For the second year running, the Federal Government has cancelled the traditional Democracy Day celebrations that hold at the Eagle Square, Abuja over fears of insecurity.
This was made known by a source in the Presidency that in its place, a mini-parade would hold within the Presidential Villa with attendance strictly by invitation.
Last year’s usual ceremonial parade at the Eagle square was cancelled at the last minutes and a mini-parade was held at the villa amid tight security.
A visit to the popular Eagle Square on Sunday met it desolate unlike in the previous years when preparations were at fever-pitch at a period so close to the 29th of May.
Our source revealed that the cancellation was done at the federal level for some reasons and in national interest while state governors were at liberty to either hold or cancel the celebrations in their respective states depending on security situations there.
The Federal Government has already declared the day as a work free day.
“ I can confirm to you that the usual activities to mark the Democracy Day have been cancelled because of the poor security situation in the country, no foreign Head of Government will want to come to Nigeria now for such a celebration, we have to take internal measures to avoid embarrassment, we still have many celebrations ahead,” our source declared.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has given the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan poor ratings in its two years in office.
In what appeared its score sheet on the administration, tagged: Jonathan’s mid-term tenure as elected president, and signed by its national publicity Secretary, Mr Rotimi Fashakin, the party claimed the administration had failed to make any significant impact in any strategic part of the nation’s life.
“The performance score-card on the economy, security, education, youth employment, foreign relations and infrastructure development reveals overall dismal failure,” it stated.
The CPC also pointed fingers at the Presidency for the split in the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), because of an alleged second term bid of the president in 2015, contrary to its denials.
“The president’s leadership of his party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as a microcosm of his leadership of the nation in the last two years, is worthy of note. The governors, elected on the platform of the PDP, who have shown aversion to his desire for re-election, have been treated with utter ruthlessness.
“A noxious desire to truncate Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s chairmanship of the NGF had seen the birthing of new platforms for PDP governors. The bilious discontent arising from the elections for the new chairman of the NGF bears the imprimatur of the presidency,” the party added.
The CPC reiterated its call on the President to quit, saying it considered the steep fall in governance in the nation in the past two years unacceptable, because, in the opinion of the party, the priorities of President Jonathan “are at variance with the political and economic health of the nation.
Giving a sector by sector analysis, the CPC said the country had never had it so bad in the education sector, as the party alleged that Nigerian students recorded failure in Mathematics and English more than in any other time in the nation’s history.
It noted that in the 2013 federal budget of N4.92 trillion, the allocation of N426.53 billion to education was a mere 8.67 per cent, far below the UNESCO recommendation of 26 percent of the total budget.
The CPC alleged that the president’s brand of politics had brought more negative effect to the political arena, because Jonathan was preoccupied with securing another mandate than in working for the Nigerian electorate.
“Posters of president’s electioneering campaigns for the 2015 election have continued to adorn our cities, with hypocritical denials from government. It did not matter that no arrests have been made of the culprits,” it added.