I am the world’s most criticised president – Jonathan.

 by Ihuoma Chiedozie.

President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said he was the most criticised President in the whole world and vowed to become the most praised before he left office.

Jonathan however absolved himself of any blame for the country’s problems for which he said he had become an object of criticism.

“I think I am the most criticised President in the whole world, but I want to tell this audience that before I leave I will be the most praised President,” he said at the opening of the 52nd Annual General of the Nigerian Bar Association at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.

He added, “Sometimes, I ask, were there roads in this country and Jonathan brought flood to destroy the roads?

“Was there power and Jonathan brought hurricane to wipe it out?

“If Boko Haram is that of poverty in the North, were there farms and Jonathan brought tsunami and drought to destroy them? Within two years – is that possible?

“But what I can tell Nigerians is, ‘let those talking keep talking, time will tell.’”

The keynote speaker at the event, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Sokoto Catholic Diocese, had earlier picked holes in the 1999 Constitution and said the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was the most powerful President in the world.

Kukah also said a messiah was needed in the country, but he emphasised that the identity of the messiah was still unknown.

The President’s spokesman, Reuben Abati, had in an article in The Guardian newspaper on Sunday defended Jonathan against insinuations that he was a drunk and glutton.

Abati wrote, “We are not allowed to touch alcohol. Alcohol is not served during official duties. Yes, when there is an international function, wine is served, but nobody gets drunk around here (Presidency). That will amount to an act of indiscipline.

“The President himself does not allow alcohol to be served at his table. But when you go to social network media, they tell you something else. Lies. Lies. Lies.”

Meanwhile, Jonathan also joined the controversy over the propriety or otherwise of the creation of state police in the country. He called for restraint in the debate on the creation of state police, although he admitted that the National Council of State welcomed the proposal when it was raised at one of its meetings.

He said, “On the issue of state police, everybody knows I have been Deputy Governor and Governor in Bayelsa State, there was a time we were frustrated and we felt that we should have our police, that we would be able to manage criminality in our state better because of our local environment.

“Police from other parts of the country find it difficult to go into the waters, but for us who were born inside the water, even in the night we can enter ordinary canoe to go anywhere and we feel that if we have our local police it will be better for us because our police can reach everywhere in our state.

“But when I discussed the issue of state police with former presidents before a state council meeting, they said it is a good idea, which probably one day we will get there.

“And that is the emphasis I want to make, one day we’ll get to that point. But presently we have to be careful on how we go about it.”

He added, “Experiments have been made, there was a time when the police came up with a policy that police officers from the rank of inspector and below should be posted to their states of origin as a way of testing whether police familiar with the environment will make changes. But it was realised that when police officers from the rank of inspector down were posted to their state of origin, things became worse. So the police had to discontinue that policy.

“We also feel that looking at the federal level and the way the governors are handling elections in their states with the state electoral commission, where opposition parties hardly win even councillorship elections.

“So, if there is state police and the governors manipulate their state police the way they are manipulating their state electoral commissions, the instability that it will create, even what we are witnessing will be a child’s play.”

President of the NBA, Joseph Daudu, SAN, had in his address backed calls for the creation of state police in the country.

The NBA also condemned the level of insecurity and corruption in the country, and told the President that he would go down in history as the architect of a modern Nigeria if he revived the anti-corruption campaign.

The theme of the conference was ‘Nigeria as an emerging market: Redefining our laws and politics for growth’.

In apparent response to calls for the convocation of Sovereign National Conference, the President said in his address that democratic structures were already in place in the country.

“It is important to appreciate the existence of a democratic structure in the country, which, no matter our opinion, cannot be wished away,” he said.

Kukah, in a paper titled, ‘Nigeria as an emerging democracy: The dilemma and the promise,’ had said that due to the nature of the country’s constitution, the President of Nigeria was the most powerful in the world.

“The President of Nigeria is more powerful than any President anywhere in the world, even more powerful than the American President.

