The President of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) in United States, Chief Obed Monago has said that the December deadline given by President Muhammadu Buhari to rout the Boko Haram insurgents from Nigeria is unrealistic.
Obed, an automotive engineer in the United States made this statement while addressing journalists on Sunday, November 22, 2015 during the 2015 Business Opportunity and Investment Forum held at Crowne Plaza O’ Hare Hotel,in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
He also advised President Buhari to desist from hiding the truth from Nigerians and fashion ways of boosting the economy situation of the country.
He said: “I will advise President Buhari not to hide anything away from Nigerians. It is a fact that he cannot completely end Boko Haram activities in December.
“Eradicating terrorism is not just from the words of mouth but your proactive actions towards it. It seems the sect has began to gain more strength unlike the past administration of Goodluck Jonathan who was able to achieve weakening the strength of the group a little bit.
“Buhari underestimated the power of Boko Haram, if not he would not have said he would tackle it in December. We all know that the deadline is not realistic.”
On economy, the NIDO leader criticised the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN policy on currency restrictions and regulatory headwinds, saying the development would have a negative effect on the nation’ s economy.
He said: “There are many ways of preventing politicians from looting without necessarily restricting collection or withdrawing money from banks. Now, you have dollars but banks cannot change it, this is uncalled for and it is not going to help Nigeria’ s economy.
”When President Barack Obama took over bad economy system George W. Bush left behind, he did not talk much on it. Rather, Obama swung into action and fashioned out measures of boosting the U.S economy.
“Mind you, I never said he should not fight corruption or probe anybody found guilty of corruption. However, President Buhari is concentrating of making too much noise on corruption. Blaming past leaders is not going to yield anything good for Nigerians; Truly it is good to recover stolen funds.
“If I may ask, what happens to Sani Abacha’ s money Nigeria has recovered? We don’t know where it is, including the one they claimed to have recovered. All these money should have been used to develop Nigeria rather than blame or trying to be innocent of corruption.”
Speaking on plans of NIDO to help Federal Government develop the country, Monago said the association would not relent in contributing to make the economy of Nigeria better.
“We have been remitting million of Dollars home and we will continue to do so. What I am begging the present administration for is to give us the opportunity to work for our nation. I was a level 12 officer of Federal Government when I left Nigeria in 1988 but when I came back to the country last year, things remained the same. This is something that is not supposed to happen,” e stated.
President of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation(NIDO) in United States, Chief Obed Monago has said the December deadline given by President Muhammadu Buhari to flush out Boko Haram terrorists from Nigeria is not feasible.
Obed, who was speaking with reporters in Chicago, Illinois, United States on Sunday during the 2015 Business Opportunity and Investment Forum held at Crowne Plaza O’ Hare Hotel, specifically advised President Buhari not to hide the truth from Nigerians.
Besides, the US automotive engineer also charged President Buhari to fashion ways of boosting the economy situation of the country, saying “I will advise President Buhari not to hide anything away from Nigerians. It is a fact that he cannot completely end Boko Haram activities in December.
“Eradicating terrorism is not just from the words of mouth but your proactive actions towards it. It seems the sect has began to gain more strength unlike the past administration of Goodluck Jonathan who was able to achieve weakening the strength of the group a little bit.”
“Buhari underestimated the power of Boko Haram, if not he would not have said he would tackle it in December. We all know that the deadline is not realistic.”
On economy, the NIDO leader criticised the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN policy on currency restrictions and regulatory headwinds, saying the development would have a negative effect on the nation’ s economy.
“There are many ways of preventing politicians from looting without necessarily restricting collection or withdrawing money from banks. Now, you have dollars but banks cannot change it, this is uncalled for and it is not going to help Nigeria’ s economy”, he said.
Dr. Monago, who also implored President Buhari not to concentrate more on the past leaders whose governments were alleged to encourage corruption, said ” When President Barack Obama took over bad economy system George W. Bush left behind, he did not talk much on it. Rather, Obama swung into action and fashioned out measures of boosting the U.S economy.
“Mind you, I never said he should not fight corruption or probe anybody found guilty of corruption. However, President Buhari is concentrating of making too much noise on corruption. Blaming past leaders is not going to yield anything good for Nigerians; Truly it is good to recover stolen funds. If I may ask, what happens to Sani Abacha’ s money Nigeria has recovered? We don’t know where it is, including the one they claimed to have recovered. All these money should have been used to develop Nigeria rather than blame or trying to be innocent of corruption.”
Speaking on plans of NIDO to help Federal Government develop the country, Monago said the association would not relent in contributing to make the economy of Nigeria better.
“We have been remitting million of Dollars home and we will continue to do so. What I am begging the present administration for is to give us the opportunity to work for our nation. I was a level 12 officer of Federal Government when I left Nigeria in 1988 but when I came back to the country last year, things remained the same. This is something that is not supposed to happen,” Monago concluded.
