It was a season of lamentation for many Facebook friends of President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday, as they flocked to his Facebook page to register their displeasure with the state of the nation.
While observing that there was little to celebrate about the 53rd Independence Day, they urged him to live up to his responsibility and deliver on the yearnings of the citizenry.
The Nigerians who were commenting on the President’s Independence Day message, which he posted on his Facebook page, said they were tired of his continued rethorics of a better Nigeria.
In the comments they dropped on his Facebook page, they particularly asked Jonathan not to think about the next election but the next generation, by providing solutions to the problems in education sector and the rate of unemployment as well as the worsening state of insecurity in the country.
One of the President’s friends, Igweoha Chima, laments that as Nigeria clocks 53, “his face is not wearing a happy look;” adding that he is “so much interested in knowing the achievements of Nigerian leaders for the past 53 years.”
University students used the occasion to demand an end to the three-month old strike embarked upon by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
A particular friend of the President, Moses Ohiomokhare, while urging him end the lingering crisis, says as a former university teacher, he expects Jonathan to know where the “shoe pinches.”
Ohiomokhare says, “We have noted the points made in your speech and look forward to their implementation. We wish you well. But Mr. President, we are still troubled that ASUU strike is still unresolved.
“We all do not need to remind you that you were a lecturer and know where the shoe pinches. We request that you move the matter to your desk and see it resolved. Your subordinates find it difficult to handle it. The buck stops on your desk, sir.”
A student, Victor Chinomso, laments, “Goodluck Jonathan, all what you just said here (Facebook) translates to nothing to me. Who are you deceiving when the Nigerian students, the future leaders, are on strike? Mr. President, you promised us good education and fresh air. Mr. President, what we are experiencing is bad air.
“Mr. President, I remember how I stood in the sun and went through stress just to cast my vote for you during the 2011 presidential election and all you could do is to pay us back with strike. But Mr. President, there is nothing to celebrate. I am only thanking God for the gift of life.”
Another Facebook friend, Yahaya Musa, observes that the state of insecurity bothers him a lot. He argues that the state of insecurity had never deteriorated in the country like it has in recent times.
He, therefore, asks the President to take “drastic actions” beyond the ritual of delivering speeches and make the nation safe for everyone.
Musa notes, “Well done, Mr. President. However, you need to take drastic actions beyond the speech. Truly, sir, we are suffering for nothing in this country; it’s only by faith that we get back to our houses when we come out. There is no guarantee for the next hour or day.
“Security situation has never deteriorated like now: innocent people being killed without any cause. Rural populace cannot boast of the next meal and we are living in a country that is ranked eighth in terms of fuel exportation. Mr. President Sir, re-strategise your plans and policies. Sir, if you can tackle these problems, even within the shortest time possible, 2015 will decide for itself.”
Artisans and businessmen befriending Jonathan on the social network lament that the menace of epileptic power supply is frustrating and call for a speedy implementation of the power sector reform.
One Adegeye Ade says the President has failed the nation as he has yet to fulfill his promises on set targets of electricity generating capacity.
“If his (Jonathan’s) business has packed up because of epileptic supply of electricity, may be he would have known that he has not only failed Nigerians, he has equally failed God,” Ade says.
Meanwhile, a cross section of the President’s followers say they are happy with him for listening to their clamour for the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference, with the setting-up of an “advisory committee whose mandate is to establish the modalities for a national dialogue or conference.”
“Congratulations, Mr. President, for taking the first step in the convocation of a sovereign national conference. We believe it will help us live better as a nation. God bless you and God bless Nigeria,” one Emmanuel Sampson-Jaja observes.
Punch
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