“The President of Nigeria can, as I am standing here now, decide to allocate an oil well to me,” the cleric said, drawing laughter from the audience.

“To be the President of Nigeria, you have to have the capacity to do well and that is where motive becomes important,” he added.

Noting that Nigerians were looking for a messiah, Kukah said only a Nigerian could lead the country to the Promised Land.

He added, “Nigerians are looking for a messiah, but a messiah is not going to come from another planet.

“The Nigerian messiah is among us – we were not told that a Ghanaian could be the President of Nigeria. The only qualification to being the President of Nigeria is being a Nigerian.

“The messiah is among us, but who the messiah is, we don’t know.”

He noted that all the Presidents since the country’s independence came to power by accident.

“There is no President of Nigeria till date that did not come to power by accident.

“This should teach us to be more modest because God always finds a way of bringing somebody who was heading somewhere else – who has no ambition,” he said.

Kukah went ahead to stress that “the Constitution as it is does not have the capacity to deal with the fine issues of a complex country like Nigeria.”

The cleric noted that calls for state creation are largely selfish.

He emphasised the need to address difficult questions in the country, like the country’s membership of the Organisation of Islamic Countries, the implementation of Sharia law in parts of the country, and the need for state police.

“When Shagari became the President of Nigeria, not a single Muslim in Nigeria mentioned Sharia law, because we were all busy eating,” he said.

The President Nigerians Know – by Paul Adepoju.

It was with a rare blend of shock and utmost surprise that I read Dr. Reuben Abati’s write-up on a Sunday morning, right in the presence of the Lord where nothing is hidden before the Most High. As expected, the veteran journalist dwelt more on portraying the president as a leader who has the interest of the nation at heart.
He also fired word missiles at the self-appointed social media activists thus: “we have a lot of unintelligent people repeating silly clichés and too many intelligent persons wasting their talents lending relevance to thoughtless conclusions.”
I agree with Dr. Abati on the contamination of public commentary, I however disagree with his assertion that lots of the commentators are unintelligent while the intelligent ones are wasting their talents, since he belonged to the same demography before pledging his allegiance to the presidency.
Obviously, he knows more about what a larger percentage of Nigerians don’t know about the man – Goodluck Jonathan, a man he also criticised from a distance prior to his appointment as the president’s media henchman. So it’s not unexpected for him to publicly clamour for fairer consideration of the president who could go down in history as having the lowest approval rating.
Having a closer relationship with people in government is something that has proven severally to be counter-productive for the machinery of governance because it clouds one’s objective assessment of the situation at hand.
On the notion that the president has good intentions for Nigeria, Dr. Abati and everyone at the presidency should know that Nigerians do not doubt that. As a matter of fact, all past presidents had (and still have) good intentions for our nation. The bone of contention however is not unrelated to the inability of the president to bring his brilliant intentions hanging somewhere in the skies to reality.
Despite national and international outcries that characterised the military junta, former heads of government such as Generals Sanni Abachi and Gbadamosi Babangida took the oath because they all had good intentions for the nation.
Extending this beyond the scope of government, one could unequivocally say that even the Nigerian contingent to the 2012 London Olympics had good intentions; they wanted to make the nation proud but their good intentions were inconsequential. Same could be said of the president.
As the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces whose primary role is to ensure the safety of Nigerians, the spate of suicide bombings, ethno-religious crisis, extra-judicial killings and several others could make Nigerians doubt the intention of the president. In other words, Nigerians aren’t doubting GEJ’s intentions, they just aren’t sure he can handle the challenges of his office effectively since thousands of homes daily mourn the demise of their loved ones as a result of circumstances that past presidents would have controlled effectively without bloodshed.
On alcoholism in Aso Rock, Dr. Abati ought to know that Nigerian constitution is silent about drinking alcoholic beverages at the presidential villa hence it’s left to the occupant, current occupant, to decide whether he will perform better under the mild or strong influence of emu oguro (fresh palm wine) or ordinary Zobo drink. All Nigerians care for is a vibrant president who is tackling all their problems.
One of the major reasons why the presidency is being tongue- and word-lashed extensively are his visits to countries where the governments are doing well; his inability or reluctance to introduce such reformations to better the lots of Nigerians whose taxes, sweats and shares of the nation’s oil wealth are fuelling the presidential jets.
As a veteran journalist who has written copiously on politics and government, Dr. Abati can’t expect the president to enjoy the support of all Nigerians; neither will they cheer him on since this isn’t a kindergarten class!
I guess they need to be reminded that Nigeria is the world’s largest black nation and the president is responsible for the fate of over 150 million people belonging to more than 300 ethnic groups; people who are vast and diverse as shown in recent world studies that described them as the happiest, the most spiritually faithful, most unfaithful, and most sexually active – yes we are.
So, instead of attempting to force the love of Goodluck Jonathan down the sore throats of Nigerians, Dr. Abati could do Nigerians, especially the loyal readers of his Friday and Sunday tirades on the pages of Guardian newspapers, much good by using his closeness to the president to give him a frank assessment of what Nigerians really want.
Despite the fact that the president feels he’s being unfairly crucified by the media and activists who are always asking him to resign, he should know that Nigerians aren’t asking him to bring the moon to bar beach, or the sun to the oil creeks; they only want security and the basic things of life in addition of signs that show that the president truly care about the plight of Nigerians by keeping to his promise.
Dr. Abati’s carefully written and scrutinized piece left out the various tell tale signs that made many Nigerians lose hope on the president’s ability to restore fading hope.
A BBM broadcast is currently circulating; it is laced with the president’s various promises while campaigning across the nation. So far, none of them has been satisfactorily fulfilled.
He also reneged on a number of promises including his pledge during the fuel subsidy uproar to reduce his foreign trips and entourage.
However, like some fellow Nigerians, I’m having second thoughts about the man Goodluck Jonathan. Obviously, lots of things are wrong with his administration but he’s making some risky bold steps which if successful could change the public perspective about him from a weakling to an intelligent president. PHCN is one of such.
So, instead of wasting public resources in recruiting media experts to “rebrand” and make the presidency “look good” to Nigerians, the president and his numerous committees need to work harder, sacrifice more, travel less and tackle more problems that will make life easier and safer for Nigerians.
Unlike Reuben Abati, Nigerians don’t see the president every day, but they see his handiworks in the high pump price of fuel and the incessant bomb blasts up north. According to them, the president they know isn’t working hard enough.

