Some Nigerians have asked President Goodluck Jonathan to respond to the allegations levelled against him by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in an 18-page letter that has since been made public.
Obasanjo had in the letter, accused Jonathan, among other things, of not honouring his word and taking actions calculated at destroying Nigeria as well as running a killer squad.
Those who besieged various social networking sites to express concerns over the issue said they were taken aback by the allegations. They noted that it was imperative for the President to dignify Obasanjo and, indeed, Nigerians, with a response; as the allegations were too weighty to be ignored.
Already, Nigerians eager to read a response from the President had been sending messages to his aides on Twitter.
Disturbed by the barrage of questions sent to him by some Nigerians, the Presidential Assistant on New Media, Reno Omokri, replied, saying the President had asked him and other aides not to discuss the matter.
“President Jonathan directed that no aide should join issues with Chief Obasanjo. The President will respond at the appropriate time,” Omokri wrote on Twitter.
But leading the ranks of Nigerians demanding an immediate response from the President is a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode.
Fani-Kayode, who said he read “OBJ’s letter to GEJ twice,” has challenged the President to summon the “courage” to “personally” answer what he calls the “charges” preferred against Jonathan in the said letter.
The former minister said the onus lies on the President to refute Obasanjo’s allegations which he described in a Twitter post as “the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
“OBJ has finally closed GEJ’s chapter with his letter. Jonathan is finished — mark my word. Abati should shut up and let his boss speak for himself on this one.
“The Ebora Owu has spoken and the issues that he has raised are too serious to be ignored or to be responded to with amateurish and cheeky insults and slurs from a mere staff of the Presidency.
“The President should find the courage to personally answer the charges and address the message rather than get his aides to attack the messenger. As Baba said, Jonathan is “bleeding Nigeria to death.” It is time for change. God used Obasanjo to put Jonathan in power and, by His grace, He will use that same Obasanjo to remove him,” Fani-Kayode wrote on Facebook.
A prolific Twitter user, Kayode Ogundamisi, argued that Presidency’s assertion that Jonathan would respond to the allegations at a later time was untenable; adding that a “responsible” leader who respects the citizenry would have responded immediately to such damning accusations.
“Obasanjo accused GEJ of keeping a killer squad and all GEJ could say is, ‘I will respond at the appropriate time.’ I am not a President but if I am wrongly accused of keeping a killer gang, I will deny it immediately. Why is Jonathan silent on #GEJSNIPERS? A responsible President will respond to accusation of training killer squads immediately…”
Another concerned Nigerian, Dare Taiwo, said Jonathan’s silence amounted to acquiescence.
“Does #OBJ mean what he says? If he says there is a (killer) squad, I may not want to doubt him. Jonathan should note that his silence on this issue means acquiescence.
“We really need to hear from #GEJ. The allegations are weighty — killer squad, self-serving aides, teleguiding Tukur, widespread corruption and tribalism, etc. Obasanjo’s letter may be malicious, but he knows what he wrote about and Jonathan should deem it fit to respond.”
One Samuel Akanbi also wrote on Facebook that although Obasanjo’s hands might not be clean after all, Jonathan should avail millions of Nigerians the opportunity of hearing his own side of the story.
“Even though Baba (Obasanjo) can’t be playing the saint here, I strongly believe that we can take the message and perhaps ignore the messenger.
“Let GEJ respond to the weighty issues raised by Baba, especially the issue of secret killer squad. Nigeria belongs to all of us and Jonathan should not allow the country to disintegrate right under his nose,” Akanbi stated.
In an advice to Jonathan and his aides, one Dimeji Kareem in a Facebook post said, “I must say that a leader that watches his country degenerate into extreme corruption, poverty, sectarian terrorism, illicit crime, ethnic divisions, infrastructural disintegration, educational retrogression, disregard for the rule of law, disrespect for human rights, disregard for the international community’s code of conduct and mistrust amongst citizenry should watch his back!
“Like others before him, he would feature in the bad book of leadership in human history. Nigerians should please wake up now; elect good leaders and chase out the corrupt nitwits.”
Punchng