Nigerias React...Presidential Media Chat { see Nigerian tweet below }
Millions of Nigerians watched the Presidential media chat with
Goodluck Jonathan, concerning the future of their fatherland after
elections postponement, Boko Haram havoc, and economy crisis. They
immediately react to each word of their incumbent president. Naij.com
gathered their reactions from social media.
Twitter Explodes With Comments After Presidential Media Chat
By SaharaReporters, New York
In a live media chat today,
President Goodluck Jonathan stated that the Federal Government is not
into any dialogue with the... militant Islamist group Jama’atu Ahlissunnah
Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram. Mr. Jonathan
declared the sect faceless, stating that his government cannot dialogue
with them.
Mr. Jonathan’s comment on Boko Haram was one of
several issues he touched on during a presidential media chat that ran
live on NTA in Nigeria.
President Jonathan insisted that Boko
Haram and their sponsors would not stop Nigerians from working, adding
that all agencies of the government including the president, vice
president, ministers must keep faith in Nigeria till the end.
He
added that Boko Haram was attacking churches in order to instigate
religious crises. Mr. Jonathan said, “We are working and will crush it.
They are changing tactics. They can as well be attacking mosques to
instigate Muslims against Christians.”
Asked to justify his
recent trip to Brazil, President Jonathan declared that he had no
regrets, noting, “Boko Haram’s main agenda is to destabilize government
like all other terrorists.” The Nigerian president stressed that
suspending his trip would have given terrorists a boost.
Mr.
Jonathan also explained why he had not visited Maiduguri and Damaturu,
two hot beds of sectarian violence. He said the airport was
ill-maintained for his plane to land, adding that he could not travel by
helicopter for security reasons.
Asked why he had not
declared his assets, Mr. Jonathan replied in an impatient tone, stating
“I don’t give a damn” about declaration of assets. He related that he
had gone to the late President Umaru Yar’Adua to caution “that we should
not play to the hands of some people [by openly declaring their
assets].” Mr. Jonathan added, “That is a matter of principle and I am
not going to declare. It is not the president declaring his asset that
will end Boko Haram.”
Other highlights of the president’s media chat are in the Premium Times report below:
President
Goodluck Jonathan will this evening host a televised media chat with
some Nigerian journalists to respond to questions on some topical
national issues. We bring you LIVE updates from the chat.
President
Goodluck Jonathan is hosting his third Presidential Media Chat since
returning to office in May 2011. The first was in September 2011 and the
last in January 2012, in the heat of the removal of subsidy on
petroleum products.
The challenges confronting the country -
insecurity, economy, corruption, fuel subsidy, dearth of
infrastructural, among others - are still largely the same since his
last media chat.
Refresh the page manually to get latest posts, chronologically.
The
phone lines to call in on the presidential media chat is 09-625-1100 or
09-625-1000. If you are calling from outside the country, use the
contry code (+234).
19:06 Gvernment ready to discuss with Boko
Haram: President Joinathan says he is willing to dialogue with the Boko
Haram sect, if they have a "face." He said the sect's members are
Nigerians and he will like to transform their lives just like the Niger
Delta millitants.
19:12 For now, there is no negotiation ongoing with Boko Haram, the president said.
19:16
President Jonathan said he has not visited Borno state, the center of
Boko Haram attacks, because the airport there was not functional at the
time he planned to visit. "And we did not want to land somewhere and fly
in to Maiduguri with a helicopter for obvious reasons." He promises to
visit the state and other states in Nigeria.
19:19 The Brazil
Trip: The president said if he hadn't travelled to Brazil while Kaduna
was boiling, it would have sent out a very wromg message to the world,
and bolster the sect. "The day the international community gets to know
that the president of Nigeria couldn't travel because of Boko Haram,
then we are finished," the president said. "The Boko Haram and their
sponsors cannot stop Nigeria."
19:24 The Body Language on
Corruption: The president said he is a calm person and gives people the
latitude to do their job in reaction to question bothering on his
percieved weak body language on the fight against corruption. "A lot of
people misunderstand me," he said.
Whoever says the president's body language does not allow him to fight corruption, he's incompetent
Asset
Declaration: The presient says its a matter of principle and whether he
is criticised from "head to toe" he will not declare his assets. "It is
not right," he said. "I didn't want even want to declare my assets as
VP" but was forced by the then president, Umara Musa Yar'Adua. He said
asset declaration is "not the right thing to do."
19:35 Oil
Subsidy Probe: The president said he initiated the probe of the oil
industry even before the Senate and the House of Reps began its probe of
the sector.
The president just mentioned that "only yesterday,"
he directed the EFCC to investigate Nigeria's bank accounts in the
United States, following a report on a newspaper.
The presidency
said he dealing with the same businessmen former president Olusegun
Obasanjo and Late Umaru Musa Yar'Adua hobnobbed with. He speaks in
defence of the businessmen, including Femi Otedola who is involved a
bribery scandal with chairman of House of Reps Panel that probed the
subsidy regime. He however said he did not initiate the sting operation
that caught Mr. Lawan.
19:55 Electricity: "When we were campaiging, we didn't know that BH will overtake the priorities of government," the president says.
He
adds that what the government is doing with the increased electricity
tariff is too ensure that those who earn low income pay lower tariff.
"What we are doing with electricity tariff is too ensure that those who
earn low income pay lower tariff," the president said.
20:07
Agriculture: The president said his government are revolutionizing
agriculture in Nigeria."We are giving cotton seeds free in the North" he
said.
Third caller unable to get through to the program.
Nigeria is owing over N100 billion in judgement debts, the president reveals.
20:14 The fourth caller's line fails after he introduced himself as calling from Ibadan.
The
President said the government is doing very well in railway
construction. "You may not know, but we are working," he said. He added
that his government has made a "significant progress" in railway
construction. "You should commend us," he adds.
20:19 Ogene Tega's call from Delta state gets through, he introduces himself and the line goes dead again.
20:20 The prsident says they are managing the economy professionally, "It is not Jonathan that is managing it," he said
20:22
The president begs to us first to use two years plus to see what he can
do in terms of wealth creation, before talking about 2015. "It is too
early to talk about 2015," the president said. "When INEC opens the
gate, we will know who will contest or who will not contest."
20:27
Relationship with National Assembly: "I have a good relationship with
the National assembly," the president said. "It is not as if there are
no issues." He plans to do annual address to the National Assembly and
says his being summoned to the National Assembly is not an issue.
"Whenever I travel, I go with atleast two members of the National Assembly," the president reveals.
20:35
The president says he "thinks" Nigerians should still trust him. He
blames his poor public perception on the dublicability of IT (social
media).
He said Nigerians will begin to see the results of his
government in 2013. "People (critics) will begin to change after one
year," the president said.
20:42 UNILAG name change: The
president said what he did, in terms of law, was correct. You change the
name first, then send the bill to the National Assembly later, he
argues. "What we did, was the normal procedure," he said.
He also insists that most of the students are too young to know the significance of Moshood Abiola in Nigeria's democracy.
20:46
Call from Victor in Markurdi gets through as the first successful call
in for the day. Victor is asking for equitable distribution of You Win
grants. He is asking the president to ensure that the grant is not given
to only those who know people in government.
20:52 Crude Oil
Tefth: "The stealing of crude oil is a Nigerian phenomenon," the
president said. He adds that it has gone cancerous. "We will stop it,
but it is like allowing a cancerous cell to grow into a major tumor."
20:55 The program ends. Thank you for following our updates.
see tweet below
source...sahara reporter,naij and nairaland.
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