The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as a good step, the order by President Goodluck Jonathan for the stoppage of the #BringBackJonathan hash tag.
It said it is perceived as a mockery of the #BringBackOurGirls hash tag, which has helped to call global attention to the fate of the over 200 girls, who were abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in Chibok, Borno State, almost five months ago.
In a statement in London yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, APC, however, said the President made a mockery of his administration and his country by waiting for an international condemnation of the shameless and brazen usurpation of the #BringBackOurGirls hash tag before issuing the directive.
It said: ‘’Had the US newspaper, Washington Post, not written a stinking editorial decrying the Jonathan administration for appropriating the BringBackOurGirls hash tag for his re-election, the administration would have continued its brazenness without regard to the feelings of the parents of the girls or indeed Nigerians.
‘’Again, the administration has waited for a global opprobrium before doing what is right. Recall that it took an international media campaign before the Jonathan administration acknowledged, after 19 days that the Chibok girls were missing in the first instance. Recall also that it took a 17-year-old, Yousafzai Malala, to make the President realise that he should meet the parents of the girls, even if he eventually insulted the grieving parents by inviting them to Abuja instead of going to visit them in their abode.
“It is important that we don’t make a mockery of our own people, so that we don’t become an object of international mockery.’’
The party said as belated as the President’s directive on #BringBackJonathan hash tag is, it is a good first step that must be followed by another directive ordering the so-called Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) to stop its rallies that have offended the sensibilities and intelligence of Nigerians.
It said the noisy and sycophantic rallies held across the nation, ostensibly to collect signatures from Nigerians urging Jonathan to seek re-election, contrast with the challenges facing the nation, which is being dismembered town by town by the terrorist group, Boko Haram.
‘’Nigeria is in a state of war, a state of anarchy, a state of loss never witnessed since the end of the unfortunate civil war in 1970. Terrorists are capturing towns after towns and hoisting their flags over the seized territories. Our troops are engaged in an epic battle to ward off the terrorists. Our people are being daily slaughtered by the marauding terrorists, and Ebola is very much here with us.
‘’Therefore, this cannot be the time for festivities and celebrations, the type being orchestrated by the government under the TAN banner. The rallies insult the troops, who are battling Boko Haram. The rallies insult Nigerians, who are praying for the unity of the nation in the face of the madness by the marauders. The rallies offend the sensibilities of the families of our citizens, who are being mowed down daily by Boko Haram. They must stop forthwith,’’ APC said.
The party wondered whether the organisers of the rallies and those who had been mocking the #BringBackOurGirls campaigners knew that Nigerians were not fools, hence could see the deceit, the callousness and the insensitivity of the Jonathan administration in secretly funding the rallies and the anti-BringBackOurGirls campaigns.
‘’Really, what makes the President and his backers think he should be brought back? Is it because he is presiding over the dismemberment and humiliation of a once proud nation? Is it because he presides over an administration, which is corrupt. That cannot account for 20 billions dollars in oil money. That cannot successfully prosecute anyone over 1 trillion oil subsidy fraud? Is it because of an unparalleled incompetence, which has led to a massive decay in infrastructure and lack of jobs for our youths? Or is it because he has exposed Nigeria to unprecedented global ridicule?
‘’There must be a limit to the desperation of a President to win re-election at all cost. There must be a political price to pay for a President, who would willfully subvert the constitution he swore to uphold. There must be some introspection by a President, who will be jetting around with an alleged sponsor of terrorism. As we have warned before, when a drum is beating too hard, it is about to burst. President Jonathan must take a moment to reflect, to realise that he can only preside over a country that remains whole, not one that has been fractured or bombed out of existence by terrorists,’’ APC said.
