When President Goodluck Jonathan decided to extend the celebration of Nigeria’s centenary to his personal Facebook page, little did he know that his action would stir up the proverbial hornet’s nest.
No sooner had the President posted about 32 photo shots taken during an event held in Abuja to mark 100 years of the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates on the social network, than many of his friends on Facebook rose to criticise the action.
The photographs showed Jonathan receiving visiting world leaders and presenting medals or certificates to past military Heads of State and elected Presidents of the country.
In the post, he told his Facebook friends that Nigeria’s centenary was worth the celebration. He said, “We may not have overcome our challenges, but our challenges have not overcome us.”
But many of his cyber-friends refused to be pacified. They accused him of indulging in merrymaking while insurgents were killing innocent Nigerians in the north eastern part of the country.
A certain fan of Jonathan, Ope Olatunji, raised a poser for him.
“What if your siblings or children were the ones being burnt alive or they had their throats slit? Would you go ahead and hold a festival? Would it still be business as usual?” Olatunji asked, while commenting on the President’s Facebook page.
When Jonathan said, in another status update on the social network, that “being a Nigerian is a blessing and a great responsibility”, a large number of his friends on Facebook were clearly upset and they accused him of claiming the moral high ground.
One of them, Jubril Adeleke, said Jonathan had “woefully” failed to perform his duties as President.
“People are dying every day and you are here making merry. And to add insult to the injuries that you inflicted on us, you are still posting pictures of your smiling face on Facebook,” Adeleke said.
In Adeleke’s opinion, the sight of the pictures posted on Jonathan’s Facebook page was frustrating.
Adeleke said, “Mr. President, is laughter the solution to Boko Haram killings of innocent school children? Is it the solution to the stolen $20bn oil revenue? Is laughter the solution to persistent power outages in Nigeria? Let all Nigerians pray for a God-fearing leader, come 2015. Jonathan is very insensitive to the sufferings of fellow Nigerians.”
In defence, the President said he preferred to “see the silver lining in the dark cloud rather than the dark cloud in the silver lining”. But he ended up annoying more of his friends on Facebook.
A Lagos resident, Joshua Kingbrough, disagreed with Jonathan. He said the latter’s “silver lining” already posed a serious threat to peace in the country.
“In the midst of the silver lining comes the horror of terror which has gradually darkened the cloud of peace in Nigeria. The dark cloud is now gradually enveloping our happiness, our joy and our collective good. Please sir, do something urgent to clear this dark and evil cloud,” Kingbrough commented on Jonathan’s Facebook page.
Also, Ibrahim Godwin said the Federal Government had no justification whatsoever to celebrate Nigeria’s centenary event with as much fanfare as it did.
He accused Jonathan and members of his cabinet of “smiling and pretending” while terrorism claimed more lives in the country almost every day.
He wrote, “Not in this present dispensation should we have celebrated the centenary. Many Nigerians are starving. Many of them don’t have access to good and affordable housing. Electricity has gone from bad to worse. The future of young Nigerians is being threatened by the activities of terrorists in the north. There is nothing to celebrate until the country overcomes its present challenges. We can’t continue to pretend that everything is well. With leadership comes responsibility, sir. We can’t continue to live like this.”
But, as the bashing continued on the social network, some Nigerians had cause to identify with the President. Muraina Akeem was one of them. He was pleased that the centenary celebration brought together all past Nigerian leaders under the same roof.
“This is lovely, but they (past Nigerian leaders) should all be proactive and help the present administration to tackle the challenges facing the country. Meanwhile, Mr. President should see them as partners in progress and not enemies. Nigeria belongs to all of us. No foreigner will come to make it better for us,” Akeem said.
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