SAN FRANCISCO, August 21, (THEWILL) – The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has pointed out that President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday missed a golden opportunity to reconnect with Nigerians through his nationwide broadcast, which the main opposition party described as a monumental anti-climax.
A statement issued on Monday night by the head of Publicity department in the PDP national secretariat and signed by Chinwe Nnorom, noted that “rather than rekindle hope and confidence, that speech can most charitably be described as a monumental anticlimax”.
The party explained that Nigerians would have preferred to hear Buhari state categorically the realistic measures which the present government intend to take to uproot the causes of the perennial agitations and counter agitations that are assuming a life in the polity.
The statement reads in part, “The President and his handlers missed a golden opportunity to reconnect with the people through addressing issues that have direct bearing to their well-being and those of their children and dependents. Indeed, the President’s speech did not contain anything new; just a rehash of statements that already had been made by both government and various leaders of thought across the Country.
“The PDP had cause to commend the then Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo for going round the Country to engage with relevant stakeholders, which certainly was a better approach.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) believes that rather than rehashing the worn out clichés about Nigeria’s unity not being negotiable, Nigerians would have loved to hear their President come out definitively to tell them what realistic measures his government intended to take to uproot the Causes of the Perennial Agitations and counter agitations that are now becoming a recurring decimal in our national discourse. The Party believes that instead of always mouthing the indivisibility of this Country, the Government should be seen walking the Talk by instilling confidence in all the people across board that it belongs to all
“The casual mention of ‘elements of Boko Haram’…kidnappings, farmers versus herdsmen clashes’ among others, were also somewhat on the Perfunctory side and do not imbue confidence.”
The main opposition party asserted that the President did not do well by ignoring the ongoing strike by university teachers, which have grounded activities in the country’s public universities.
“Buhari returned to the Country in a week that saw the Closure of all our Public Universities as a result of the Strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Yet, not even a whimper from our President. Has the future of the future leaders of our Country sunk so low in the Estimation of our current leaders that the Issue was considered not important enough to command a mention in the President’s address?”
The PDP reiterated its conviction that Nigerians deserve a richer statement from a President that was away from them for over a hundred days during which a lot happened that should have necessitated more than a mention in that speech.
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