President Goodluck Jonathan has drawn
the ire of some Nigerians for showcasing four of his children on
Facebook in commemoration of the 2014 Father’s Day celebration.
Basking in the euphoria of the Father’s
Day, Jonathan took to Facebook and posted a picture of himself in a
group photograph with his children, with a message hailing the
contribution of Nigerian dads and father figures in their children’s
lives.
“I wish all fathers in Nigeria a happy Fathers Day. GEJ,” the message penned on his Facebook page read.
But no sooner had the President updated
his Facebook page with the photograph and accompanying message was he
besieged with a barrage of criticisms.
The queries by his angry fans bordered
on the fact that the President, as a father, should explain how he would
feel, if any of his children were denied freedom and held in
incarceration for over two months as in the case of the over 200 Chibok
girls.
READ THEIR REPONSES AFTER THE CUT....................................
According to the protest message dropped
on the President’s wall, they argued that the state of affairs with the
parents of the abducted girls and the First Family were in sharp
contrast.
As Joseph Danjaba, an employee of the
Federal Ministry of Justice put it, while the President was catching fun
and having wonderful moments with his kids at the Aso Rock on the
Father’s Day, the fathers of the affected girls are distraught while
their daughters are going through “hell.”
Danjaba stated that it was shameful and
insensitive on the part of the President to take to social media and
flaunt his kids while other fathers face an uncertain future about the
whereabouts of their kids.
“Your Excellency, you are happy with
your children while other people’s children are passing through hell in
Sambisa Forest, and you cannot do anything to help them, other than to
post pictures of your children. What a shame! You have failed
Nigerians,” Danjaba added.
A banker, Zulkiflih Alhassan, accused
the President of not being a good ‘father’, adding that he sought to
know if the President would have taken to social media to celebrate
Father’s Day if any of his kids were to have been in the shoes of the
Chibok girls languishing in the Boko Haram’s den for the past two
months.
“I wish you had done the needful to
secure the release of the Chibok girls in order to put a smile on the
faces of their fathers. I wonder if you would be celebrating if any of
the girls in this picture were to be among the missing Chibok girls. Let
us wish for our neighbours what we wish for ourselves,” Alhassan
stated.
Another respondent charged Jonathan to
immediately take steps to rescue the abducted girls before ever asking
Nigerians to celebrate the Father’s Day with him.
“What Father’s Day is Mr. President
wishing Nigerians? Does the blood of fatherhood run in his vein? If so,
let him take steps to rescue and deliver safely the Chibok girls to
their parents. Then will he have the guts to say ‘Happy Father’s Day!’
to Nigerian fathers,” she said.
For Prosper Michael, the President
should take urgent steps to redeem his image such that the perception by
many Nigerians that he has neglected the children of the masses to
suffer in the hands of the insurgents will fade away.
Michael argued that Nigerian children
need to enjoy a small fraction of safety and security from aggression
and attacks, as his children enjoy, as indicated by their cheerful look
in the pictures he shared online.
He added, “Happy Father’s Day, Mr.
President. I believe you are happy with your children by staying with
them but remember our abducted girls in the forest. Do you know what
they’re going through now? Their parents are weeping day and night.
“If I may ask you, sir, had it been any
of your children were among the abducted girls, what would you have done
to bring them back since two months? It is your responsibility to take
every daughter and son of this great nation as yours, being the
President.
“It is the hope of every Nigerian to
lead a better life. Please, wipe the tears of the masses. I don’t have
to talk much but the point is that you must bring back our girls as you
are enjoying with your children. Let other families enjoy with their
children also.”
But amidst the bashing the President
received from his Facebook fans, some Nigerians fended off the
criticisms of his social media engagement on the Father’s Day
celebration.
One of the commentators who rose in the
President’s defence was Umunna David. David stated that Nigerians should
endeavour to appreciate the efforts of the Federal Government in
bringing back the girls even if it had remained unsuccessful.
The Boko Haram insurgency, David argued,
is not a child’s play and as such the President should not be unfairly
attacked for his inability to rescue the girls.
“Are you saying that you don’t
appreciate all the effort of the government so far in finding the Chibok
girls? Do you think fighting the Boko Haram is a child’s play? Our
President is doing the best he can to bring back this girls,” David
added.
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