Outrage over Jonathan’s trip to Brazil

THE news that President Goodluck Jonathan jetted out of the country amidst violence in Kaduna and Yobe states provoked public outrage on Tuesday.

Jonathan on Monday travelled to Brazil to take part in a United Nations’ Earth Summit, leaving behind killings in Kaduna and Yobe. Opposition parties and other eminent citizens who spoke to The PUNCH on Tuesday described the trip as disappointing.

The House of Representatives also said the President could have delegated the trip to Vice-President Namadi Sambo or any of his senior aides since the trip was “not special or of economic interest.”

The spokesman for the House, Zakari Mohammed, told our correspondent, “A trip like that could have been delegated by Mr. President so that he can stay at home to take charge of security.

“We know that security agencies are supposed to do their job, but we cannot afford to compromise security. If our security is compromised, it is a failure of governance.”

Mohammed added that investors would not come to Nigeria if the country was not safe.

But the Senate said Jonathan was in order since he would need to honour international commitments. Spokesman for the upper legislative chamber, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, said it was not the business of the Senate to determine whether Jonathan travelled or not since the Executive and legislature are different arms of government.

The Action Congress of Nigeria, in a statement by his National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, faulted Jonathan’s journey amidst what it described as a “national tragedy.”

“We are constrained to ask whether this President is getting quality advice from a myriad of aides surrounding him, or whether, like his benefactor, Olusegun Obasanjo, he has decided he may not even take any advice from his advisers. In other climes, the usual thing is for leaders to cancel foreign trips or rush home from such trips when their countries suffer tragedies,” the ACN said.

It described the President’s decision to travel “two days after innocent Nigerians, including women and children, were killed as a sign of insensitive and confused leadership.”

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