Barely 24 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan replied his predecessor, the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, has expressed disappointment with Jonathan’s response to the issues raised by the former President.The NEF said Jonathan adopted what it called ‘pedestrian approach’ to addressing the core issues raised by Obasanjo and ended up creating more tension in Nigeria than what his predecessor’s letter had generated.“We feel highly disappointed by the tone and contents of Mr. President’s response to Obasanjo’s letter,’’ Secretary General of the NEF, Prof Ango Abdullahi, told Vanguard in an interview.According to the former ABU Vice Chancellor, Jonathan missed the point by not taking time to explain to Nigerians whether he had fulfilled the electoral promises he made to the nation and whether in his view, he had made the country better than he met it on assumption of duty.Abdullahi noted that despite the shortcomings of Obasanjo as a former president Nigeria, Jonathan should sum up courage as the current leader to address the germane issues raised in the letter so that the country could move forward.He noted that since the nation was passing through a turbulent period in its political history, it was incumbent on Jonathan to take appropriate steps to arrest the drift rather than pretend that all was well with the polity and the citizenry.The NEF bigwig said that it would have been better for Jonathan to keep quiet over the Obasanjo letter than offer a lame reply, which in the main, shies away from the bone of contention.He said, “By the response of Jonathan to Obasanjo’s letter, it seems clear to us that the President does not agree that his administration has failed to provide answers to the myriad of challenges facing the nation and its people.“By the response given by Jonathan to the Obasanjo’s letter, the impression seems to be that Jonathan lacks a clear understanding of the major problems facing the country and does not seem to appreciate the innocuous admonition given him by Obasanjo in his letter.“Our simply and innocuous advice to Mr. President is to use the remaining part of his tenure to find answers to the raging problems facing Nigeria and desist from acting as if all is well
with the nation. “If Mr. President does not know or the people around him have shielded him from knowing, the truth remains that Nigeria is drifting and its citizens in dire need of a leadership that can take them to the next level,” Abdullahi said.
By Soni Daniel
