The Economist, a Bristish news publication, has labeled President Goodluck Jonathan as incompetent.
The magazine, pointing to the inability of Jonathan and his military to rescue over 234 school girls kidnapped over three weeks ago by Boko Haram fighters, say they cannot be trusted any longer to guarantee security for Nigerians.
According to The Economist, “the worst aspect of the Nigerian government’s handling of the abduction is its seeming indifference to the plight of the girls’ families. It took more than two weeks before Jonathan addressed the matter in public.”
The paper also accused wife of the president, Patience Jonathan, of indiscriminate use of power even when she was not a constitutionally elected official. “The president’s wife, Patience, ordered the arrest of two leaders of the protests, bizarrely accusing them of belonging to Boko Haram and of fabricating reports of the abduction to smear the government. In a televised broadcast on May 4th, the first lady, who holds no official position, warned against further such marches.”
The Economist said such statements give the impression that Jonathan, who faces elections next year, does not take the worries of ordinary Nigerians to heart. It described the emergency rule in some north-eastern states as largely ineffective in clipping the growing influence of the deadly group.
“Though, Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the north-east a year ago, his army has dismally failed to defeat Boko Haram. Indeed, it has itself perpetrated numerous atrocities against civilians suspected of harbouring or lending sympathy to the rebels, who thrive among embittered young Muslims in the north, the poorest part of the country.”
Source: Punch
