Northerners to Jonathan: You’ve failed

Prominent voices from Northern Nigeria have replied President Goodluck Jonathan’s self appraisal in his Independence Day address, where he said, he has performed well in the last five years of his government.

They disagreed with the President on the claim, saying he has failed woefully with his inability to put his feet on the ground and deal with those who had been the cog in the will of Nigeria’s progress.

The northern public also faulted the celebration of the country’s independence, saying only those looting the nation’s treasury had reasons to celebrate.

Shehu Sani, a prominent human rights activist, said, “The Jonathan administration has been able to appease the yearning of people of South South to produce the President of Nigeria. But all that has is that he ended up enriching a gang of militants and he has become so inept and incapable of prosecuting corruption.

“The nation has never been divided like we have been under Goodluck Jonathan and the worst of all today, we are faced with a serious problem of insurgency and kidnapped to which the reputation of his government damaged.

“The President has failed woefully, especially with his inability to put his feet down and deal with some certain persons in his government who had been seen to be cog in the will of Nigeria’s progress.”

On the nation’s independence, he said, “You can categorize Nigeria’s history into four segments namely the colonial era, democratic era, military rule, civil war and now insurgency. To assess the journey so far, you can also sub divide it into three or four sub sections.

“You can assess the journey so far politically, economically, socially and the journey so far historically. Politically, you can say that we have spent most of our period of independence under military rule and that had denied Nigerians the opportunity to rise and fall and learn from the democratic process.

“The military rule was a period characterized by human right violations, tyranny, depression and unaccountable government. It was also a period of political prosecution. The military rule was an aberration, it was a moment in which individuals took up arms against the will and the constitution of the country and impose themselves as political leaders. In the process, they amass wealth, stylishly the socio-political and economic development of the country.

The Spokesman of Northern Elders’ Forum, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, said, “There is nothing to say than telling Nigerians that there is no reason to celebrate Nigeria at 54.

While, a former federal lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, said, “Nigeria is not in the right direction towards development. We are only in the direction towards mayhem and confusion, poverty, corruption and irresponsible governance. Therefore, there is nothing celebrate about our being 54. And those who go out of their way to loot our treasury to celebrate know within themselves that, there is nothing to celebrate.”