I will surprise my critics by 2013 – Jonathan.

Abuja – President Goodluck Jonathan said on Monday he would prove critics of his administration wrong by 2013 when the dividends of new policies introduced begin to manifest.
Jonathan said this while declaring open the 52nd Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja.
He said he was the most criticised President in the world at the moment because his critics failed to understand that the country’s current challenges predated his administration.
He assured that his critics would have the cause to praise him at the end of the life of his administration when his Transformation Agenda would have yielded the expected dividends.
“I think I am the most criticised president in the whole world, but I tell this noble audience that before I leave, I will also be the most praised president.

President Goodluck Jonathan

“I have experienced that before in my governor journey in Bayelsa state. In fact, people who were close to me will tell you that even after the election, I told them that in my first 12 months please cover your ears because you will hear all kinds of things. But as we progress, you will see (changes).
“We are working very hard to stabilise power. We are working very hard to resurface our roads. We have security challenges, which we are also working very hard to bring to reasonable control.
“It is not easy; we don’t have the magic wand, except the miracle worker that with the wave of the hand, probably will help to throw all these challenges away and prosperity will appear. But in pure governance issues, it takes time.
“Sometimes, even people who have held offices in government criticise me to the extent of personal abuses. Sometimes I ask, were there roads across in the country and Jonathan brought flood to wipe out these roads? or we had power and I brought hurricane to break down the entire infrastructure?
“If they say Boko Haram is because of poverty; were there massive irrigation projects in the North where agriculture can thrive and massive farms, and Jonathan brought drought to wipe out these farms? under two years is it possible?
“Well, time will tell. What I can tell Nigerians is that let those who criticize continue to criticise.
“We will do our best and as we progress, Nigerians will know the truth and we’ll see that we are committed and will surely transform this country,’’ he said
The President said that he promised to deliver free, fair and credible elections before the conduct of the 2011 general elections and the assessment of the polls by local and international observers was a testimony that he kept his promise. (NAN)

