President's address to the Nation: His silence was better

Fri, Oct 23, 2020
By editor
2 MIN READ

Column

By Irèke Kalu Onuma
AFTER two weeks of rudderless leadership, we got hyped into waiting for the President to address Nigerians for the first time since the #ENDSARS protest began.
We waited. He spoke. But simply said nothing. What a horrible tragedy of governance.
Whatever they must have discussed at the State Council meeting earlier was not remotely mentioned or reflected during the less than 15 minutes speech.
He not just appeared disjointed, he was nothing close to Presidential in the short address. The issues at hand got very confused response and at some point, I felt I was drowning in my misplaced expectation. I don’t know about others.
Two take aways emerged from that speech, First, the nation’s leadership are uninformed, clueless and out of place in a completely changed Nigeria. Second, the President and his handlers passed the buck to the Governors, who though touted as the Chief Security officer of their respective States, are without power and authority to enforce any real order.
The nation after this strange address remains adrift and without direction. I have a feeling that the ground has been well wetted for the introduction of a nation wide State of Emergency and the toppling of any Governor who does not play by the Asọ Rock rules.
As for the protests, we will see an increased level of impunity from the security forces and an indiscriminately ethnic cleansing program coming to play.
Nigerian leaders and Elders of all ethnic groups, religious persuasions must now rise up in front with the youths to peacefully but tenaciously force a top to bottom change of the status quo.
Nigeria is a dysfunctional nation and what the President did this evening is to confirm just that.
We should March on for change and for Freedom.
– Oct 23, 2020 @ 8:54 GMT /
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