Interim National Publicity Secretary, All Progressives Congress, Lai Mohammed
The All Progressives Congress has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to take time off his premature “campaign” to visit Yobe State to commiserate with bereaved families of the innocent schoolchildren who were murdered by terrorists last month.
The party said it was inconceivable that about two weeks after the killings of more than 29 schoolchildren, the President had not deemed it fit to visit the state.
This was contained in a statement by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Lagos
on Monday.
According to the APC, a visit by the President will provide succour to the families of the victims, reassure them as well as residents of the state, that their government has not abandoned them to their fate.
The party also said such a visit would also boost the morale of troops battling the terrorists.
The party said, “There is no other democracy in the world in which that number of schoolchildren will be killed and the head of government will carry on with business as usual.
“Since the killings, President Jonathan has made a national broadcast in which he mentioned the killings only as a footnote, instead of making it the central point of the broadcast.
“Since the killings, the President has presided over a wasteful national celebration, in which the drums were rolled out to mark the country’s centenary even as devastated families were still mourning and those injured were reeling from their pains.”
The party also observed that since the killings, President Jonathan had been gallivanting across the country, surreptitiously kick-starting his campaign for 2015.
It observed that the President’s junketing had taken him everywhere, including Sokoto, Minna, Ilorin and Onitsha.
The APC also said it was sad that the President had pointedly avoided Yobe. It noted that the President had been dancing on the graves of those innocent souls. It advised the President to make amends by visiting Yobe “today.”
The party also advised the President to take a cue from what obtained in other lands, especially in the US after which Nigeria modelled its democracy.
“In January 2014, US President Barack Obama flew to Tennessee, where he spoke at a high school where students were still reeling from the shooting to death of just one of their classmates.
“In 2012, President Obama paid a similar visit to Newtown in Connecticut, where he met relatives of the 20 schoolchildren and eight adults who were shot. These are examples worthy of emulation by President Jonathan” it said.
The APC challenged the President to tell Nigerians why he would not visit the scene of the gruesome murders.
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