Senate Committee Directs CBN To Suspend Introduction Of N5,000 Note-PUNCH Newspaper.

Punch Newspapers, Lagos

The Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions on Monday directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to suspend the introduction of  N5,000 note until the Senate was properly briefed.
The Chairman of the committee, Senator Bassey Otu  (PDP- Cross River) issued the directive while speaking to newsmen in Abuja, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
Otu noted that the re-denomination of the currency required the approval of the National Assembly, warning that the CBN must avoid sending the wrong signals to stakeholders in the economy.
He said it was vital for the CBN to discuss the implications of the currency re-denomination with the Senate before it was implemented.
“ I believe that a project of this nature requires parliamentary approval because there are numerous fiscal implications on the entire economy.
 ”The CBN must be very careful in order not to send the wrong signal to the domestic sector and external partners that the Nigerian currency is valueless.
“So, we are sending a letter to them (CBN) to stop all further actions on this until the Senate of the Federal Republic is properly briefed,” he said.
He warned that the conversion of some denominations into coins would lead to a waste of public funds as the previous exercise did not yield the desired result.
“In 2005, the CBN undertook a major currency restructuring to re-coin some denominations which ran into billions of Naira.
“It did not work at all because both the goldsmiths and the blacksmiths converted the coins to moulding bangles, earrings and so on,” he added.
The committee chairman said there were other mechanisms available to the apex bank to tackle the problem of inflation other than the re-nomination of the nation’s currency.

Buhari Blasts IBB, Obasanjo, Jonathan For ‘Killing’ Nigeria’s Oil Industry.

By SaharaReporters, New York

Former Head of State and presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the 2011 general election, General Muhammadu Buhari, today blamed President Goodluck Jonathan, as well as former rulers Ibrahim Babangida and Olusegun Obasanjo, for killing the nation’s oil industry.
He also heaped blame for the security challenges now besetting the nation on the insincerity of Nigerian leaders.
General Buhari was speaking in Kaduna while playing host to leaders and members of the CPC, led by the House of Representatives member from Funtua/Dandume Federal Constituency of Katsina State, Dr. Mansur Abdulkadir.  They were on a courtesy visit to the party leader ahead of the forthcoming local government elections in Katsina, Buhari's home state.

He said that the administration of General Ibrahim Babangida was responsible for the high level of corruption and destruction in the petroleum industry, and added that the corrupt practices in the oil sector during the eras of Babangida, Obasanjo and Jonathan was to enslave the masses.

Looking forward, he called on Nigerians to come up with trusted leaders to steer the affairs of the nation if she is to move forward and realize its quest for development.
"The biggest challenge of Nigeria is for adequate security to be in place and ways in which we can protect the riches of this country and provide job opportunities for the youths in the country, so that we can build more industries as it was before,” he said.  “Inability of these industries to work has brought mistrust and corruption to Nigeria. Therefore, our leaders have to be sincere and lead with the fear of God and carry all along for Nigeria to be a better place.”

He challenged the nation’s leaders to honour promises made to the people, stressing that Nigeria cannot move forward if things that are supposed to be put in place are not.
In that regard, he stressed that the money which was siphoned in the recent pension scam and the petroleum industry scam must be brought back into the government’s coffers for good leadership.

He warned that all those that want the masses to vote and be voted for should go to the masses and get their mandate, and that the era of using force or bribing the masses to get political office is gone.

