BY Fredrick Nwabufo
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lambasted Christopher Kolade, former Nigeria’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom, for “getting his facts wrong” in flaying President Goodluck Jonathan’s leadership style.
Speaking at a symposium organised by the Nigerian Leadership Initiative on Thursday, Kolade said that Jonathan was lacking in some leadership qualities, citing an incident when the president attended a rally in Kano a day after 59 boys were killed in Yobe state.
Reacting to his statement on Saturday, the party through its spokesman, Olisa Metuh, said that Kolade had his facts mixed up, accusing him of pandering to the opposition.
“We regret that Kolade, an eminent Nigerian with very senior diplomatic credentials, who also served as the chairman of SURE-P, a special development and empowerment programme of the Jonathan administration, apparently got his facts mixed up about the character and person of the President and the nature of the overall security challenges in our country,” it said.
The PDP said it had waited for Kolade to retract his statement, but his refusal to do so prompted its own reaction.
“While we recognise the inalienable right of citizens to hold opinions and fully express themselves, especially given the institutionalized freedom Nigerians now enjoy under the present administration, it is only fair that comments, particularly those from prominent persons in the mold of Kolade must be based only on the truth.
“We found it curious that Kolade, a supposedly apolitical elder statesman, who has an unfettered access to the president, could resort to public mudslinging, relying on oft-repeated lies of the All Progressives Congress (APC) apparently aimed to disparage and discredit the president ahead of the 2015 general election.
“Indeed, the timing and the tenor of Kolade’s outburst, given the security and political situation in the land, is also very worrisome especially when a nerve-soothing statement from a person of his age and status could have encouraged our citizens and help douse the tension in the polity.”
The party also said that Kolade was “standing history on its head” for saying that the president went to a rally in Kano state a after 59 students were killed in Yobe state.
“It is common knowledge and verifiable fact that the said PDP Kano rally held on April 15, 2014, about two months after the unfortunate killing of 59 students in Yobe in February, 2014,” it argued.
“Whilst we do not expect everybody to agree with President Jonathan’s leadership style, we are nevertheless encouraged that Nigerians from all walks of life appreciate the president as a committed and sincere leader with very strong bond with his people and their well-being irrespective of religious, ethnic and political affiliations.
“In the last four years, under President Jonathan, our country has witnessed unprecedented growth and verifiable achievements in all sectors with our economy ranking as the largest in Africa in spite of the daunting security challenges and the global economic recession, a fact which Kolade as a technocrat is fully aware of. We therefore totally disagree with Kolade when he said that ‘Nigeria has had it much better than now’.
“It is incontrovertible that the federal government has sustained the fight against insurgency, deploying huge budgetary allocations to re-equip our security forces as well as intensified collaborations with national and international stakeholders to bring lasting peace to our country.
“We wish to restate that the PDP and all well-meaning Nigerians are solidly behind President Goodluck Jonathan in this fight against terrorism. Those who expect the president to get distracted, demoralised or cowed through their utterances must know that they are fighting a lost battle.
“Let it be clear that the PDP-led administration shall never allow terrorists and their supporters to dictate the tempo of government, which has been their direct objective. We wish to restate that it is a globally settled principle that no government allows terrorists to influence the course of its action otherwise they have achieved their purpose against the people.”
The PDP urged all Nigerians to unite and join hands with the federal government and security agencies in the fight against insurgency.
“In conclusion, we call on eminent Nigerians such as Christopher Kolade to rise up to their patriotic duty in condemning the heinous acts of terrorists and urging their international contacts to support the federal government in the efforts to end insurgency in our dear country,” it added.
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