The Arewa Consultative Forum has slammed President Jonathan over the prosecution of the war against terror in the country, describing his efforts as “feeble” at best. The Northern organization also slammed the First Lady over her “disruptive” efforts by summoning Federal and State officials including the wives of Governors.
The group made the remarks in a statement issued by its Secretary-General, Col. Paul Ubah (retd.), in Kaduna yesterday.
The statement said in part, “The President did not approach the abduction with a sense of urgency nor seriousness until ordinary Nigerians poured out on to the streets demanding greater action. The First Lady remained characteristically disruptive of all efforts by concerned Nigerians. Her reaction to the street protests was to set up her own panel of inquiry to which she summoned federal and state government officials, including wives of governors.
“She conducted a mock trial of the officials on live television and at the end of it, declared that no schoolgirls were missing, suggesting that the entire story was some hoax constructed to embarrass her husband.”
“The response of the Federal Government, particularly President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, to the abduction of over 200 students by Boko Haram from the Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on the 14th of April, 2014, is disappointing.
“The approach of the President to the tragic abductions of the Chibok girls is not much different from his handling of the entire insurgency war that has engulfed the North, especially the North-East region since 2009.
“Even the President’s most ardent supporters readily agree that his prosecution of the insurgency war has been hesitant, feeble and half-hearted. The President hardly ever took action until he came under pressure to do so from people outside his government.
“The mounting pressure from local and international communities is now compelling him to talk of deploying more troops to confront the Boko Haram insurgents. His belated acceptance of help from foreign powers had come only after the abduction of over 200 young girls, stirring worldwide outrage.”