"A leader that wants to be a good leader must [look at] the needs of the people, the suffering, and the humiliation, and proffer solution to those problems and together we shall achieve greatness," he said.

N5000 note: Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s Logic.

My timeline has since been inundated with cries of “we don’t want!” the new N5000 note. I even joined at intervals away from my #SaveDebbie crowd-sourcing efforts. I then read the document below. So, let us keep the emotional arguments away for a while and argue against his own reasons behind the the “CURE” project of the Central Bank…that is, rationally argue bereft of weak cliches we have come to be used to. See the text below and you can also download:
PRESS BRIEFING BY THE GOVERNOR, CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA, MALLAM SANUSI
LAMIDO SANUSI, CON, ON THE PROPOSED CURRENCY RESTRUCTURING EXERCISE,
“PROJECT CURE”
PROTOCOL
Gentlemen of the Press, I welcome you to the briefing on the currency restructuring
exercise being implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Before I proceed, I would like to use this opportunity to express our gratitude to you all
for the support you have given to the Bank thus far, by helping in disseminating
information about our policies, programmes and activities. I urge you to continue
along this path of fruitful collaboration and support in the interest of our economy.
I am delighted to brief you today on the CBN’s proposed currency restructuring
exercise, which we have code-named “PROJECT CURE”. As you all know, one of the
core mandates of the CBN, like monetary authorities across the world, is the issuance
and management of the legal tender currency. This implies that the CBN is responsible
for the entire process of currency production and it includes the following elements:
design, production, storage, distribution and the disposal of unfit banknotes. An
important component of our responsibility is ensuring an optimal currency structure in
terms of efficiency, cost effectiveness and balanced mix of various denominations. It
entails the CBN being responsive to the changing needs of the economy and keeping
pace with evolving trends in contemporary currency technology-world.
In addition, in line with international best practices, monetary authorities are required to
review their nations’ currencies at intervals of between five (5) and eight (8) years. This
is done in order to address, among other factors, inevitable weaknesses and challenges 2
identified in the circulating banknotes and coins. These factors usually arise from
innovations in technology, aesthetics, security considerations and so on.
In the case of Nigeria’s currency, the following table clearly shows the period some
denominations have been circulating without any major review:

