Jonathan admits poor communication of his achievements to Nigerians

 • Campaign train for Ondo on Wednesday

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has admitted the fact that most of the giant strides his government has achieved in the last four years are not well communicated to Nigerians.

  Speaking during an interactive session with the Organised Private Sector and leaders of professional bodies in Lagos yesterday, he agreed with an observation by the Managing Director, Emzor Pharmaceutical, Chief Stella Okoli, that there was a missing link between the government’s achievements in the last four years and the people.

   Present on the occasion were National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, Ministers of Petroleum Deziani Allison Madueke, Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Agriculture Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, Oba Otudeko; Chairman, Guardian Newspapers Ltd. Mrs. Maiden Alex-Ibru; Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Mr. Femi Otedola and others.                  

  Meanwhile, Jonathan will arrive Akure, the Ondo State capital on Wednesday January 28, 2015 in continuation of his re-election campaign.

  A statement by the state’s Commissioner for Information Hon. Kayode Akinmade, issued in Akure on Sunday said the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) candidate in the February 14 presidential election will address a rally in the city.

   The statement said the rally will be the mother of all rallies because the state is the President’s territory and that of the South West Coordinator of the Goodluck Jonathan national campaign committee, Governor Olusegun Mimiko. 

  The rally, he said is expected to attract leaders of the party as well as its members and supporters in the South-West zone, where President Jonathan will articulate his programmes for the country and also highlight the achievements so far recorded by his government since assuming power.

  Jonathan’s campaign in Ondo was earlier scheduled to hold penultimate Wednesday but had to be rescheduled  as it coincided with the peace accord signing event  by all presidential candidates  of parties participating in the forthcoming elections. 

  The occasion which was chaired by the former Commonwealth Secretary General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, where nine other presidential candidates of other registered parties signed a five-point peace accord  also had Mimiko in attendance.

  Jonathan’s campaign kicked off  in Lagos  earlier in the month and has  traversed   some  Southwest states  with Ondo  as the latest destination.

   Admiting that his government has not been fully communicating its achievements to Nigerians, Jonathan said: “‎If I tell you the number of times the Ministers appear on Television to showcase what these administration is doing, but still it doesn’t penetrate, probably they are using more of Television, we need to get different ways of communication. We must find a way of doing this so that people can know what government is doing.”

   He however said that his government was the most documented administration. The President emphasised the need for his media team to move into the rural areas to continue to educate and sensitise Nigerians on most of the achievements in different sectors.

  On diversification of the economy, Jonathan commended the private sector for partnering with his government which he assured them would continue to create the enabling environment.

   He said: “The commitment of this government is that whatever we do are done in the best interest of the country.”

  He also reiterated his determination to fight corruption but not in a manner of parading corrupt officials on television stressing: “we are fighting corruption but it is not about jailing people.”

He averred that his system of addressing corruption is through prevention.

  According to him, “Before we we took over government, the corruption in the fertilizer area was unprecedented such that despite the billions of money that the government spent on fertilizers every year, it never gets to the farmers. But today, through the E-Wallet system we have been able to eradicate corruption in the fertilizer distribution and the product is now getting to the farmers.”

  The President also noted the giant strides the administration has recorded in curbing corruption and fraud in the Civil Service and the pensions scheme.

  He explained that the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has also convicted more people on corruption under his government than any other administration in the country.

  Pleading for more support from the private sector, Jonathan said: “Since there is fall in the oil price, we need more of the private sector partnership intervention in other sectors of the economy.”

 He sought the cooperation of the private sector on road infrastructure, and emphasised the need to encourage the youths to participate and show interest in farming.