PRESIDENT JONATHAN AND FACE BOOK
Earlier this year when President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria opened his face book page, everybody around the world was praising him for this bold step, at least he chose not to follow the Umaru go-slow style. This good gesture has afforded many Nigerians the opportunity to reach the number citizen of Nigeria directly instead of having to pass through so many protocols.
While it is not clear whether the president is really the one managing the page himself or somebody else has been hired to do the job for him, one is alarmed by the recent postings on the page which make me wonder whether the president is really sensitive to the plight of Nigerians. Just the other day, he posted a comment Praising himself about how he has been able to increase the number of international flights to the United states of America from one direct flight which it used to be, then the following day; he posted another comment about the use of the word naija instead of Nigeria as many Nigerians now use the word naija more often than Nigeria. Interestingly, majority of the reactions to his comment clearly shows how unhappy many Nigerians are about his insensitivity to the plight, cry and yearnings of Nigerian, I can’t imagine Obama telling the youths in America to stop using the word Yankee.
In a country where the power sector is nothing to write home about, where all the south east state universities are closed down, a country where many things are not working, rather than tackle the numerous problems of Nigeria, Mr. President chose to talk about international flight and naija. I beg to ask sir, how many Nigerian have money to buy a local flight ticket let alone pay for an international flight; how will the use of naija instead of Nigeria put food on the table of an average Nigerian and finally how will the two issues mentioned above affect the public/international image of Nigeria? It is time for Mr. President to get more serious about developing Nigeria rather than turning us to a laughing stock in the eyes of other fellow countries. All the comment Mr. President is pasting on face book has a way of affecting his ratings negatively especially as elections approach.
Somebody please tell Mr. President that we the youths of Nigeria hereby demand for the following: one: The re-opening of all the south-east state universities; tow: A concrete road map to solve the problem of transportation and electricity; three: The problems of Niger Delta should be resolved once and for all, the authorities should stop politicizing the Niger Delta problems; lastly, the 2011 elections should be conducted in a free and fair manner in such a way that the results will be acceptable to all and sundry unlike what Chief Obasanjo did in 2007.
In conclusion, somebody should please tell Mr. President that all eyes are on him to deliver the dividends of democracy and I still wonder till tomorrow what has happened to the seven point agenda of late president Umaru Musa Yaradua.
OYEDE SAHEED, UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS. [email protected]