates. The authorities should do more to protect their
\nworks from the antics of people who reap where they do not sow.<\/p>\n
When creative people in both the arts and sciences cannot be guaranteed
\nthe legitimate benefits of their sweat and investments, they lose the
\nincentive to take the risk to create and innovate. And when that happens,
\nthe whole society loses.<\/p>\n
Protecting intellectual property is therefore good for all of us, not just
\nfor the artistes and the inventors. We will all be the better for it.<\/p>\n
World Bank Says It Can’t Find Database On Abacha Stolen Loots<\/p>\n
The World Bank has told Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project
\n(SERAP) that it \u201ccannot locate any additional information on the projects
\nexecuted with recovered stolen public funds by the late General Sani
\nAbacha.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the response sent last week to SERAP, the World Bank Access
\nto Information Appeal Committee said, \u201cIn response to your request under
\ncase number AI4288 (related to your initial request case number AI3982),
\nwe wish to inform you that we have thoroughly searched our records and
\ndatabases but have not been able to locate any additional information that
\nis responsive to your request beyond what we have already shared with you.
\nTherefore, we are unable to fulfill your request.\u201d<\/p>\n
It would be recalled that the World Bank last year asked for more time to
\nrelease details on the spending of recovered loot by Abacha. This followed
\nthe bank\u2019s decision to refer \u201cportion of appeal by SERAP to the Bank
\nArchives Unit for processing for public access. The Bank\u2019s request for
\nmore time followed the appeal SERAP lodged with the Bank on 5 February
\n2016 on the ground that the Bank\u2019s decision on its initial request did not
\nreveal \u201cimportant portions of the information requested on how Abacha loot
\nwas spent.\u201d<\/p>\n
But dissatisfied with the failure of the Bank to locate additional
\ninformation, SERAP has now sent an open letter to the Bank\u2019s president Dr.
\nJim Yong Kim requesting him to use his \u201cgood offices and leadership
\nposition to urgently address the public perception that the World Bank is
\nseeking to distance itself from responsibility over alleged mismanagement
\nin the spending of recovered Abacha loot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Specifically, the organization asked Dr Kim to \u201cestablish a Special
\nInspection Panel on Nigeria to visit locations across the country to
\nverify whether or not the projects reportedly executed by the Nigerian
\ngovernment with the funds were actually executed.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the letter dated 28 April 2017 and signed by SERAP deputy director
\nTimothy Adewale the organization expressed concern that \u201cthe apparent lack
\nof transparency and accountability in the spending of recovered Abacha
\nloot and the fact that the Bank has now come to the conclusion that it has
\nno more information to provide on the status of the projects reportedly
\nexecuted with the funds have impacted negatively on the communities across
\nthe country who are victims of corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organization argued that, \u201cUsing technicalities under the Bank\u2019s
\nAccess to Information Policy to refuse to answer outstanding questions on
\nthe projects reportedly executed with recovered Abacha loot would leave
\ncommunities across the country that have been negatively affected by the
\nmismanagement of the funds without any effective remedies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter read in part: \u201cGetting to the root of how Abacha loot was spent
\nwould demonstrate that the World Bank is willing to put people first in
\nthe implementation of its development and governance policies and
\nmandates, as well as remove any suspicion of the Bank\u2019s complicity in the
\nalleged mismanagement of the recovered public funds.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere would be an acute risk that the Bank\u2019s on-going and future role in
\nsupervising and monitoring of spending of recovered stolen public funds
\nwould be questioned and may be legally challenged for lacking transparency
\nand accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP believes that given its supervisory and monitoring roles in the
\nspending of the recovered Abacha loot, the World Bank ought to do much
\nmore to clarify outstanding questions regarding the status of projects
\nreportedly executed with the funds. It is vital that the Bank is able to
\nshow that it is up to the task whenever it takes up the responsibility of
\nsupervising and monitoring the spending of recovered funds in Nigeria and
\nelsewhere across the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP also believes that the Bank ought to have classified the execution
\nof the projects by the Nigerian government as high or substantial risk
\nespecially given the prevalent of corruption in the country, and exercised
\ndue diligence including by keeping proper records on the conditions of
\nprojects supervised and monitored by the Bank.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAny failure to take decisive action to uncover what exactly happened to
\nthe projects reportedly executed by recovered Abacha loot which the Bank
\nvolunteered to supervise and monitor would shed a bad light on the World
\nBank, undermine its goal of alleviating poverty, and may mark the demise
\nof transparency and accountability at the Bank.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe proposed inspection panel on Nigeria should be able to ask
\nappropriate questions from the authorities and engage with the communities
\naffected by the alleged mismanagement of the recovered funds. This process
\nwould help to enhance compliance on the ground with the Bank\u2019s safeguards
\nand thereby bolstering the Bank\u2019s accountability under its policies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe panel should also undertake a full investigation into whether there
\nhas been a serious failure by the Bank supervisors and monitors to observe
\nits operational policies and procedures regarding the execution of
\nprojects with recovered Abacha loot; the role played by any government
\nofficials including in the Ministry of Finance, and the material adverse
\neffects on communities across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCommunities that have been affected by the apparent mismanagement of
\nrecovered Abacha loot should receive from the Bank proper and adequate
\ncompensation as well as community-based development benefits such as
\neducation, sanitation systems, health care, and community services
\n(particularly for the elderly, mothers and children), access to clean
\nwater, access to livelihoods, and other locally determined remedial
\nmeasures. SERAP considers this is a basic corrective justice, and it is
\nthe bare minimum required in the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP also urges you to adopt and implement a Transparency Charter with
\nrespect to your ongoing and future supervisory and monitoring duties on
\nthe spending of recently recovered Abacha loot in order to ensure the
\nintegrity of the process of project execution. SERAP believes that the
\nBank\u2019s goals of promoting transparency, accountability and the rule of law
\nin countries would gain more credibility and respect if the Bank can lead
\nby example particularly in its supervisory and monitoring role of spending
\nof recovered stolen public funds.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP hopes that the World Bank would act as requested. However, take
\nnotice that should the Bank fail and\/or neglect to take the steps
\nrecommended, the Registered Trustees of SERAP would pursue appropriate
\ninternational and national legal actions to ensure transparency and
\naccountability in this matter.\u201d SERAP said that the proposed panel should
\nfind out:
\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Why 2 rather 8 health centers were completed as disclosed by the
\nreport produced by the Bank. The location of the 2 completed projects
\nshould be disclosed. If it is true that 174 health centers were built with
\nthe Abacha loot and commissioned by the government and to disclose the
\nlocations of the centers;
\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If payments were made to contractors who reportedly executed 10 of
\nthe 18 power projects pertained to physical electrical installations, and
\ndisclose the names of those contractors. If it is true that recovered
\nAbacha funds were used to provide additional financing for the Universal
\nBasic Education (UBE) program in the amount of NGN24.25 bn to support
\nbasic education throughout the country, and to disclose the number and
\nlocation of schools which benefited from these funds at the time;
\n3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If it is true that 13 road projects were completed including 3 of
\nthe largest road and bridge projects in each geo-political zone with the
\nfunds, and to disclose the locations of individual projects, including the
\nlargest roads and bridges completed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My attention has just been drawn to an attempt in a section of the social media to credit President Goodluck Jonathan with what he did not say about my book,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n