Jonathan: why I am under attack

President Goodluck Jonathan warned on Monday that he would  not allow the selfish  ambition of some Nigerians for the 2015 general election  to destroy the country.

The president, who accused the opposition parties and the critics of his administration deliberately tarnishing the image of his administration, reminded Nigerians that it was such acerbic attacks that provided the premise for the  'wrongful overthrow'  of   the  Shehu Shagari administration in 1983.

The president spoke at at third the  annual  lecture series  ofNigerian Pilot Newspapers and Nigerian Newsworld, where he was represented by minister of communication, Mr. Labran Maku,.

The President said he would cherish constructive criticisms, but regretted that most critics of his administration were not constructive enough to challenge his  development strides.

According to him, he is no longer moved by such criticisms.

He said, 'There is a difference between ambition and reality. Go for your ambition, nobody is disturbing you because it is a free world. Go and compete, but don't pull down this country called Nigeria because of your personal ambition. It is unacceptable.

'I think there is a difference between debates and insults. I reject insults and the fact that I am a public officer doesn't give anybody the liberty to insult me. Most of the time you cannot detach the Office of the President and honour of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

'There are people who are honestly trying to put things down for this country to move on. I think we can see the difference between facts and fiction.

'Let us not continue to behave as if we can pull down our own house; we as politicians and public servants should not behave as if we were picked on the streets. You don't just go and pour acid on the faces of public officers.

'When Shagari was overthrown in 1983, there was a lot of noise that the government was not doing anything and nothing was not said about Shagari's regime.

'Shagari was overthrown amidst lies….The greatest shame of this country is Ajaokuta Steel Complex. If Shagari was there, by 1986, he would have completed Ajaokuta.'

The Information Commissioner also condemned the media many of which he accused of elevating fiction as news.

According to him,  'If you look through our media reports today, we see insults and abuses, every day. If somebody did not abuse Mr. President, it will look as if there is no journalism on that day.

'We are talking about our country, our nation's institutions and democracy;  we are talking about setting standards for this democracy, standards of behaviour, standards of conduct and standards of principles of behaviour and every democracy must be parliamentary. We should not go personal, but we are going too personal.'