28th December, 2011
The Campaign for Democracy, CD and the African Renaissance Party, ARP, have tackled President Goodluck Jonathan over the spate of bombings in the country, especially the Christmas Day bombing and asked him to wake up.
The CD denounced the bombings that took place in different parts of Northern Nigeria on Christmas Day during which many lives were lost.
“The bombing of worshippers in churches on Christmas Day is most heinous and a total sacrilege that portrays the perpetrators as worse than the devil himself. We commiserate with all the bereaved families and the extended families of the four families totally wiped out in the attack on the Catholic Church at Madala, Niger State,†said Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, National President, CD said in her statement.
“We also wish the wounded and the traumatised quick recovery in these orgies of violence unleashed to shatter the mood of celebration in the country on Christmas Day.
“The CD is, however, troubled that these calamities were not averted in spite of prior warnings by the terrorists that they were going to do this on Christmas Day. This is an indictment of our security agencies and the vulnerability of our country to evil- minded people,†she added.
“We are much more alarmed by the faux pas committed by President Jonathan who said to a nation looking up to him for assurance that bombings around us is a burden we must live with until it fizzles out.
“The President was later shown on television grinning from ear-to- ear as he received the Vice President for his own Christmas celebration while several of his citizens who wanted to be in the presence of God were either cold in the morgue or wriggling in pains on their hospital beds. This is sheer insensitivity that is as gruesome as the wickedness of the bombers,†Okei-Odumakin declared.
According to her, “those are not the words of assurance Nigerians need from their president in these dark hours. A responsive leadership would choose better words to speak to the people, roll up his sleeves and mobilise the angst in the land to send signals to the terrorists that they would be fished out.
“Our president seems to be telling the nation that for as long as there is peace in the Villa and N1 billion to eat the best food money can buy, the rest are on their own.
“If the truth must be told, it is time the President gets up his seat and does one of the things he is elected to do: secure the country. He must retire his service chiefs, reorganise the security forces and give a clear road map to combat terror in our land.”
In its own reaction to the bombings, the Lagos State chapter of the ARP said the party was in shock at the level of violence unleashed on innocent citizens by Boko Haram.
“It is now crystal clear that Boko Haram has declared war against Nigeria and against the emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan as president in the most demonic form. Therefore, the kid glove approach to this deadly group must cease immediately,†Chief Udoka Udeogaranya, Chairman of the party stated.
“ARP Lagos demands urgent sack of non-performing service chiefs, and an immediate declaration of state of emergency in the states of the federation where this group seems to be enjoying political goodwill and also in the states where they have perpetuated their inhuman acts.
“While this terror group is keen in making Nigeria an unsafe haven, we would like to appeal to all state governors to be on red alert and to be more proactive in confronting this deadly group,†he said.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga