Jonathan ‘no longer the boy without shoes’

Protesters who marched to the presidential villa on Thursday for the abducted Chibok girls have expressed dissatisfaction with the explanations of President Goodluck Jonathan on his efforts to free the girls from their captors.

They urged him to stop seeing himself as the boy of decades who had no shoes, but the Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who must act to save the kidnapped girls.

More than 1000 protesters had thronged the Unity Fountain, Abuja, for onward marching to the villa. However, they were cornered at the Federal Secretariat by 10 ministers and many presidential advisers led by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim; and Minister of State for FCT, Mrs Olajumoke Akinjide.

Addressing the crowd through Akinjide, the president urged the protesters to direct their protests at the terrorists who abducted the girls, and urged them not to allow their actions to be politicised.

He maintained that government mobilised military and diplomatic resources right from the day of the kidnap, while the president has been holding meetings with security chiefs almost daily.

But Maryam Uwias, reading a letter on behalf of the protesters, demanded urgent action from the government.

“Mr. President, poverty is not a crime,” she said.

“You are no longer the boy without shoes; you are the Commander-in-Chief. Mr. President, please act now‎. We will not stop until they have returned.

“We have heard how great our Nigerian military have been in other countries and we know Boko Haram is small compared to what they have done. It is time to act.

“We have delayed for too long. The girls have spent 38 days in the forest of possibly being raped, molested and killed. We want to stop gathering; we want to celebrate the return of our girls.”

Another leader of the protesters, Oby Ezekwesili, said the protesters “went out of their way” to listen to the government delegation because of their belief in citizen collaboration. However, she made it clear that the answers received were inadequate.

“None of the issues we raised have been addressed. We actually felt sad for the colossal missed opportunity with Mr. President. We are not the group you should be telling about the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan,” she said.

“Our proposal is that we will demand of another opportunity to meet with Mr. President so that he will address the issues we raised.

“Tell Mr. President we hold the office of Mr President in highest regard. We demand to be sincerely spoken by our President. We have conducted ourselves in a disciplined manner.”