The All Progressives Congress has criticised President Goodluck Jonathan for devoting his broadcast to the nation on Wednesday to the centenary.
The party, in a statement on Thursday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, faulted the President for not devoting the national broadcast to the murder of over 40 school children in Yobe State.
The APC said the President’s action sent a wrong signal to the world about the value which the Nigerian government placed on the lives of the nation’s children.
The opposition party wondered what was so important about the centenary celebrations that it would be elevated over and above what in any nation would be considered a monumental tragedy.
It described the President’s broadcast as insensitive, misplaced, and an embarrassment to the nation.
The APC stated, “Even as the nation is still counting the death toll from Monday night’s senseless and gruesome murder of our children, and the ceaseless killings of innocent civilians before that, the President has already switched into a celebratory mood, dwelling on the money-wasting centenary-celebrations instead of leading a clearly distraught nation in mourning.
“Nothing better illustrates the fact that the President showed more concern about the centenary celebrations than the calamity that befell the nation than the mention, in only about three paragraphs, of the tragedy in a speech that spanned over 40 paragraphs.
“This is very sad indeed, considering that President Jonathan is the head of a government that has failed woefully in ensuring the welfare and security of Nigerians, especially those of our children, which is the very reason for the existence of any government.”
The party said now that the President had goofed again, he should quickly make amends by visiting the scene of the tragedy to empathise with the families of the victims as well as the government and people of the state.
It said in case President Jonathan was still in doubt on whether or not to take a trip to Yobe, and indeed Borno where hundreds of innocent citizens had been dispatched to their early graves by rampaging insurgents in the past few weeks, he should take a cue from what other Presidents do in times like this.