Former President, Dr. Goodluck
Jonathan has attacked Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo over some of the issues he
(Osinbajo) raised during his visit to the United States of America.
Speaking in New York yesterday,
Osinbajo had claimed that, “As at 2010, Nigeria had about 112.7million people
living in extreme poverty. Nothing in place, there was no Social Investment
Programme, there was no social security, no way of taking people out of
poverty.”
But Jonathan, in a statement on Tuesday by his media office and signed by Reno
Omokri, said that Osinbajo has taken his lies to the US.
He added, “My attention has been
drawn to statements by the so-called Pastor Yemi Osinbajo, the deputy to
General Muhammadu Buhari, in New York where, as usual, he made false statements
to the media in an effort to explain away his non-performance in office.
“The statement [by Osinbajo] is a
lie and it is very easy to disprove Mr. Osinbajo’s fallacious assertions.
“According to the United Nations
and the World Poverty Clock, Nigeria overtook India as the world headquarters
for extreme poverty on Tuesday, June 26, 2018, when her population of extremely
poor people ‘INCREASED’ to an unprecedented 87 million people.
“If, according to both the United
Nations and the World Poverty Clock, Nigeria’s population of extremely poor
people hit an unprecedented number of 87 million people in 2018 under General
Buhari, how is it possible that there were 112.7 million people living in
extreme poverty in 2010?
“If that were true, then Nigeria
would have overtaken India as the world headquarters for extreme poverty in
2010, because as at that time, India did not have such numbers of extremely
poor people.
“You see that no matter how far
and fast Osinbajo’s regular falsehood travels, it will always be overtaken by
truth.
“The truth is that the period
between 2010 and 2015 witnessed the most radical reduction in poverty, ever in
Nigerian history.
“For instance, according to the
annual Global Hunger Index published by the US based International Food Policy
Research Institute, whereas hunger increased in other parts of sub Saharan
Africa, for the first time since records were kept, Hunger reduced in Nigeria
by 20% in 2013 under the Jonathan administration. I encourage my readers to
Google this information.
“I should note that, according to
the same International Food Policy Research Institute, hunger in Nigeria has
risen every year since 2015.
“Also, it is not true that there
were ‘no Social Investment Programme’ under the Jonathan administration. On the
contrary, the most successful social intervention programmes ever put in place
in Nigeria, were introduced and implemented by the Jonathan government.
“This included the SUBSIDY REMOVAL
EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM called SURE-P, whereby roads, hospitals and child care
clinics amongst others were funded from the proceeds of the partially removed
subsidy (including the ongoing Second Niger Bridge that this administration
dishonestly tried to take credit for), headed by renowned industrialist and
diplomat, Dr. Christopher Kolade and the Conditional Cash Transfer program to
poor Nigerians and pregnant women (which the Buhari administration has praised
publicly).
“The Jonathan administration also
had several initiatives to turn around the lives of Nigerian youths including
the Youth Enterprise With Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin), the Graduate
Internship Scheme (GIS), the Presidential Special Scholarship Scheme for
Innovations and Development scholarships (PRESSID) to First Class graduates of
Nigerian universities to mention a few.
“That same government also built
165 almajiri schools to help reduce the 12 million strong population of out of
school children in Northern Nigeria, as well as built 12 new federal
universities.
“The policy of the Jonathan
administration was that it was better to give Nigerians a HAND UP, via
education and grants to start their own businesses, rather than give our people
HANDOUTS of small sums of money that is essentially fish, but doesn’t teach
them to fish.
“In conclusion, I will like to
say again that Mr. Osinbajo has shown himself to be a man of very base
character, who lies as much as the devil that he preaches against and whose
behaviour has undermined the faith of genuine believers.
“It will be recalled that only
last week, Mr. Osinbajo claimed that the 2019 elections were better than the
2015 elections, despite the verdict of the US, EU and AU to the contrary.
“It is now left to those who gave
him the title ‘pastor’ to determine whether he is representing Christ well.
Judgment Day is coming. And we shall all give account.”
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