S/N Denomination Date Restructured No. of years
1. N100 December 1999 13
2. N200 November 2000 12
3. N500 April 2001 11
4. N1,000 October 2005 7
In Nigeria, the last comprehensive review of the currency was carried out in 2005. It
resulted in the introduction of the N20 polymer banknote followed by the varnishing of
the N5, N10 and N50 paper banknotes in 2007. These lower denomination notes were
eventually converted into polymer banknotes in 2009.
As a first step towards this routine exercise, the CBN carried out a review of the existing
currency series in 2010. The exercise threw up several revelations and challenges such
as the following:
? Public apathy towards the usage of the 50K, N1 and N2 coins, introduced in
February, 2007.
? The varnished lower denomination banknotes failed to adequately meet
expected longevity.
? Significant difficulties associated with the processing and destruction
(briquetting) of the polymer banknotes. It is important to add that this situation
has largely constrained the realisation of the benefits expected from polymer
banknotes over paper notes.
? The tactile feature for the visually impaired on the polymer notes has not been as
effective as desired.
In the light of the observed challenges, the CBN conducted several stakeholders’ fora
in 2011 on currency restructuring to gauge public and independent perspectives on the 3
existing banknotes and coin series. The issues raised and the subsequent findings and
decisions were summarised as follows:
? Due to inflationary pressures, the CBN should coin lower denominations of
currency up to N100. The relevant denominations in this category are N5, N10,
N20, N50 and N100;
? Need to encourage the usage of coins; and
? Enhancement of the quality of banknotes.
? The CBN should introduce higher denomination banknotes to discourage
dollarization, reduce the volume of banknotes as well as the overall cost of
currency management.
Gentlemen of the Press, we are now about to embark on another comprehensive
review of our national currency structure. The impending review exercise is aimed at
achieving the following objectives:
(i) Upgrading the design of the entire existing range of currency
denominations in order to enhance the quality and integrity of the
banknotes;
(ii) Incorporating a more effective feature for the visually challenged;
(iii) Introducing new security features on the redesigned banknotes. The
intention here is to enable us take ownership and control of the new
features on the series and eliminate payment of royalties on patented
security features;
(iv) Achieving an optimal currency structure that will ensure cost effectiveness
and balanced mix and utilization of all the currency denominations;
(v) Introducing new series of coins that would be generally acceptable for
purposes of transaction; and
(vi) Reducing the cost of production, distribution and disposal of banknotes
by introducing a higher bill that would reduce the volume and cost of
notes in circulation. The savings would be channeled to provide
incentives for the usage and acceptance of coins. 4
As a means of realising the above objectives, several entities have collaborated to
redesign the new currency series. These include the Currency Operations Department,
Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPM) Plc, along with competent
international consultants.
On the 28
th of November, 2011, the CBN Board considered and approved the new
currency series. It subsequently sought and on the 19
th of December, 2011 obtained
the approval of His Excellency, the President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR.
Under the new structure, the existing denominations of N50, N100, N200, N500 and
N1,000 will be redesigned with added new security features. It is our pleasure to inform
you that a new high currency denomination will also be introduced. It is the N5,000
note. In the same vein, the lower banknote denominations of N5, N10 and N20 will be
coined. Consequently, the Naira currency structure will now be twelve (12); these are
six (6) coins and six (6) banknote denominations. The details are as follows:
Coins Banknotes
50K N50
N1 N100
N2 N200
N5 N500
N10 N1,000
N20 N5,000
Presently, efforts are being put in place to ensure that the redesigned N50 and the new
N5,000 banknotes should be launched early in 2013.
It has been argued that the introduction of a higher denomination banknote could
exert inflationary pressures in the economy. Ladies and gentlemen, inflation in Nigeria is
a monetary phenomenon. Secondly, in some countries such as Singapore, Germany
and Japan the highest denominations are 10,000 SGD, €500 and Yen10,000
respectively. These denominations have relatively high dollar equivalent. The levels of
inflation are, however, low at 2.8, 1.1, and -0.7 as at 2010.
Furthermore, we believe that the introduction of a higher bill would complement the
Bank’s cash less policy as it would substantially reduce the volume of currency-incirculation particularly in the long term. 5
To encourage the usage of coins the CBN would liaise with relevant MDAs, DMBs, road
transport workers, market operators, small businesses, supermarkets, vendors, etc to
create avenues for the usage of the coins. We would ensure that coin collection is
convenient and the infrastructure readily assessable.
Please note that the introduction of the new currency series will be a gradual process,
as the banknotes will circulate simultaneously with the old series until they are fully
withdrawn from circulation. Therefore, there would be no urgent need for exchange of
the old for the new banknotes by the general public for as long as the old banknotes
are in circulation, they will remain legal tender.
Gentlemen of the Press, this is an overview of our currency restructuring exercise, known
as “PROJECT CURE”. I request that you join us in our effort to provide our country with a
befitting currency structure that will be an effective facilitator of economic activities.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, CON
Governor, CBN
23rd August, 2012

How to get Nigeria back on track, by Tinubu, Soyinka, others.

From left : Governor Abiola Ajimobi, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Mr. Brian Browne and Mr. Howard Jetter at the book launch on Saturday.

