THE PRESIDENTIAL VISIT TO CHIBOK I was glad when I heard the news that President Jonathan has cancelled his trip to Chibok. Whatever public relations gimmick the trip was meant for, to me its irrelevant as long as its not safe . Nigeria doesnt have the kind of security architecture for a high profile target like Jonathan to go anywhere he wishes. Traveling to Borno will mean him landing at a nearby airport and going by Chopper. The Presidential Air Force chopper is a sitting duck for any terrorist with a surface to air missile. Imagine Goodluck Jonathan being brought back to Otuoke Bayelas state in a body bag. What would the Niger Delta Nigerian do? What would the southern Nigerian do? What about the christians? I really doubt if this country has the unity to survive all of that. To say region and religion play no role in our polity show you are ignorant of this country Nigeria. I have been reading very respectable Nigerian columnist referring to Jonathans canceling of his Chibok trip as a sign of cowardice . Believe you me,nobody will benefit more in terms of PR than Jonathan if he made the Chibok trip, but Im sure we all know that a President cant move against the security reports of his security details. At this point when there are rumors of saboteurs everywhere, I think it will be foolhardy for Jonathan to put up a brave face just to visit Borno state. If Jonathan has security clearance, why wont he go to Borno state? It will serve his purpose as this will be a good PR stint for him. But until then, I think Jonathan owes us to stay alive at this very critical stage of our nation. Our country is at war and we are playing politics . Let me take you back to 6th of April 1994, a plane carrying President Juvénal Habyarimana, the Hutu president of Rwanda was shot down by suspected Tutsi militias. The spiral reaction was unimaginable . In a 100 days, one million Rwandans, which is a total of 20% of the whole country population was hacked to death by machetes and cudgels. 70% of the entire Tutsi population was wiped out in three months. The horror was unimaginable,nobody could have believed that such hatred had long brewed amongst tribes who spoke the same language and married one another. So all you writers,bloggers and cyber Nigerians,be patriotic and spread positive vibrations and we pray MAY IT NEVER HAPPEN IN NIGERIA.
Posted on: Mon, 19 May 2014 09:41:04 +0000