I HAVE BEEN TO CHRUCH EVENTS WHERE I AM BEING USHERED TO OCCUPY SEATS WHERE MINISTERS/PASTORS ARE SEATED, AND SOMETIMES I FEEL THERES NO USE, I USUALLY PREFERED BEING AMONG CONGREGANTS, BUT FOR PROTOCOLS SAKE. AND I HAVE OBSERVED SOME MINISTERS ARENT COMFORTABLE IF SEATS ARE NOT AVAILABLE AT THE FRONT FOR THEM. About this update, where president GEJ is standing doesnt matter as far as am concerned, if they have no particular order for posing for this picture. Some Nigerians just worry themselves for things that doesnt count, NA WA! US-Africa Summit Photograph Stirs Debate A photograph showing President Goodluck Jonathan and other African leaders posing with their American counterpart, Barack Obama, is the subject of a raging debate online. Jonathan is seen standing at the far end of the third row in the group photograph, which has since gone viral on the Internet. The photograph was taken at the closing ceremony of the three-day US-Africa Leaders Summit held in Washington DC last week. The African leaders in the picture include 37 Presidents, nine Prime Ministers, three Vice Presidents, the King of Swaziland and the host, President Obama. Reacting to the group photograph on social media, some Nigerians said it was an insult for the President of Africa’s largest economy and most populous black nation in the world to take the back seat at such an important gathering. An online activist, Atom Lim, observed that President Paul Biya of Cameroun and his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta, were on the front row in the group photograph. Lim said that it was “shocking” to see President Jonathan in the rear, adding that the development was indicative of a slide in Nigeria’s profile. He tweeted, “Let’s face it: We are talking about the President of Africa’s biggest economy ‘hiding’ behind Presidents of other African nations. We are talking about the President of a country that has done more for African unity and peace than any other ‘hiding’ behind Presidents of countries like Kenya. “Even Uhuru Kenyatta, who assumed office last year, is standing in the front row with Obama. Or has he (Kenyatta) been President longer than Jonathan? No White House staffer will dare put former President Olusegun Obasanjo at the back in a photo op with African leaders. Obasanjo would so leave that stage. “Or would Obama attend a meeting with global leaders and you put him in the back row? In fact, I’m yet to see a group photo of leaders showing Obama in the back row for any reason. What’s the standard protocol there?” Political blogger, Japheth Omojuwa, buttressed Lim’s position, noting that the picture portrayed Nigeria as being relegated to the background from the “front row position” it had traditionally occupied on the continental stage. Omojuwa argued that where the President of Africa’s largest economy stood among fellow African leaders mattered, adding that standing at the extreme was totally unacceptable. He said, “Jonathan is certainly not the shortest person there. Pictures like these are never even about height. Rather than take a back seat his predecessor, Obasanjo would rather fly back to Abuja. “You won’t even dare ask him to. He had his issues – like disastrous elections – but he represented us well abroad. He (Obasanjo) was feared and respected. “Obasanjo was a third of the triumvirate that led Africa. Mbeki and Bouteflika/Gaddafi were the others. Today, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe fires shots at us. Even Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni fires shots at Abuja. See what has become Nigeria in international politics.” Another online commentator, Ijeoma Ezeasor, explained that the picture portrayed Nigeria as “sinking in the comity of nations” adding “this picture speaks volume and shows decline of a regional power.” But the Presidency has dismissed the insinuation that Jonathan was not adequately representing Nigeria’s interest in international politics as wishful thinking. Special Assistant to the President on New Media, Reno Omokri, said that what Nigerians should watch out for was the positive gains of the summit to the Nigerian economy and not Jonathan’s position in a group photograph with his colleagues. “It is not where a leader stands in a picture that matters. What matters is what he stands for in life,” Omokri wrote on his Twitter page. Also, some Nigerians have dismissed the reactions, describing them as unpatriotic. An online commentator, Kingsley Onwuka-Kalu, notes that Jonathan’s third row position in the photograph does not make Nigeria inferior to any of the other African nations represented at the summit. In a post on Facebook, Onwuka-Kalu added, “My opinion is that where he (Jonathan) stands isn’t the issue. Believe it or not he (Jonathan) leads Africa’s largest economy and he is and represents a force that the world cannot ignore! We should start appreciating our own.”
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 14:01:42 +0000
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