 

IT was meant to be a presentation of the book jointly written by Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and United States former Consul-General in Niageria Brian Borwne in Chicago, the United States (US), but it became a forum where suggestions were offered on how to get Nigeria’s economy out of the woods.
Literary icon Prof Wole Soyinka, who wrote the foreward to “Financialism - Water from an Empty Well”,  and co-author Tinubu, warned of the consequences of leaving the dwindling economy in the hands of half-baked and inexperienced managers to fix.
 At the Rainbow Push Headquarters in Chicago, venue of the presentation on Saturday were civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson Jnr, Borwne, many Nigerian professionals resident in Chicago and other parts of the US,  former American diplomats, and civil rights leaders. 
In the audience also were: Governors Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) and Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Nigerian lawmakers, council chairmen and youths. 
Soyinka warned that it was dangerous to allow leaders who lack the wherewithal to lead the country on the path of economic perdition. 
According to him, one of such leaders ruled Nigeria for about eight years recently and only succeeded in multiplying Nigeria’s economic woes. 
His words: “I have no qualms declaring that I am not fully economic literate. That is why I leave it to the experts to figure out. First, let it be clearly stated that I am not in the least embarrassed or ashamed to acknowledge myself as an economic illiterate. 
“This is quite unlike a former head of state, who was thus dubbed and never forgave his perceptive analyst, even after his death. That economist was my late friend, Prof Ojetunde Aboyade, the only ‘specialist’ from whom I received any insightful…”
 While presenting the book, Soyinka acknowledged Tinubu and Browne as key figures in the unfolding world where the book they have both written opens a new window of how the world’s financial system was designed to the disadvantage of many people.  
Soyinka said: “The skewed world of economics needs to be challenged. A world where the umbilical cord between produce and tally-card was slashed when no one was looking, and the latter has come to be a thing-in-itself, empowering a parasitic class of finance controllers who place the mere tally over and above the material goods – yet succeed in making the rest of the world fall in line! 
“The collapse of the dominating economies of Europe and America is a call for re-thinking, away from orthodox assumptions and givens, under which satellite economies in a distant continent like ours have taken a severe beating, whether or not their governments choose to admit it”. 
Rev. Jackson Jnr, who moderated the book presentation and signing, said the time has come for both Africa and African –American perspective to fuse into one because both are challenged by similar issues. 
He welcomed the fact that the exposition in the book raises fundamental issues.
He provided answers to why Africa and African –Americans live under a discriminatory economic system. 
Tinubu stated the rationale behind the book publication, saying he was provoked by the injustices of the economic system and how the contradictions eventually caught up with the players, who left the low level income earner and small businesses with the short end of the stick.
Tinubu said: “Productive capitalism relies on the discipline of the market place. What now occurs is that powerful actors exploit the licence the market place affords them. In doing so, they endanger the very economies from which they unduly profit. 
“In other words, they have emptied the well yet continue to seek to take water from it. These people practice a speculative brand of economics. My co-author and I, have given this mutation of capitalism the name of ‘financialism’. Financialism is capitalism so shorn of all restraint that it cannibalizses itself” 
The former Lagos State governor decried the wiping away of the earnings of the struggling segment of the society and demanded a new thinking and approach on how to deal with the problem. 
“Recurrent crises show that something is profoundly wrong with the global financial system. Unless we want to suffer these damaging jolts for the foreseeable future, we need to make systemic corrections. 
“Both developed and emergent nations have committed the similar sin of turning what should be productive economies into factories of financial speculation that generate more financial paper than they do material products that real people can use to improve their living conditions”. 
Giving Nigerian leaders food for thought, Tinubu said: “Nigeria needs to be put to work. We have a lot of catching up to do. Asian governments support the industrialisation of their economies. Wise European nations are starting to retool their industrial base. “Nigeria cannot hope to achieve prosperity simply by exporting exhaustible natural resources. We must follow the historic route that all large nations have followed in reaching national prosperity. We must make, create and export what we make and create”.
 Browne argued that recession has put black America into a structural recession. 
He said: “The financial system has become over inflated and incestuous to the point of killing the productive sector.”
Brian maintained that Africans cannot be orphans on their own land and the 21st Century story of Africa must be written by Africans. 
Ambassador Howard Jeter, who reviewed the book, stated that the two perspectives from Africa and the United States offer an invaluable insight into the global financial structure and offers practical solutions and challenges what we know as impositions.
 Aregbesola and Ajimobi also aligned with the call for a more global equitable financial order.

The Nation.