Before his blistering New Year eve attack on President Goodluck Jonathan, with a demand he resigns or be voted out over Nigeria’s alarming insecurity and corruption, outspoken Catholic Priest, Ejike Mbaka, had a month earlier praised the president for “doing well”, defending him for not rescuing the abducted Chibok girls, a recording of the Church’s session shows. At a November 2014 session of his Enugu parish, Father Mbaka told the visiting wife of the president, Patience Jonathan, that her husband had “done well”, and deserved a second term. He said Mr. Jonathan could have done more if not for “distractions”, apparently referring to the security challenges the administration has grappled with for years. The cleric also faulted those blaming the president for not rescuing more than 200 schoolgirls abducted from Chibok by Boko Haram militants more than nine months ago. Campaigners had no reason asking the president to return the girls home since Mr. Jonathan was not keeping them, the priest said. “Jonathan is not a kidnapper,” Mr. Mbaka declared at a session also attended by deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, and thousands of worshippers. A little more than a month later, the priest backtracked and urged Mr. Jonathan to “quietly resign” for failing to stem corruption and insecurity, and failing to provide jobs for Nigerian youth. He also endorsed Mr. Jonathan’s main challenger in February presidential election, Muhammadu Buhari, canvassing support for him. It is not clear why the priest reversed his earlier position just within weeks. PREMIUM TIMES could not contact his office Saturday. But Mr. Mbaka’s blunt remarks on December 31 night appears a pointer to the uncertainties that may emerge as the nation moves towards February elections, which promises to be the nation’s most closely contested since 1999.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 18:45:00 +0000
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